Scholarship payments made to a foreign national student are processed differently depending on the student’s tax status and U.S. presence. This procedure ensures that foreign national students are paid and taxed appropriately.
To determine if a scholarship recipient is an international student, check information from the department, student, SIS, or the I-9.
Work with your divisional Scholarship Coordinator to ensure scholarship procedures are completed/finalized before payment.
Departments/Divisions are responsible for knowing if the scholar will be inside or outside the U.S. on the day the payment is issued. Scholars who are outside the U.S. may receive foreign source income (FSI), so additional documents are needed to be sure payments are taxed appropriately and scholars receive the correct tax reporting documents.
Verify international student's tax status with No Empl ID
- If the scholarship recipient does not have an Empl ID, enter the appointment into Workday and the initiator selects the citizenship status
- Enter the appointment for one biweekly pay period using the title (Scholar-Job Level 6190 or Fellow-Job Level 61850).
- Department/Division HR office sends a letter (draft link) to the recipient of scholarship about Glacier/foreign source income document requirement.
- When the scholarship recipient has an Empl ID, move on to the next section, verify international student’s tax status with Existing Empl ID.
OR
Verify international student's tax status with Existing Empl ID
- With the scholarship recipient’s Empl ID, send an email to glacier@ohr.wisc.edu use the Glacier team’s scholarship spreadsheet template to determine tax residency status.
- Send an email no later than two weeks before the payroll calc you wish to pay the scholar/fellow.
- Email subject line should start with the biweekly pay period the scholarship should be paid (Your Department Name) NRA Tax Status.
- Spreadsheets will be reviewed on a first come-first serve basis.
- The Glacier team returns the spreadsheet within two business days. The action you take depends on these results:
Actions Tax Residency Status What Does This Mean? Action Required Resident Alien Make payment as you would a U.S. citizen Pay through the Bursar’s Office Nonresident Alien Scholarship must be taxed.
Glacier and/or Foreign Source Income (FSI) documents are required.
Process payment through Workday. Proceed to Step 3. You must confirm with the scholarship recipient if they will be inside or outside the U.S. at the time of payment.
Incomplete The Glacier team is unable to determine tax status when Glacier is incomplete. The scholars should complete Glacier to the best of their ability. Resubmit spreadsheet when scholar completes Glacier.
If the scholar is unable to complete Glacier, proceed to step 4b.
Permanent Resident or Naturalized Citizen Make payment as you would a U.S. Citizen Pay through the Bursar’s Office - For any Nonresident Aliens (NRA) on the spreadsheet without a scholar/fellow appointment, enter the appointment into Workday and the initiator selects the citizenship status
- Enter the appointment for one biweekly pay period, use title Scholar-Job Level 6190 or Fellow-Job Level 61850
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If the scholar is inside the U.S. when payment is issued, proceed to step 5.
If the scholar is outside the U.S. when payment is issued, proceed to step 4a.
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4a. Collect and review updated Glacier documents, an I-94 Travel History, and Foreign Source Income Statement for accuracy.
Once your review is complete, upload all documents to your division’s Secure Campus Payroll Box folder.
- Send an email to foreignsourceincome@ohr.wisc.edu for the single-use link to the Secure Campus Payroll Inbox
- Include your Foreign Source Income Checklist as your file’s first page.
- Label the upload: Foreign Source Income - Last Name, First Name – Empl ID
- and proceed to step 5.
- Refer to Division Responsibilities for Paying Foreign Nationals outside the United States for more detail about reviewing and uploading documents.
Document Details:
An I-94 Travel History is created by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It includes an employee’s arrival and departure history for the past 5 years. This will be our proof that the scholar is outside the country.
- Search for your history on the USCBP website.
- Providing this history again re-confirms your U.S. presence or lack thereof.
- This should include all U.S. entries and departures over the last five years.
- If you have changed passports in the last five years, you’ll search once for each passport.
- Please verify that your history includes all entries and departures (each entry has a corresponding departure).
- If one is missing, please write in the date and if it is an entry or departure.
- Once you confirm all the information is complete and accurate, write a statement of accuracy ‘This history is accurate to the best of my knowledge,’ then sign and date.
