Hosting International Visitors

Hosting visitors at Purdue is a common and collaborative Practice. When the visitors are international, however, we must consider the export control regulations to avoid possible violations. To limit the possibility of an export control violation occurring as a result of an international visit to campus, we review each visit for the following:

Is the visitor or the visitor’s institution a prohibited party on a U.S. Government Restricted Party List? Such lists are maintained by various federal agencies and identify persons and entities who have been convicted of export control violations.
Does the hosting faculty member/laboratory have controlled research projects? If so, does the applicable technology control plans need to be revised to address the visitor’s presence within the lab?

If a visitor or their institution is on a restricted party list or the visit presents too high of a risk of an export control violation, the visit may not be approved. to ensure that this risk analysis occurs before an invitation is formally made, please consider the following:

What to know

Be aware of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and how it affects payments to foreign government officials.

Before issuing a formal invitation

Before you issue an invitation letter, the host or host department’s International Students and Scholars (ISS) liaison should be certain that a restricted party screening has been conducted. Do not issue invitation letters before this step. To find your ISS department/College liaison, see this link.
Following restricted party screening, the Department Head or Dean in the department/school of the prospective host should review the proposed visit and sign the invitation letter.
The letter should contain:
- The full name of: the proposed visitor; the visitor’s home institution; and the Purdue University host and department
- A brief description about the visitor’s anticipated work assignment
- A statement that the appointment is contingent on the receipt of a valid visa from the US government.
- Dates of anticipated arrival and departure. Do not extend the invitation beyond the time frame that the visitor will be in your direct supervision or responsibility.

Things to consider during the visit

Visas are typically issued by the US State department for specific activities. Be sure to review with the visitor what activities are contemplated. This is especially important for visitors from Countries/regions subject to U.S. Comprehensive Sanctions.
International visitors do present a risk of a deemed export. Consider contacting the Export Controls Team early if you expect the visitor to be near or work with any of the following:
- Data that are not intended for the public domain (i.e. publication, seminars, etc.)
- Data with military or space applications
- Controlled projects where publication is not allowable (i.e. for proprietary, government controls or other agreements)
- Projects where participation is limited by citizenship through a contract or other means
- Technical data that are acquired through a non-disclosure/confidentiality agreement
- Projects/areas/items associated with a technology control plan