What is a program transfer?

J-1 Exchange Visitors who would like to continue their program activities and objective at another university or institution can request to have their SEVIS record transferred to the University of Iowa if they are maintaining the same program objective and remaining within the same exchange visitor category.

Who is eligible to transfer their J program?

Exchange visitors who have maintained their J-1 status and have remaining time in their exchange visitor category (research scholars & professors, 5 years; short-term scholars, 6 months) are eligible to transfer to another program sponsor.

What is the transfer procedure?

Department administrators seeking to transfer scholar's program should submit an e-form group request to ISSS. In order to do so, please follow the steps below:

1. Go to the iHawk system at https://ihawk.uiowa.edu and select "Administrative Services for University Departments." Login using your HawkID and password.
2. Request department access. ISSS tries to review requests for access on a daily basis. If you need immediate access, please call ISSS at 319-335-0335. If you already have department access, you may skip this step.
3. Review the menu located along the left side of the screen. In "Departmental Services," submit an "Add New Person" e-form request. You will need the scholar applicant's Name, Date of Birth, Gender, and E-mail Address to complete this step. Please select "University of Iowa" as your campus. If the scholar is new to the University of Iowa, please answer "no" when asked if the applicant has a university ID or network ID. The system will immediately generate a temporary ID upon submission that you will use to begin the application process.
4. In "Departmental Services," select "J-1 Scholar Application." ; You will need the applicant's temporary ID and birthdate to access the main page of the e-form and begin the e-form group. ; There are 7 required e-forms in this group and 3 additional e-forms. Please utilize the key along the bottom of the screen to determine the status of the e-forms. You may give "Client Access" when completing the required J-1 Applicant Information e-form and optional SEVIS Dependent & J-1 Scholar Transfer In Request e-forms. Client Access enables the scholar applicant to complete the e-form. ; If you do provide client access ;to the J-1 scholar, please inform him/her to follow the instructions in the e-mail he/she receives to login to iHawk. Once logged in, the scholar will need to navigate to the menu located along the left side of the screen and select "Departmental Services. ; The e-forms will be available there for the scholar to complete.