Links

Units within the National Academies

Board on International Scientific Organizations (BISO) – examines issues related to the conduct of science and evaluates opportunities for and barriers to international collaboration in scientific research. Its goals are to strengthen U.S. participation in international (multilateral) scientific, engineering, and medical organizations and to help build the capacity of these organizations.

Research Associateship Programs - administers Postdoctoral and Senior Research Awards at the National Academies. The Research Associateship Programs are sponsored by thirty federal laboratories and NASA Research Centers at over one hundred locations in the United States and overseas.

Government Agencies

UnitedStatesVisas.gov – serves as a single point of access to U.S. visa information. This new Web site from the U.S. Department of State is an official source of information about U.S. visa policy and procedures. It includes information on the visa application process, current requirements, and updates on recent developments.

U.S. Department of State Consular Affairs - links to travel advisories, country information, foreign embassies in the U.S., U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, visa application information and forms, security advisory opinions, Technology Alert List, visa reciprocity tables.

Visa Policy Telegrams – includes a list of policy telegrams sent to consular offices worldwide.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) (formerly the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service) – immigration forms and fees; immigration services; immigration classifications and visa categories; field office addresses and information; immigration laws, regulations and guides, immigration public information.

Department of Homeland Security US-VISIT Program –information on the new entry/exit system that requires all non-immigrant U.S. visa holders to be fingerprinted and photographed. The site includes a fact sheet, press releases, and frequently asked questions.

U.S. Social Security Administration - information in 14 languages on what visa classes are eligible for employment, when you need a SSN and when you don’t, how to apply for a social security number.

Organizations

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Science and National Security in the Post-9/11 Environment - provides a contact page for individuals to report ways in which they or their colleagues have been affected by post-9/11 security policies. It also provides overviews of five major security-related issues facing the scientific community and links to related projects at other organizations.

International Council for Science (ICSU) – ICSU is an organization comprised of 26 International Scientific Unions and 98 national academies of science or research councils. Together these organizations set up international mechanisms to carry out scientific programmes of an interdisciplinary nature which are concerned with issues such as protection of the environment, research in Antarctic regions or space research. This site includes links to many of the member organizations.

ICSU Universality of Science – statement affirming ICSU’s commitment to the free exchange of scientists and the free flow of scientific knowledge.

ICSU Committee on the Freedom in the Conduct of Science – provides a description of this group’s objectives as well as advice to organizers and participants in international meetings. This link only takes you to the ICSU homepage. To get to the Committee itself, click on Structure, then click on Freedom in the Conduct of Science under Standing Committees.

NAFSA: Association of International Educators – excellent link for articles and updated news on visas, links to INS documents, State Department cables and Social Security Administration guidance.