A key part of the foreign national payroll process is submitting data via the secure Foreign National Information System (FNIS) website.

The purpose of FNIS is to determine tax status and whether tax exemptions or treaties are available.  You will be asked to provide information about your employment at Washington University in St. Louis, your foreign and local addresses, and your visa/immigration status history. The information entered into FNIS is for WashU use only and is not shared outside of the University. 

Step 1

Once OISS is notified that you have been hired by the University or that you will begin to receive WashU funding, we will send you an email message with an URL link, login credentials, and additional instructions for completing FNIS. Please, read the email carefully and in its entirety before starting data entry.

If you receive this email before you arrive in the U.S., you will be unable to provide all of the required information. However, we encourage you to complete as much data as possible in order to expedite the payroll process after you arrive.

Step 2

Gather the following documents:

  • Passport
  • Visa stamp in the passport
  • Form I-94, Arrival Record and/or travel history. You can retrieve an electronic Form I-94 and travel history record from the Custom and Border Protection (CBP) website.
  • Eligibility document; may include, but is not limited to:
    • Form DS-2019, Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor Status
    • Form I-797, Notice of Action
    • Employment Authorization Document (EAD)
    • Form I-20, Certification of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status
  • Social Security card (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) letter
    • If you don’t have either one of these numbers when you complete FNIS, you will be allowed to skip this step during the initial entry stage.

Also be prepared to enter the following information:

  • Local U.S. and foreign addresses
  • Information about your employment at Washington University

Step 3

Log in to your FNIS account via the link and the login credentials you’ve been provided. If this is your first time logging into FNIS, you’ll be prompted to change your password.

When you first enter the account, you’ll be asked if you are willing to provide consent for release of electronic forms to you. We highly recommend that you do so because it makes the process of making forms available to you more efficient and easy to track. If you do not provide consent, all applicable tax forms, which will be discussed later in more detail, will be mailed to your local U.S. address.

Step 4

Complete all the required fields in the five main sections your FNIS record. An outline of the required field follows below. Fields in bold that are also marked by an asterisk (*) are required. All other fields are optional, but sometimes recommended.

Most fields will include a short explanation of what’s required for each field marked by “?”. Click on the question mark sign to see more details. Additional details about each field are also provided below.

