Honorariums

Honorarium payments to USC ‘s foreign national guests are restricted to certain immigration categories under immigration law. Permitted payments for foreign guests is much narrower than that under USC’s policy for US guests. An FSVS Honorarium Eligibility Clearance is required before payments can be made to an international guest. Departments should request the FSVS Honorarium Eligibility Clearance prior to offering the international guest an honorarium. This can help prevent situations where an honorarium must be withdrawn because it was not permitted under immigration regulations. 

Allowable expense payments.
USC’s international guests may receive payment for travel, meals, lodgings and incidental expenses related to the purpose of the visit. International guests may receive prize money/awards for competitions open to the USC event attendees (eg Best Paper). These are not considered honorarium payments and are permissible across all visa categories except for diplomats and foreign government officials.

Honorarium Eligibility Clearance
The Honorarium Eligibility Clearance request form can be found here. Please complete and email the form to  FSVS@usc.edu along with the requested supporting documents. Enter the intended immigration admission status for guests who have not yet entered the US.  Select B1/B2 for Canadians entering as visitors without visas. Do not select B1/B2 for Canadians entering or are already in the US in any other status such as TN, H-1B, O-1.

The chart below is a general reference to assist departments determine whether they may offer their guest an honorarium.  It covers the most common immigration categories of USC’s international visitors and whether honorarium payments are allowed. It cannot be used in lieu of an FSVS Honorarium Eligibility Clearance approval.