The Division of International Services (DIS) is undergoing what many employers nationwide are experiencing: employee separations and retirements.  Since the onset of the pandemic, several staff members have departed DIS, and the division is still working to fill their positions. Remaining DIS staff members have worked hard behind the scenes to maintain the high service levels that our NIH customers are accustomed to. We would like to share some notable statistics from the past year to demonstrate our continued services to the community, despite the temporary shortages in staffing. 

2021 Statistics 

• Onboarded 610 new foreign nationals in the Visiting Program, both FTE & Non-FTE 
• Completed renewals for 983 foreign nationals 
• Facilitated 96 exceptional extensions in the J-1 G-7 Program for Visiting Fellows 
• Processed over 3,000 actions in nVISTAS database (new cases, renewals, continuations, check-ins, etc.) 
• Responded to 15,343 emails received to our customer service inbox DIS@mail.nih.gov  
• Advised 1,353 people through virtual advising on Zoom

DIS shares important immigration updates, procedural changes and event invitations throughout the year via our Administrative Staff listserv. To subscribe to the listserv, send an email to listserv@list.nih.gov with the following text in the message body: "Subscribe KEYCONS-L@listserv.nih.gov your first and last name". Contact DIS if you have difficulty subscribing to the listserv.