Office of Business Operations

Payroll | International Persons and Taxation

The University welcomes many international persons including students, employees, research and short term scholars, entertainers, and independent contractors. They may receive income such as honoraria, consulting fees, guest speaker fees, performance fees, wages, scholarships, room and board, and payments such as travel reimbursement.  Income is sourced at the location where the activity is performed. If the location of activity is outside the United States, the income is not taxable and not reportable by the University.

All income to international persons is reviewed by the Office of Business Operations - Payroll to maintain compliance with tax laws for international income. Income to international persons is generally subject to a different set of tax regulations than is income to U.S. citizens.

The UNI department hosting an international visitor, artist, scholar or performer must contact Cheryl Klahsen (cheryl.klahsen@uni.edu) in the Office of Business Operations – Payroll, 103 Gilchrist Hall, prior to the visit.  The international visitor will be required to complete various forms and provide requested documentation in order to determine correct taxation and reporting of income.

International student employees, graduate assistants, faculty and staff must contact Cheryl Klahsen (cheryl.klahsen@uni.edu) in the Office of Business Operations - Payroll, 103 Gilchrist Hall prior to their employment start date.  In your correspondence, indicate whether you are a green card holder and/or if you have previously worked for the University of Northern Iowa.

Once the office receives your email or notification of employment, you will receive an email detailing instructions on how to log into our website to complete your Foreign National Information questionnaire.  Upon completion of your online questionnaire, you will be contacted with possible dates and times to come in for an appointment to complete various forms and provide requested documentation in order to determine correct taxation and reporting of income.

  • Forms to bring to your appointment will include visa, passport, printed copy of I-94 (with travel history) obtained from https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/history-search , and I-20 or DS-2019
  • Student employees should bring their bank routing and account number information
  • Graduate assistants should bring their assistantship acceptance letter