Visiting Graduate Researchers (VGRs) are students enrolled at other institutions that would like to visit the University of Virginia for a period to time to work with a specific faculty member.
In order to invite a student to be a VGR, a faculty member must prepare a letter of invitation that is then sent to the Associate Director for Graduate Student Enrollment and Engagement. Upon receipt of that letter, the GSAS will review the stipulations to make sure it meets with the Provost policy outlined here.
Once the invitational letter has been approved, the GSAS will invite the student to apply for VGR status.
If the student is international, ISO will begin the VISA process once the application as been approved. There is no need for the department to reach out to ISO about this.
The fee for VGR status is $159.00 for any portion of the month that the student will be here. This fee give them access to the library, student health and basic computing infrastructure. They will also be able to obtain an ID.
More information may be found on the OGPA website under the FAQs for Visiting Graduate Researchers.
This is not a Visiting Scholar status. That designation is reserved for someone that has faculty level credentials. This status also does not allow a visiting student to be a GTA/GRA. If that is the purpose of the visit, please have the student apply as a non-degree student so that they can enroll in the Graduate School.
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