Purdue welcomes the thousands of visitors that come to our campus each year. 

Sometimes, international visitors need a letter from Purdue University to support their application for a "B" visa from a US Consulate, or to support their admission to the USA through a port-of-entry. The International Scholar Services office (within the Office of International Students and Scholars) is responsible for issuing visitor letters. PISA (Purdue International Scholar Assistance) is the clerical team in International Scholar Services who supports with these requests. To begin a request for a visitor letter, the host department should consult the Purdue ISS website for for details about "Working with PISA". Purdue policy requires approval of screening by the Export Controls team, within the Office of Research, before ISS is permitted to issue the requested visitor letter. Screening can take up to 30 days. Inquiries about screening may be directed to exportcontrols@purdue.edu. 

A "Visitor" is a term that comprises a specific set of limited activities. A chart of the permitted activities is below. Confusion often arises between visitors and visiting scholars. Visiting Scholars is a formal appointment at Purdue, which facilitates international researchers, educators, specialists and students from organizations worldwide to temporarily visit Purdue to engage in scholarly activities. Individuals holding "B", "business visitor", "Visa Waiver" or "ESTA" status in the US generally may not engage in a full range of scholarly activities, as shown below.