Export Controls

Foreign Nationals & Research

Whenever teaching or research is related to controlled equipment or technology, foreign students' or researchers' involvement may trigger export control compliance issues. This is the PRIMARY export control issue facing university research.

deemed exports

The Export Administration Regulations (EAR) define a deemed export as the release of technology or source code subject to the EAR to a foreign national in the United States. Any such release is "deemed" to be an export to the home country of the foreign national. Situations that can involve the release of U.S technology or software include:

  • Employees that are foreign nationals involved in specific research, development, and manufacturing activities
  • Foreign students or scholars conducting research
  • Laboratory tours
  • Face-to face conversations
  • Telephone, e-mail, fax
  • Carrying a laptop, flash drive, smart phone, etc. with controlled technical information
  • Sharing of computer files
  • Visual inspections

Foreign Nationals are subject to deemed export requirements unless they have been:

  • Granted U.S. citizenship or
  • Granted permanent residence status (i.e., "Green Card" holders) or
  • Granted status as a "protected individual." Protected individuals include political refugees and political asylum holders.

In the case of dual citizenship, under the EAR, the last citizenship obtained by the foreign national governs.

Deemed Export Questionnaire

j-1 Exchange visitor program

USF World/International Services is responsible for administering, approving and signing all documentation connected with the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program at the University of South 91社区. This program brings qualified scholars and professors to the United States for teaching, research, observation, consultation, and cross-cultural activities. Visitor requests are submitted using a form called USF Exchange Visitor/Scholar Request Form.

Incoming foreign national visitors can potentially pose export control issues, particularly if they are coming from a comprehensively sanctioned country, could be 鈥渇oreign military units or forces, regular or irregular鈥�, are a restricted party or are coming from a restricted entity, or are coming to work at USF to work with a researcher who has a Technology Control Plan.

The Export Control officer will work with International Services to ensure that all J-1 visitors are properly screened and approved for visitation.

Application Procedures

Prior to sending the Exchange Visitor/Scholar Request form to USF World/International Services, the department representative will send a fully completed copy of the form to the Export Control Officer at exportcontrol@usf.edu.

The Export Control Officer will review each form for the following information:

  1.  鈥淧lace of Birth鈥� and 鈥淐itizenship鈥� countries: If Iran, Cuba, Sudan, Syria or North Korea is listed, there can be issues due to OFAC sanctions and additional export control review is warranted.

  2. 鈥淧osition Title in Home Country鈥�: If foreign military units or forces, regular or irregular are indicated, an additional export control review is warranted. For example, 鈥淐olumbian Air Force鈥�, listed under current place of employment, would be an indication of foreign military unit.

  3. Section describing proposed activities with the incoming visitor: The following triggers will require additional export control review:
    1. Collaborations or interactions with individuals from Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Syria or North Korea.
    2. Collaborations or interactions with foreign military forces, regular or irregular, in any country (even NATO and strong ally countries).
    3. Weaponized or military specific technologies.
    4. Proprietary research.
    5. Classified Research or Classified items (additional referral to the Facility Security Officer for further review).
    6. Work with a faculty member who has an active Technology Control Plan.

The Export Control Officer will perform a Restricted Party Screening on the individual鈥檚 name and the company, university or entity they are coming from using the Visual Compliance program. If 鈥淣o Matching Records鈥� are found, proceed to next step.

Only the Office of Export Controls or the Office of General Counsel is authorized to communicate about the presence (or absence) of restricted parties. In the event that a visa screening involves a restricted party, it is the responsibility of the Export Control Officer to communicate with the faculty member and General Counsel to resolve the issue.

If any of the items above uncover a potential export control issue, a further review will be conducted. This may require a request for additional information from International Services or the sponsoring College and Department. The Export Control Officer will handle all communications with the sponsoring college/department, and General Counsel (if warranted), regarding potential issues.

After completion of review, the Export Control Officer will return a signed version of the request to the department representative. The department representative may forward the request to USF World/International Services for processing. For questions regarding this procedure, please contact the Export Control Officer at exportcontrol@usf.edu or 813-974-5638.