Visa Information | Leitner Summer Human Rights Institute

GENERAL INFORMATION FOR PROSPECTIVE PARTICIPANTS

Participants who will be applying for F-1 visas are strongly encouraged to apply by April 29, 2024 due to lengthy visa processing times.

Most in-person participants who are not U.S. citizens or green card holders will need to secure a visa prior to beginning the program. The SHRI does NOT require any particular type of visa to attend, and we are pleased to offer official and competent guidance to help participants determine which visa is appropriate for their situation. The process for securing a visa should be completed as soon as possible following registration, as delays are common.

The SHRI satisfies the F-1 visa/status requirements, and Fordham can issue I-20s to support F-1 visa applications for this program. Participants who have received confirmation that their registration in the SHRI is complete may refer to the Visa Instructions for Registered Participants, below, for detailed instructions on the process for securing an F-1 visa.

In the alternative, some participants may enter the US as a B-1/B-2, or WT visitor. This is appropriate for those who are “coming to the United States primarily for tourism,” and “also incidentally will engage in a short course of study during their visit.” It cannot be used by participants who will be staying on in the U.S. to pursue a degree-granting program following the SHRI. If you choose the B-1, B-2 or WT visa, you are entering the US with “tourism” as your primary purpose; your “study” at the SHRI is your secondary purpose and “incidental and avocational” to your primary tourist purpose.

For more information, please visit the main Fordham University Immigration and Visa Information page.

VISA INSTRUCTIONS FOR REGISTERED PARTICIPANTS

Participants may begin the visa application process immediately upon receiving confirmation that their registration for the Summer Human Rights Institute (SHRI) is complete. If you have received confirmation of your registration and would like assistance in determining which visa is appropriate for your situation, please email shri@law.fordham.edu.

If you have decided to pursue the F-1 option, please carefully review and follow the instructions below, according to your personal circumstances.

F-1 Visa Instructions

The requirements and process to apply for an F-1 visa will vary depending on inter alia upon whether you:

Are already in the U.S. or will be coming for another program before the SHRI
Will be starting another program at Fordham or another US institution after the SHRI
Are coming to the U.S. just to attend the SHRI

If you need further assistance or clarification to determine which category best captures your personal situation, please email shri@law.fordham.edu.

If You Are Already in the U.S. OR Will be Coming for Another Program Before the SHRI

If you are already in the U.S. or will be coming to the U.S. for another program prior to attending the SHRI, it may be possible to maintain your current status or transfer your SEVIS record to Fordham.

If You Will Be Starting Another Program at Fordham University – or Another US Institution – after the SHRI

If you will attend the SHRI prior to beginning another program at Fordham or another US institution later this summer or in Fall 2024, you may need to submit separate AFCOE forms for EACH program.

If You Are Coming to the U.S. just for the SHRI

If you are coming to the US just to attend the Summer Human Rights Institute, please complete the Application for Certification of Eligibility (AFCOE) and submit it with the supporting financial documents specified on the form to shri@law.fordham.edu.

Upon submission of the required AFCOE form and supporting documentation, Fordham University will issue a SEVIS I-20, generally within 2 to 3 weeks, which will enable the participant to apply for an F-1 visa to enter the United States for the purpose of participating in the Summer Institute. The Office of International Services will email you when your I-20 is ready, to arrange delivery.

Once you receive your I-20, you may apply for an F-1 visa at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. Information about the location, policy, and procedures of specific U.S. posts is available at www.travel.state.gov. Current global conditions have led to longer processing times for visas in many countries. Please consult the U.S. consulate nearest you to plan accordingly. In general, you will need:

SEVIS I-20;
Passport;
Recent photographs;
Proof of financial support; and
SHRI Welcome Letter (attached to formal registration confirmation email)
SHRI Letter of Introduction (provided upon notice of intent to apply for F-1, following registration)

We recommend that you call your local consulate or embassy for specific instructions before you apply.

Visa Check-In on Arrival

SHRI participants who travel to the U.S. under an F-1 visa issued using documentation provided by Fordham University must check in virtually or in person with the Office for International Services, bringing with them their original form I-20, passport, and I-94 card. This check-in procedure is required by U.S. law, and failure to check in with the Office for International Services is a violation of your F-1 status and could cause serious implications with the U.S.government. Participants can either complete the check-in process online or stop by the OIS office. Additional information is available on the OIS website.

Professor Gay McDougall

Professor Gay McDougall is Distinguished Scholar-In-Residence at the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School. Prior to coming to Fordham, she served as the first United Nations Independent Expert on Minority Issues, as a member of the UN treaty body that oversees compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and as Executive Director of the international human rights NGO, Global Rights. She was one of five international members of the South African Independent Electoral Commission that administered the first democratic, non-racial elections in that country. For 14 years prior to that appointment, she had served as Director of the Southern Africa Project of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where she worked to secure the release of thousands of political prisoners.

Professor Emily Smith Ewing

Professor Emily Smith Ewing is PVH Corp. Fellow in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice and Adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham Law School, where she co-teaches in the Center’s CSR and International Law and Development in Africa clinics. Prior to joining the Leitner Center, Emily worked as a corporate lawyer at Norton Rose Fulbright, and directed a small NGO, Hands On Hong Kong, that advised companies on CSR programs, among other initiatives. With past work experience in London, Hong Kong, Southern China and New York, Emily now works on CSR issues across a range of industries and regions, including research on CSR in Africa, examining the rights of workers in the apparel sector across the globe, and investigating the social responsibility of lawyers to provide pro bono services in Colombia and Ghana, with upcoming projects in Argentina and Chile.

