UCSF can only sponsor School of Dentistry Preceptors and Fellows in the J-1 visa student non-degree category. This visa category is used for students who have been admitted to a prescribed, non-degree academic program with a specific educational objective. Such a course of study may include classroom instruction and research projects.
Eligibility for the J-1 Student Non-Degree Category
- Admission into a qualified School of Dentistry Preceptorship or Fellowship program is required. Please contact the Office of Continuing Dental Education for any questions related to program admission.
- Agree to maintain health insurance (for J-1 primary and any J-2 dependents) for the duration of the program of study.
- Demonstrate appropriate funding for yourself and any dependents for the entire length of the program. A significant amount of the required funding (51%) must come from non-personal sources. See the Funding section below for additional information on the types of funding that are acceptable.
Funding your J-1 Visa Program
Upon receiving your admission letter from UCSF, the amount of funding that you must show in order to qualify for a J-1 visa will be indicated on the letter. You must upload evidence of your non-personal funding source as part of the visa application. A non-personal source could be:
- Your current school or institution
- A current or past employer
- A national or local government grant
- A scholarship or fellowship
A combination of any of the sources above would also be acceptable.
It is important that your non-personal funding be related to your dental studies. For example, if your employer is sponsoring you, that employer should be in the field of dentistry.
A training grant, professional development fellowship, or academic scholarship for continuing education would also be examples of acceptable non-personal funding.
However, a guarantee of financial support from a company that is not related to the field of dentistry would not be acceptable as evidence of non-personal funding. Similarly, we cannot recognize personal loans or fund documents that come from a friend or relative as evidence of non-personal funding for the purpose of sponsorship in the J-1 Student Non-Degree program.
Some possible non-personal funding sources are below: