Texas Tech University

Paying Non-Immigrant Visitors other than J-1 and H-1B

U.S. law significantly restricts what employment foreign nationals may accept. Before committing to an honorarium for a foreign national, departments must ensure the person has the appropriate visa that allows such a payment. For short-term visits made for the purpose of delivering a lecture or speech, or performing, only certain visa classifications are authorized to accept an honorarium. An individual already in the U.S. may not necessarily be here in the correct visa classification. For instance, diplomats, employees of foreign governments, military personnel, or others on foreign government representative visas, employees of the World Bank or political officers attached to a foreign embassy in the U.S. hold visa classifications specific to the duties of their posts and are not permitted to earn additional income through activities such as speaking engagements.

Do not assume that an international visitor holds the correct visa classification, especially if he or she is already in the U.S. You must confer with Office of International Affairs (OIA) in this process in accordance with TTU OP 69.11.

TTU Payments to Foreign Nationals Chart

The OIA will make a final determination as to whether or not a foreign national (an individual not on TTU documents) is eligible to receive payment from TTU. In order to make this determination, we will need the foreign national to provide copies of their current non-immigrant documents and complete the following questionnaire.

Payment Eligibility Questionnaire

After these documents are submitted to OIA, OIA will make a determination and forward the signed form to Tax Compliance & Reporting, who will assist the hosting department and the various offices involved in processing payments with correct tax withholding.

EXPORT CONTROL SCREENING--It is important to remember that ALL visitors (non-immigrants) to TTU, including potential and new international hires, must first be screened for Export Control compliance, regardless of visa type.  Visit our Export Control website to read more on this subject and request EC compliance screening.

Note: Please remember that even in cases when an honorarium is not allowed, paying for travel expenses remains a option in many cases.

If you have any questions regarding payment to a non-immigrant visitor, please contact Ali Garcia at ali.garcia@ttu.edu