Foreign Activity Registration

Global Business Services is building a University-wide database of international activities, programs and centers both abroad and in the U.S. that will be used for compliance purposes.

This database is not a travel registry. It is intended to record information about core University mission-related activities (teaching, research and patient-care) which are on-going, or which are substantively performed outside of the U.S.

Registration Guidelines

In general, the following activities should be registered:

"On-going activities" that are undertaken outside of the U.S. (There is no clear-cut definitive duration criteria for "on-going"; but, anticipated activities are more extensive than "business travel" (e.g. attendance at a foreign conference, or business meeting). In general, activities greater than 30 days are of interest, but only those greater than 90 days are anticipated to be reported to the IRS.

Criteria for on-going activities can include:
- Legal Presence: A legal entity, contract or partnership has been established in a foreign location
- Physical Presence: Facilities owned, leased, rented or shared for more than 90 days
- Repetition and Duration: Personnel who are in a country performing project / activity work for a period of 30 days or greater in a 365 day period
- Use of Stanford Name: The Stanford name or one of Stanford's operating units is used to identify a program, project or activity in a foreign country.
- University Funding and Sponsorship: Students, faculty or staff may be sponsored financially or academically by Stanford, or by external funding administered by the University.
Activities that are global in academic scope, even if conducted in the U.S. (This information will be passed to the Stanford Global Gateway, but is not of interest for compliance purposes).
Outside consulting activities not related to a Stanford academic appointment, nor funded through Stanford are not required to be registered.