Postdoc Fellowships Open to International Researchers: Which Ones Accept Non-US Citizens

Some of the best-known US postdoc fellowships require a green card. Here is which ones take visa holders, how each shapes your J-1, H-1B or STEM OPT, and which deadlines are left.

Part of our guide to postdoc jobs for international researchers.

Postdoc fellowships for international researchers split cleanly by citizenship. NIH's K99/R00 award has "no citizenship requirement." HHMI's Hanna H. Gray program takes current postdocs who are authorized, or eligible, to work in the US. Private foundations, including Jane Coffin Childs, Damon Runyon, Helen Hay Whitney and the Life Sciences Research Foundation (LSRF), and NASA's Hubble Fellowship accept non-US citizens who hold the award at a US institution. NIH's F32 and T32 slots and NSF's PRFB and MSPRF require US citizenship, US nationality or a green card. How the award pays you then decides whether you hold it on a J-1, a cap-exempt H-1B or STEM OPT.

Status line, as of November 1, 2026:

• In effect: J-1 research scholars get up to five years in the category, then a two-year bar on repeating it, separate from 212(e). The 2024-12-09 Skills List removed China and India, but government or home-country funding can still make a J-1 subject to 212(e).
• Blocked: the Duration of Status rule (court order since 2026-09-14; DHS's appeal pending), so F-1 and J-1 holders stay on D/S (USCIS I-539 page).
• Proposed: the State Department's J-1 termination and reinstatement rule (published 2026-07-30, comments closed, no final rule) and DHS's OPT fee rule, whose comments close 2026-11-09. The school would be the payer, and the fee stays a proposal until DHS publishes a final rule.
• Investigation, no findings: on 2026-10-09 DOL's Inspector General announced it had served subpoenas on nine universities over alleged J-1 misuse and misclassification. No findings had been announced as of 2026-10-28.
• Opening 2026-11-03: the HHMI Hanna H. Gray competition.

For context, according to the Association of American Universities (AAU), reporting on its member universities, fall 2026 PhD admissions fell 15%, international PhD applications fell 21% and domestic applications rose 3%.

Which postdoc fellowships accept non-US citizens?

Non-US citizens can apply to NIH's K99/R00, HHMI's Hanna H. Gray Fellows (once in a US postdoc), Burroughs Wellcome's CASI, NASA's Hubble Fellowship and private foundation fellowships such as Jane Coffin Childs, Damon Runyon, Helen Hay Whitney and LSRF, usually only for research at a US institution. NIH F32 fellowships, T32 training slots and NSF's PRFB and MSPRF require citizenship or permanent residence.

Three rules sort almost every program:

• NIH and NSF training fellowships are for citizens and green-card holders. That covers the Kirschstein NRSA awards (F32, T32) and NSF's PRFB and MSPRF. The K99/R00 and NASA's Hubble Fellowship are the federal exceptions.
• Private foundations take other nationalities but pin non-citizens to US labs. Damon Runyon, Helen Hay Whitney and LSRF let US citizens take the award abroad; a non-citizen cannot.
• Mobility fellowships require a change of country. HFSP and EMBO exclude the country of your PhD, so they cannot keep you in the US after a US doctorate.

Postdoc fellowships for international researchers: eligibility tables (as of 2026-11)

Every row was checked on the funder's own page on 2026-11-01. "Next deadline" is the next date posted there; "closed" means this year's round has passed and no new date is posted. None of these funders files your visa; the host institution does.

Federal fellowships that require citizenship or a green card

Fellowships open to non-US citizens at a US institution

Mobility fellowships that bring researchers to the US from abroad

That the US is an MSCA "non-associated third country" is our reading; confirm it in the work programme.

Can international researchers apply for NIH or NSF postdoc fellowships?

Some NIH awards, yes; the two NSF postdoctoral fellowships we checked, no. The K99/R00 is open to visa holders. F32 fellowships and T32 slots need permanent residence or citizenship by the award date, and NSF's PRFB and MSPRF need it when you submit.

