Information for Hosts of Colloquia or Seminars
This page contains information on the following subjects:
Most details of a speaker's visit, such as making a
hotel reservation, are coordinated by the host. The host of a
colloquium speaker should also make sure that the visitor
understands that a colloquium talk should be aimed in large part
towards a general audience. More technical or narrow talks may be
more appropriate as seminar talks than as colloquia.
Paying foreign visitors can be quite complicated and involves a lot of
paperwork. Payments have been known to take up to six months. To
expedite payment it is of great importance that the paperwork get
started as soon as possible, preferably months before the visit.
Sometimes the visitor will need to apply for a social security number
or an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), a process our
Fiscal Assistant can help to begin before the
visitor leaves home.
The following visa information is current as of 25 Nov. 2002. Be
aware that the rules are subject to the frequently-changing whims of
the visa gods; if you are inviting a foreign visitor, you should
always check with the Fiscal Assistant to see whether any rules
relevant to your visitor have changed.
Having been able (or unable) to pay a given person in the past does
not automatically mean that we are able (or unable) to pay him or her
under the current rules. It is the host's responsibility to make sure
his or her visitor understands this point. We have had hosts ignore
this point and thereby cause their visitors to bear the full costs of
an overseas visit. The visa rules are set by the federal
government, not by the department or UF, and we do not have the power
to bend or break them.
-
A foreign visitor traveling on a B-2 visa may not receive any
payment, not even reimbursement of travel expenses.
- A visitor traveling on a B-1 visa is eligible to receive
a per diem payment and reimbursement of travel expenses for
which he/she has receipts. Honoraria are subject to the following
restriction, found at which is taken from
http://www.dbf.state.fl.us/bosp/nra_b.html#III_C :
The language of the Foreign Affairs Manual suggests that if an agency
or university pays an honorarium to a nonresident alien B visaholder
it must not exceed reasonable incidental expenses. N3.4 of Section
41.31 of the Foreign Affairs Manual explains "incidental expenses":
"In determining whether an honorarium or other fee paid an alien
constitutes remuneration of 'incidental expenses' (i.e., room
and board, cost of travel, pocket money), the consular officer
shall consider the standard of living to which the applicant is
accustomed and the relative cost of living expenses in the United
States."
- To be eligible to receive an honorarium, or any payment other
than per diem or reimbursement for travel expenses, a foreign visitor
must hold either a B-1 (but see above), J-1 (exchange visitors), F-1
(student), or TN (U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement)
visa. (Note that B-2, WB, WT, and H1-B visas are
not on this list, even though they have been on it at times
in the past.) He or she must have, or have applied for, a social
security number (SSN) if eligible for one, or an Individual Taxpayer
Identification Number (ITIN) if ineligible for an SSN. In all
cases, paying an honorarium to an eligible foreign national is a long,
time-consuming process involving a lot of paperwork.
- A J-1 visitor does not need to Complete a Certification of
Academic Activity form, but if given an honorarium, he or she does
need to fill out the Foreign National Tax Information Form in order
for the university to comply with federal reporting and withholding
requirements. The Foreign National Tax Information Form and the
Certification of Academic Activity form are both forms that the
visitor fills out here, with the help of our Fiscal Assistant. In some
cases federal income taxes will not be withheld (e.g. if the visitor's
tax status [not immigration status] is resident alien, or if a tax
treaty with the visitor's country exempts honoraria); in other cases
taxes will be withheld.
- The reimbursement rules apply to funds used from a host's grant
as well as to funds provided by the department.
The
host should make the reservation for the speaker.
On football weekends, it may be difficult to impossible to find a
hotel room (let alone at the rates listed below), so keep this in mind
when choosing a date for your speaker. Over Homecoming weekend no
hotels will have open rooms Saturday night at decent rates.
Here are the tentative home football dates for Fall 2007,
current as of 6/23/07.
Check the
Gatorzone
website or the
UF calendar website for updates.
Nov. 3, 2007 ( Homecoming )
In the past our visitors have usually stayed at the Holiday Inn
University Center, but listed below in addition are several cheaper
alternatives which hosts are encouraged to consider, especially for
longer visits.
|
Hotel |
Phone |
Best rate |
Date rate last checked |
Comments |
Holiday Inn University Center
(Univ. Ave. & NW 13th St.) |
376-1661 |
$72 tax-exempt iff direct-billed to dept.;
otherwise
$72 + 9.25%
= $78.66 |
9/23/05 |
This is the hotel's "university business" rate.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Reitz Union |
392-2151 |
$60
+9% tax
= $65.40 |
3/16/04 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rush Lake Motel
(1410 SW 16th Ave.) |
373-5000 |
$50 tax-exempt if direct-billed to department |
4/15/08 |
Some visitors may find the
walk to math dept. a bit long. There is no shuttle.
Some rooms have kitchenettes, a convenience for visitors with
special dietary considerations. |
Last update made by D. Groisser Wed Apr 16 16:10:56 EDT 2008