UVA Financial & Administrative Procedure

Procedure: 8-23	Effective: April 25, 2007
Owner: Assistant Vice President for Research Administration and Director, International Studies Office	Latest Revision: May 8, 2007

Charging Visa Application Fees to Sponsored Projects

Scope

This procedure outlines the proper charging and documentation of standard Non-Immigrant Visa Application Fees to sponsored projects along with the applicable service processing fees levied by the International Studies Office (ISO).

Policy [Top]

VIII.A.6 Consistent Treatment of Sponsored Programs Costs
VIII.C.1. Compliance With Sponsor Requirements
VIII.C.1A Compliance with Federal Sponsor Requirements

See also: Procedure 1.4A, "Monthly Review and Certification of Sponsored Program Project or Award Expenditures"

Responsibility [Top]

Departmental/School Administrators
Departmental/School Administrators are responsible for retaining all documentation relating to these and all costs charged to sponsored projects. Accurate charging (PTAO) information is to be provided upon request to The International Studies Office so as to process subsequent billing to the related projects and funding sources.

Principal Investigator
The Principal Investigator is responsible for working with the Departmental/School Administrators and The International Studies Office in the proper cost placement and allocation of the employment visa fees onto sponsored awards. Subsequent review and approval of all costs charged are required by University policy, according to procedure 1.4A above.

International Studies Office
The International Studies Office is responsible for timely billing/recovery of applicable employment visa application fees and related service costs charged to the academic units based upon PTAO information supplied to the ISO. Related visa fees and service fees will be charged to the Svcs, Employment Visa Fee expenditure type.

Distribution [Top]

Departmental/School Administrators
Principal Investigators
International Studies Office
Office of Sponsored Programs
Departmental Payroll Personnel

Ownership [Top]

The Assistant Vice President for Research Administration and the Director of the International Studies Office are jointly responsible for ensuring that this procedure is necessary, reflects actual practice, and supports University policy.

Procedure Steps [Top]

Employment Visas are defined as H1-B, O-1, TN, and other employment visas.
Employment visa charges to sponsored program awards should be handled in the same way as they are processed to other sources of funding. Employment visa application fees and the corresponding International Studies Office (ISO) processing fees should therefore be charged to any University funding source that will support the salary and thus the work that the foreign employee is hired to perform.

In exceptional circumstances, and with supporting and detailed documentation, the fees for ‘expedited’ processing of employment visas may be considered allowable charges and be paid from University funding sources, including sponsored projects. In accordance with Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) guidelines, the reason for direct charging an expedited fee cannot be for convenience or expediency not directly warranted by the demands of the project. If the individual is to to be provided support/be paid from more than one funding source, the visa fees should be allocated accordingly along with the corresponding salary or wage and benefits.

Written justification for direct charging the expedited fee should be maintained by the department and be available upon request to internal or external reviewers. The documentation should clearly demonstrate the need of and inherent benefit to the sponsored program to which the expedited fees were charged, or in turn the inherent detriment to the research outcomes had the fee not been paid.

As with non-sponsored programs, the applicant may opt to pay the expedited fee him/herself or the department may elect to cover the expedited fee from non-restricted funds.

Note: Fees associated with obtaining permanent residence (“green cards”) are not allowable on federal and federal flow-through sponsored projects or on any other sponsored award having specific terms and conditions prohibiting these costs (since the awarding of a green card is not conditional on employment at UVA). These fees can be supported from non-restricted funds.

Dependents are generally responsible for their own fees (the dependent I-539 filing), although departments may, at their own discretion, pay these fees from non-restricted funds.