A student who is enrolled in another university (even an ABD Ph.D. candidate) and will be working or studying with a UK faculty member will be considered a visiting student at the University of Kentucky. 

Note that the University of Kentucky’s visiting student designation is different from the visiting research scholar designation in a J-1 visa application. It is common for a visitor’s J-1 designation to be “research scholar,” while their University of Kentucky designation is “visiting student.”

For Graduate Students

The following steps should be taken to appoint a visiting graduate student: 

1. A UK faculty member must first invite the student to participate in research at the University of Kentucky. A letter of invitation template may be found on the International Center website.

2. The faculty member should request a complete CV from the visiting student.

3. The faculty member should complete the Visiting Student Approval Form, and have it signed by the Department Chair.

4. The faculty member should attach the student’s letter of invitation and CV to the Visiting Student Approval Form and send it by email to the Office of Faculty Resources, Planning and Assessment at cafe-frpa@uky.edu.

5. Associate Dean for Faculty Resources, Planning and Assessment will approve the Visiting Student Approval Form as the Dean’s delegate, and the Office of Faculty Resources, Planning and Assessment will send the approved form back to the faculty member.

6. Once the faculty member has received the signed form, the faculty member should send it on to Suzanne McGinnis in the Graduate School at suzanne.mcginnis@uky.edu.

7. The visiting graduate student must complete UK’s graduate school application, using the application category “visiting student,” and program “invited visiting student” in the online application found at https://gradschool.uky.edu/apply. If the department or program wish to cover the cost of the application for the visiting student, they should provide a cost center number to Tim Emrick in the Graduate School prior to the student's final submission of the application. 

8. The visiting graduate student will be enrolled in the non-credit-bearing course GS690 by a UK Graduate School representative. 

9. If the visiting graduate student is coming from outside the United States, the signed Visiting Student Approval Form should also be uploaded into ICAT when requesting visa status from International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS). ISSS will not process the paperwork for a visa until all steps have been completed. Remember that J-1 and F-1 visas come with different requirements and restrictions. Please see the ISSS website for more details.  

10. Add the visiting student's information into SAP. The Visiting Student Approval Form, signed by the Associate Dean, must be attached to the request in the SAP workflow system. 

For Undergraduate Students

College Dean level approval is not needed for visiting undergraduates. Visiting undergraduates should enroll as non-degree-seeking students following the procedures at https://admission.uky.edu/readmission-and-non-degree/non-degree.

For international visiting undergraduates, please consult with International Student and Scholar Services for assistance with the appropriate visa paperwork and Dr. Carol Hanley for additional assistance with the visiting student process.