Page 1: Basic Information
  • Social Security Number (SSN)
    • If you already have an SSN, enter it here.If you don’t have an SSN, but have an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), enter the ITIN in the ITIN field.
    • If you don’t have either an SSN or an ITIN, proceed to the next question.
  • “If you do not have a U.S. SSN or ITIN, have you applied for one?”
    • Even if you have not yet applied for either of the numbers, you must enter “Yes” as the response to this question in order to proceed. You are required to have one of these numbers depending on your employment type with the University, so you will be required to apply for one as soon as possible upon beginning your appointment at WashU.
  • ID and System questions in the Identifiers section
    • Your Organization ID should already be entered. Do not edit that field unless you are certain that there is a typo in the current entry.
    • Students, please note that your Organization ID is based on your Employee ID, which is different your Student ID.
    • You may enter a Foreign Taxpayer ID if you have one, but it is not required.
    • Do not enter any information in any of the other ID and System fields in this section.
  • Student/Trainee Type
    • Select the appropriate option for each question depending on your primary role at the University.
  • Institution Information
    • Select the appropriate option for each question depending on your primary role at the University.
  • Click “Save Changes” to proceed to the next page.
Page 2: Individual Information
  • Date of birth and Email Address fields should be completed for you. Only make corrections if there is a true error.
  • Date First Ever Entered USA
    • This date is required and must match the date when you first entered the United States regardless of when or in what status. This date will need to match another date you enter in a later section. Use travel history and/or I-94 or your best estimate if exact date is unknown.
  • All other fields on this page are not required.
  • Click “Save Changes” to proceed to the next page.
Page 3: Address Information
  • Enter your local U.S. address in the following format:
    • Address Line 1: Building number and street name (e.g., 1 Brooking Drive)
    • Address Line 2: Apartment number, if applicable (e.g., Apt. 43)
    • Address Line 3: Not applicable
  • Enter foreign residence address
  • Click “Save Changes” to proceed to the next page.
Page 4: Additional information
  • Complete all required fields. All optional fields may be skipped.
  • Click “Save Changes” to proceed to the next page.
Page 5: Visa/Immigration Status History
  • You must add a new and separate visa/immigration record for each time you’ve been in the U.S. as a foreign national.
    • The final list of entries on this page should include a list of all of the times you have physically been present on U.S. soil.
  • Refer to the CBP travel history page and most recent I-94 information for this section.
  • DO NOT use your visa or status dates.
    • This section should be based on dates when you’ve entered and exited the U.S. and dates when you’ve changed status or primary purpose of activity within the U.S.
  • You must enter information about any and all previous visa statuses you have held while in the U.S. Please, disregard the instructions in this section, which state that you only need to provide data for F, J, M or Q visa types since 1985.
    • If you do not have information or dates for a previous visit, please use your best estimate for first and last days in the U.S.
  • Everyone, without exception, should have at least one Visa/Immigration History record entered for the most current status with the most recent entry as the start date for that status.
    • If you are completing FNIS before you’ve arrived in the U.S., you will want to save your existing data entry at this point and come back to enter the First Day in U.S. in this Status field and this section after you’ve entered the U.S. and have received admission from CBP, as indicated on Form I-94.
  • Visa record start and end dates cannot overlap between different records.
  • Enter different Visa/Immigration Records for different primary purposes.
    • Sample scenarios:
      • If you were in the U.S. in F-1 status before for the purpose of studying in a degree program, but after you graduated you began working under Optional Practical Training (OPT) in the same F-1 status, you will need to create a new Visa/Immigration Record for the second portion of your F-1 status. The primary purpose for this entry will have changed to practical training.
      • If you are entering the U.S. for the first time as a J-1 Exchange Visitor now, but you’ve been an F-1 student before and you’ve traveled outside the U.S. two times while you were a student, you would enter four different Visa/Immigration History records on this page. Three would be for each separate stay as an F-1 student, and one for the current entry as a J-1 Exchange Visitor.
  • Additional information about each required field:
    • Immigration Status
      • Select an appropriate visa/status type from the drop-down menu;
      • If your trip did not require a visa for tourism or business, please select one of the Visa Waiver (VW) options located at the bottom of the drop-down menu;
      • Additional questions may auto-populate depending on the visa/status type you select. Please answer them to the best of your ability.
    • Primary Purpose of Visit
      • Enter different Visa/Immigration Records for different primary purposes.
      • For example, if you were in the U.S. in F-1 status for the purpose of studying in a degree program, but after you graduated you began working under Optional Practical Training (OPT) in the same F-1 status, you will need to create a new Visa/Immigration Record for the second portion of your F-1 status. The primary purpose for this second entry will have changed to practical training, and this second instance of your F-1 status should begin on the day when you started OPT based on your EAD.
    • Tax residence country before entering the U.S.
      • Please read the explanation for this field by clicking the question mark icon.
    • Visa Number
      • Please use the number in red that appears on the visa stamp in your passport.
      • If you do not or did not have a visa for that status, or you do not have one in your possession, please enter “0000” in that field.
    • First Day in the U.S. in this Status
      • First day on U.S. soil in that status;
      • For foreign nationals that obtained status outside the U.S. and seek admission in that status at a Port of Entry, this date should coincide with the date when you were admitted to the U.S. as determined by CBP.
        • Refer to I-94 and/or travel history from CBP for this portion.
      • For foreign nationals who changed status within the U.S., this date should coincide with the first date in that status or under that specific activity.
    • Last Day in the U.S. in this Status
      • This may be the date when you left the U.S. or it may be the day when you finished the primary purpose in that status.
        • For example, if you were an F-1 student who later worked on OPT, the Last Day in this status will be the day you finished your program or the day before you started working on OPT.
Page 6: Confirmation
  • On this page you have one last chance to review the data you have entered and submit the information for OISS review.
    • Click the “View Data” button for a summary of your responses.
  • Please, read the statement in the confirmation page carefully before submitting.
  • If you did not already provide consent for electronic release of forms, go to the IRS Forms and click on Consent. We strongly recommend that you provide consent as it will make the University process of releasing forms and your process of obtaining forms more efficient. If you do not provide consent, you will not receive the tax forms generated from Payroll Services’ analysis of your FNIS record.

This concludes the initial FNIS entry process. If you made any errors or submitted information that cannot be approved, an OISS Coordinator will follow up with you via email to request corrections. Once your record is approved by OISS, you will also receive an email notification.

Please, refer to our Foreign National Payroll Process webpage for more information about the overall process and the next steps. As a reminder, please be sure to update your FNIS account after you travel outside the U.S. and any time any of the information you initially enter changes. We highly recommend that you review and update your FNIS account at least once a year.

If you have any issues accessing your FNIS account or if you have question about how to complete FNIS, please contact OISS at oiss@wustl.edu. Alternatively, you can reach out to the OISS Coordinator who sent you the request for the initial FNIS entry process.

If you have questions about your tax analysis summary or tax forms, or for any tax withholding questions or issues, please contact Payroll Services at CFU-InternationalPayroll@email.wustl.edu.