That timing gap matters if you have a pending green card case. NCI's F32 page says "Citizenship or green card is not needed to apply," but "At the time of the award, the candidate must be" a citizen, noncitizen national or permanent resident. NSF's MSPRF solicitation asks for that status "at the time of submission," so a pending case does not count there.

For visa holders, the K99 is the main NIH fellowship. NCI's page says the visa "must allow the PD/PI to conduct the proposed research" in each phase, including the R00 faculty phase. The other common route is a salaried postdoc paid from a PI's NIH research grant; our guide to NIH postdoc pay versus H-1B wage levels covers it.

Does a fellowship affect whether you get a J-1 or an H-1B?

Yes, through two questions: does the host employ you, and whose money is it? A stipend with no employment usually points to a J-1. A salaried job makes a cap-exempt H-1B or STEM OPT possible. Government money can trigger 212(e).

Salary or stipend: ask this first

Funders differ, and the host usually decides. Jane Coffin Childs' award terms say "An award does not constitute an employer-employee relationship between the Foundation and the JCC Fellow". LSRF's award details say it believes a postdoc working under a mentor "should be paid as an employee," but "the host institution determines the awardee's employment classification" and the type of visa. NHFP hosts "must offer their NHFP Fellows the opportunity to be employees," with a stipendiary option allowed but not required.

That choice matters for an H-1B. DOL's H-1B program page says employers attest they will pay at least the actual wage for similar workers or the prevailing wage for the occupation in the area of intended employment, "whichever is greater." In our reading, a stipend from an outside funder to a non-employee does not fit that on its own, so ask whether the university will hire you and run the award through payroll.

J-1: the funding box and the five-year clock

Hosts often sponsor stipendiary fellows on a J-1 research scholar program, a category the State Department describes as "for a foreign national who enters the United States for the primary purpose of conducting research" (J-1 research scholar page). The host issues your DS-2019, and the funding it lists matters. India and China have been off the Skills List since 2024-12-09, but US-government or home-government money can still make you subject to 212(e). Our explainer on the J-1 research scholar category and its two-year home residency rule covers how that bar blocks a later H-1B or green card until you serve it or win a waiver.

The category itself lasts up to five years, and State's page says a new research scholar must "not have participated in and completed a research scholar program within the last 24 months." A three-year fellowship that starts after two years of J-1 research uses the whole five-year allowance.

Cap-exempt H-1B: the university as employer

A university, a nonprofit affiliated with one, or a nonprofit or government research organization can file a cap-exempt H-1B at any time of year under 8 CFR 214.2(h)(8)(iii)(F), with no lottery; see our guide to cap-exempt universities, research hospitals and nonprofits. USCIS says the cap-gap extension applies "only to beneficiaries of cap-subject H-1B petitions," so ask the host when it plans to file relative to your OPT EAD end date.

Two states have frozen new H-1Bs at public universities (in effect as of 2026-11-01): Florida's Board of Governors at 12 public universities from 2026-03-02 until at least 2027-01-05 (renewals unaffected), and Texas at state agencies and public universities until 2027-05-31 unless the Texas Workforce Commission permits one.

If you are abroad, the $100,000 H-1B entry restriction is in effect on paper through 2027-09-21, but courts have blocked the policies that collect it, so it is not being collected as of 2026-11-01. DHS says it "still plans to collect the payment" if the order is lifted (USCIS I-129 page). J-1 and H-1B applicants interview in person, so check the State Department's wait-times tool before you fix a start date.

How the money flow maps to your status options (as of 2026-11)

Can you hold a fellowship on STEM OPT?

Only if the host institution employs you. USCIS requires a STEM OPT employer to be enrolled in E-Verify, sign Form I-983 and keep you as a real employee, and a foundation stipend paid to a non-employee usually does not qualify.

