The International Activities Office (IAO) supports the National Weather Service in various administrative areas related to international programs and activities. These support activities include coordinating international travel for NWS employees and coordinating the visits of foreign delegations and students coming to the NWS for various purposes.
Administrative Support for International Travel
for All NWS Employees
The IAO provides
administrative support for international travel
for all NWS employees and for travelers hosted
by NWS, known as “invitational travelers”.
This administrative support includes:
Supplying information for NWS employees applying
for official passports;
Sending Country Clearance Cables to U.S.
embassies in countries to be visited;
Requesting visas from countries to be visited;
Reporting of trips and costs incurred to
the Commerce Administrative Management System
(CAMS) Program
Making travel arrangements for invitational
travelers
Deadlines for Submission of Foreign Travel Package to IAO Prior To Travel
Scenario
Timeframe
Traveler does not have a passport and requires a visa
6-8 Weeks
Traveler does not have a passport and will not require a visa
6-8 Weeks
Traveler has a passport and will require a visa
4 Weeks
Traveler has a passport and will not require a visa
3 Weeks
International
Participation Reports by NWS Organizations to NOAA
Through representation in NOAA’s
International Affairs Council (IAC), the IAO participates
in activities and meetings with representatives
of NOAA’s International Affairs Office and
other NOAA Line Offices to promote “…coordination,
cooperation, and communication on international
activities, and to enhance the visibility of NOAA's
international activities and accomplishments”.
The Department of State’s J1 Visa Program
for Visiting Foreign Research Scholars
The IAO is the
focal point for NWS-hosted visiting scientists
and researchers who require NOAA-sponsored J1
visas. J1 visas are issued by the U.S. Bureau
of Citizenship and Immigration Services and administered
by the Department of State through the Exchange
Visitor Program.
J1 visas are nonimmigrant visas,
and participants in the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program
are expected to return to their home countries
when they complete their programs. Entry into
the United States as a participant in the Exchange
Visitor Program is granted with the understanding
that participants will complete the objectives
of a single program category.
The IAO complies with Department
of Homeland Security directives regarding the
Student and Exchange and Visitor Information System
(SEVIS), an automated process to collect, maintain
and manage information about international foreign
students and exchange visitors during their stay
in the United States.
The Focal Point for International Visitors to
NWS Facilities Nationwide
The offices of
the National Weather Service receive many different
types of international visitors, including heads
of foreign Meteorological Services and their staff
and associates, delegations from foreign governments
in related disciplines, members of regional and
international organizations, individual scientific
and technical collaborators, foreign students
and trainees, and members of foreign academic
communities.
Policy guidance for foreign national visitors
to all Department of Commerce facilities are prescribed
in the “U.S. Department of Commerce Manual
of Security Policies and Procedures”
The policies contained in the Security Manual
apply to all departmental facilities, activities,
and operations. The NWS follows this guidance
and coordinates with the Office of NOAA Security
to ensure coordination with all of its visitors.
The NWS International Activities
Office is the focal point for both short-term
and long-term international visitors to NWS facilities.
Scholarships Through the Voluntary Cooperation
Program and Four-Month Study Tours
for Visiting Foreign Meteorologists at the NWS
National Centers for Environmental Prediction
The IAO, in cooperation
with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO),
provides scholarships through the Voluntary Cooperation
Program for meteorologists from other countries
to study at the NWS National Centers for Environmental
Prediction (NCEP) in Camp Springs, Maryland.
Currently, NCEP provides four-month
sessions at three training desks: the South American
Desk, the Tropical Desk, and the Africa Climate
Desk. The mission of the training desks is to
manage an efficient capacity building program
that meets the operational and climate needs of
the U.S. and international meteorological services.
Training provides opportunities to learn operational
skill, such as numerical weather prediction techniques
and application of the meteorological process
in short and long term weather forecasting in
operational environments.
Candidates be must nominated
by their country’s Permanent Representative
to the WMO and apply directly to the WMO.
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