Unclassified Foreign Visits & Assignments
The Laboratory strongly supports an atmosphere of free intellectual exchange and collaboration within the international scientific and technical community. Visitors from around the world play a vital role in sustaining the creative environment and achieving the mission of Berkeley Lab.
Some visitors, however, require special processing. Under DOE's guidance governing unclassified foreign visits and assignments (DOE O 142.3), all DOE facilities are required to document the visits and assignments of individuals who are citizens of, were born in, or are affiliated with (employed or sponsored by) sensitive or terrorist-sponsoring countries. Individuals from non-sensitive countries are also included in this requirement if they require access to a Property Protection Area (PPA) or have access to Sensitive Subjects.
NOTE: Requirements under DOE O 142.3 do not include those born in sensitive or terrorist-sponsoring countries who have become U.S. citizens. It does, however, cover immigrants or "green card" holders.
DOWNLOAD Foreign Visits & Assignments Program Summary
Terrorist-sponsoring (T-4)
Country Processing
Prospective employees, participating guests, or subcontractors who are citizens of, were born in, or
are affiliated with (employed or sponsored by) any of the countries identified by the U.S.
State Department as state sponsors of terrorism require notification
to the Foreign Visits and Assignments (FVA) Office (495-2523) as early in the hire or invitation process as possible. Individuals from T-4 countries who are working or conducting research for any length of time must be approved by the DOE Under Secretary for Science BEFORE they can be granted access to the Laboratory. Since these approvals
are currently taking 4-6 months or more, early notification is
essential to best accommodate the prospective employee, guest, or subcontractor as well as the sponsoring division.
NEW POLICY CHANGE FOR T-4 VISITORS (Not engaged in work or research):
No DOE approval is required for short-term T-4 visitors who are not badged and are not engaged in work or research. They must have a host and a business need to visit the Lab for tours, meetings, workshops, conferences, job interviews, etc. T-4 visitors are not allowed access to LBNL Property Protection Areas. Contact FVA Administrator (495-2523) for additional information.
Sensitive Country
Processing
Prospective employees, guests, or subcontractors who are citizens of, were born in, or
are affiliated with (employed or sponsored by) any of the countries on DOE's list of sensitive
countries require one month notification to the Foreign Visits and Assignments Office (495-2523) to allow for adequate processing time and
Lab Executive approval. Berkeley Lab is only required to document the assignments (over 30 consecutive calendar days) of individuals from sensitive
countries--not visits, which DOE defines as 30 consecutive calendar days or less.
See Approval Timing for details. For specific instructions on processing international
guests, please see Guest
Processing.
Non-Sensitive Country Processing
Berkeley Lab is not required to document the visits or assignments
of individuals from non-sensitive countries unless they require
cardkey access to one of LBNL's Property
Protection Areas (PPA) or they have access to Sensitive Subjects. Contact the Foreign Visits and Assignments
Office for additional information.
Passport, Visa, and U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Information
All employees or guests of the
Laboratory who are not U.S. citizens must provide documentation
of their immigrant or non-immigrant status to verify identity and
authority to work, i.e., visa, passport, or green card. These documents
must be reviewed annually to ensure that the individual is in lawful
immigration status. Contact the International
Researchers & Scholars Office (IRSO) (486-6326) or visit the IRSO website for specific immigration
questions.
