When travel by PI / project personnel is necessitated by sponsor or nature of work, basic filing and anti-fraud fees associated with short-term, travel visa costs such as H1B visas (as opposed to longer-term, immigration visas) generally allowable expenditures.
Since short-term visas are issued for a specific period and purpose, they can be clearly identified as directly connected to work performed on an award.
For these costs to be directly charged to the award, they must:
- Be critical and necessary for the conduct of the project;
- Be allowable under the terms and conditions of the award;
- Be consistent with University accounting practices and policies;
- Meet the definition of a direct cost.
Consult the terms and conditions of your award and awarding agency before expensing visa fees to a sponsored project.
Costs for premium processing / expediting are unallowable.