Professor Martin S. Flaherty

Professor Martin S. Flaherty is Leitner Family Professor of Law and Co-Founding Director of the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and the New School in New York. Formerly chair of the New York City Bar Association’s International Human Rights Committee, Professor Flaherty founded the Rule of Law in Asia Program at the Leitner Center as well as co-founded the Committee to Support Chinese Lawyers, and has led or participated in human rights fact-finding trips in Northern Ireland, Turkey, Hong Kong, Mexico, Malaysia, Kenya, and Romania. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and the author and editor of numerous books, chapters, and scholarly articles, in the fields of constitutional law and history, foreign affairs, and international human rights.

John Y. Mensah, Lecturer in Law

John Yeboah Mensah is a Lecturer at the University of Professional Studies Accra, teaching Public International Law and Jurisprudence. Prior to joining the UPSA Law School, John was appointed as a Dean’s Fellow with a joint appointment at the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice and the Access to Justice Initiative at Fordham Law School. In this capacity as Dean’s Fellow, John worked, inter alia, on initiatives to promote access to justice in civil matters and conferences to highlight the challenges facing low-income communities in addressing civil matters. At the Leitner Center, John researched legal issues on climate change in Africa and further worked as a Teaching Assistant in International Law, Human Rights, and Corporate and Social Responsibility.

Professor Elisabeth Wickeri

Professor Elisabeth Wickeri is Executive Director of the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice and Adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham Law School. Professor Wickeri also directs the Center’s Asia Law and Justice Program and is Chair of the New York City Bar Association’s International Human Rights Committee. She concentrates her research on human rights defenders, socio-economic rights, and the rights of vulnerable groups and people. At Fordham, Professor Wickeri teaches in the public international law curriculum, as well as the Leitner Center’s International Human Rights and Law and Development in Africa clinics, and has led human rights fieldwork in Bolivia, Cambodia, China, Ghana, Myanmar, Nepal, Hong Kong, Rwanda, and Tanzania. She also serves as a law lecturer and course director with the Center for International Humanitarian Cooperation.

Professor Ramya J. Kudekallu

Professor Ramya Kudekallu is the Telford Taylor Human Rights Visiting Instructor at the Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human
Rights (CLIHHR), and focuses her work and scholarship on the rights of minorities and atrocity prevention through international
intervention. She has been teaching a Human Rights Scholarship class as well as leading research that focuses on labor, gender-based
discrimination and access to justice. Her previous work experience includes research and litigation at the Alternative Law Forum, a
collective of human rights lawyers in India committed to responding to issues of social and economic injustice. Her work explored gender
and civil liberties at large, representing, in particular, the rights of sex workers and the LGBTIQ community. As part of her early professional
experience, Ramya worked with World YMCA in Geneva, Switzerland. She also co-founded IYAFP, an international youth-led reproductive
rights organization that advocates for youth access to SRHR services as a human right. She served as the Crowley Fellow at the Leitner
Center for International Law and Justice. Ramya graduated with an LLB degree from Bishop Cotton Law College, India. She attributes her
motivation to pursue public interest law to the encouragement and support she received in an all-women’s law school. In 2018, Ramya graduated from Fordham School of Law with an LLM in International Law and Justice.

Dr. Kwaku Agyeman-Budu

Dr. Kwaku Agyeman-Budu is a Lawyer by profession and a legal academic. Since January 2013 he has been teaching various law courses
at the Faculty of Law of the Ghana Institute of Management & Public Administration (GIMPA) in Accra, Ghana. In September of 2013,
Kwaku established The Justice Foundation, an apolitical not-for-profit non-religious human rights organization, with the sole purpose of
increasing access to justice in Ghana. In this capacity, he has represented numerous indigent criminal defendants in the courts of Ghana
on a pro-bono basis. Kwaku holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree (LL.B) and a Qualifying Certificate in Law from the University of Ghana and
the Ghana School of Law respectively. He also holds a Master of Laws Degree (LL.M) in International Law & Justice and a Doctor of
Juridical Science Degree (SJD) from Fordham University School of Law in the United States. Presently, he is the Head of Law Centers at the
Faculty of Law, GIMPA, where he oversees the management of the African Center of International Criminal Justice (ACICJ) and the African
Center on Law & Ethics (ACLE). He is also a member and coordinator of the Judicial Service of Ghana’s Internship & Clerkship Committee,
where he oversees the placement of law students to the various courts of Ghana. His research interests include Constitutional Law,
Criminal Law, Intellectual Property Law, International Human Rights Law and International Criminal Law & Justice.

Professor Paolo Galizzi, Faculty Director

SHRI Faculty Director Professor Paolo Galizzi is Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Sustainable Development Legal Initiative (SDLI) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program at the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School. He joined Fordham from Imperial College, University of London, and previously held academic positions at Universities of Nottingham, Verona, and Milan. At the Leitner Center, Professor Galizzi directs the international development clinic, as well as a new clinic on corporate social responsibility that he began in 2012. Professor Galizzi’s research interests lie in international environmental law, human rights and the law of sustainable development, and he has published extensively in these areas. He has also directed numerous legal research and capacity building projects in partnership with diverse public and private stakeholders in Sub-Saharan Africa.