- Again, please use an original signature. No electronic signatures.
- If your record comes back stating “No record found for the traveler”, but you have traveled to the U.S. previously, please write in all of your entries and departures to the U.S., sign, and date including the accuracy statement listed above.
- If you have not been to the U.S., please send a screenshot of your I-94 history search with the no traveler results found. At the bottom of that screenshot, write “I have no U.S. travel history”, then sign your name and date. I will use this as proof that you have not traveled to the U.S.
Example of Complete I-94 Travel History:
A Foreign Source Income Statement contains all the current year planned and potential visits. This includes possible visits on any type of visa. If they are hoping to come to the U.S. at all, they should include the tentative visit dates.
- Please complete this form and include any travel to the U.S. in the current on this form.
- For EACH visit –
- Please include the visit start date, the visit end date, number of days in the U.S., the type of immigration status held, and the reason for the visit.
- Include ONLY dates in this calendar year; a separate form is needed for EACH year.
- Once all of your visits are filled in, then sign and date using an original signature, please.
- Number of days present should match those listed on the I-94 travel history
- If no completed or planned visits in the current year, the employee should write ‘0’ in the number of days in the U.S. column.
- 4b. Collect and review the below documents for accuracy, then send an email to foreignsourceincome@ohr.wisc.edu for the single-use link to the Secure Campus Payroll Inbox.
- Refer to Division Responsibilities for Employing Foreign Nationals outside the United States for more detail about reviewing and uploading documents.
Documents Needed:
These documents will allow OHR Payroll to determine the scholar’s tax residency status and their U.S. presence.
- I-94 Travel History. See details in step 4a.
- Foreign Source Income Statement. See details in step 4a.
- Nonresident Alien U.S. Visit Summary or Glacier Tax Summary Report, if the employee already has a Glacier account. See below for details.
Document Details:
A Nonresident Alien U.S. Visit Summary provides us with the information that we are unable to capture through a Glacier account update.
To be completed by nonresident aliens earning foreign source income from the University of Wisconsin (who are unable to provide information through Glacier account data entry. *If you have a Glacier account, please update your account and provide our office with an updated Tax Summary Report (please remember to block out your Social Security Number and sign/date the bottom of the form).
- List all visits to the U.S., since 1986. Please specify the type of visa status listed in box 4 of DS 2019 or I-20 (i.e. J-1 Student, J-1 Short-Term Scholar, etc.)
- List every U.S. visit in the current and two previous calendar years, regardless of the immigration status or whether the visits were affiliated with the University of Wisconsin.
- Each visit should include the dates that you were here and the number of days next to the dates.
- Sign and date. An original signature, please. The UW System will not accept electronic or digital signatures.
- Refer to Division Responsibilities for Employing Foreign Nationals outside the United States for more detail about reviewing and uploading documents.
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- Department/Division enters lump sum in Workday as a One-time Payment (see KB Request One-Time Payment).
- Enter the Effective Date, Employee and Position (should be Scholar-SA010 or Fellow- SA002)
- Select Add
- Select Non-Service Scholarship NRA/RA as the One-Time Payment Plan
- Enter the amount
- Leave currency as USD
- Leave Send to Payroll checked
- Enter in the Additional Information if the employee is outside the US
- Update funding if needed
- Upload supporting documentation
- Click submit
- Compensation Partner (Supervisory) reviews and approves
- Global Mobility (OHR Glacier Team) reviews and approves
- Cost Center Accounting Specialist reviews and approves
- End of Process.
Other Considerations:
- Divisions should confirm with employees if they have access to a United States bank account. For employees without a United States bank account, divisions must also collect wire transfer information. Wire transfers must be submitted via the wire transfer workflow. Please share this information with your employees since they need to initiate the process through their MyUW Portal. Shared Services needs the wire transfer information at least 7 days before the final calc. Note that divisions may have different deadlines.
- Foreign Source Income documents must contain original signatures. UW System will not accept electronic signatures.
- Another division may be employing your scholar who is outside the United States. If that is the case, coordinate with that division to avoid duplicating efforts.
- Tax residency status must be verified each semester. See column on NRA Scholarship Spreadsheet for change date as a useful guide.