The USCIS STEM OPT page is direct: "The employer will have and maintain a bona fide employer-employee relationship with the student." The student also may not work for the employer on a "volunteer" basis. Without a qualifying job, SEVP's unemployment counter counts each day without employer information against a limit of 90 days on post-completion OPT and 150 in total with STEM OPT.

Post-completion OPT, before any STEM extension, has its own test: SEVP's OPT page requires at least 20 hours a week in work related to your major. Your DSO decides whether a fellowship position can be reported that way in SEVIS.

Read each program's visa terms too. The NHFP announcement says non-US awardees "must have valid visas, either Exchange Visitor or Immigrant Visas," so ask STScI before assuming OPT will do. Our comparison of a postdoc on OPT or STEM OPT versus a J-1 or H-1B goes deeper.

The proposed OPT fee changes nothing yet. If finalized, the school is the legal payer and may pass the cost on, and the fee would reach only DSO recommendations dated 60 or more days after a final rule.

When are postdoc fellowship deadlines? A worked 2026-27 calendar

Each funder sets its own dates, and many 2026 rounds have closed. Here is how the rest line up for one reader: an F-1 PhD student in molecular biology at a US university, defending in May 2027, with no green card, a committed host lab and a July 2027 start in mind.

• 2026-11-03 to 2026-12-15: Hanna H. Gray is open, but not to her yet. HHMI requires a PhD or MD and a current mentored postdoc at an HHMI-eligible institution, so it becomes an option in a later cycle, once she is a postdoc.
• 2027-01-15 to 2027-03-15: Damon Runyon's next round runs, per its forms page. Its Level 1 window covers degrees conferred 2025-09-15 to 2027-03-15, so a May 2027 degree falls outside it; she would watch for the next August round.
• 2027-02-01, 3 p.m. ET: Jane Coffin Childs is due. JCC accepts PhD candidates who do not yet hold the degree, if it is conferred before the fellowship begins and they have a commitment from a sponsoring lab. Decisions come in mid-May 2027 and fellowships start 2027-07-01.
• Skip: F32, T32 slots, PRFB and MSPRF (no green card), and EMBO and HFSP (her PhD country is the US).

If Jane Coffin Childs funds her from 2027-07-01, the host's choice of salary or stipend shapes her status. As a salaried employee she could start on post-completion OPT, which USCIS lets students request "up to 90 days before you complete your degree, but no later than 60 days after," within 30 days of the DSO's recommendation (USCIS OPT page). USCIS's processing-times tool showed 80% of F-1 student I-765s completed within 5 months when we read it on 2026-11-01, so even a February filing leaves little slack before July. If the host pays a stipend instead, it may sponsor a J-1; her DSO and the host's international office decide which status fits.

How to check a fellowship before you apply

1. Open the funder's current call (the NIH NOFO, the NSF solicitation or the foundation's guidelines) and search it for "citizen," "permanent resident" and "visa."
2. Ask the host department's grants or HR office whether the award will be paid as salary on payroll or as a stipend to a non-employee.
3. Email the host's international scholars office to ask which status it uses for fellows paid that way: J-1 research scholar, cap-exempt H-1B, or OPT and STEM OPT.
4. Confirm with your DSO, if you are on F-1, that the position can be reported as employment in SEVIS and, for STEM OPT, supports a Form I-983.
5. Check the funding section of any draft DS-2019 for US-government or home-government money, and look up your country and field on the Exchange Visitor Skills List.
6. Book a licensed immigration attorney before you accept if you expect to seek an H-1B, O-1 or green card later, and a tax professional who handles nonresident returns for how a stipend versus a salary is taxed.

Common mistakes

• Applying to F32 or NSF fellowships with no green card in sight. NIH checks status at the award, NSF at submission. "I'll have a green card by then" fails at NSF.
• Assuming "any nationality" means the funder sponsors your visa. NHFP says that for an exchange visitor visa "the sponsorship will be under the host institution."
• Applying to Hanna H. Gray as a graduate student. HHMI requires a doctorate and a current mentored postdoc.
• Planning STEM OPT on a stipend. Without an employer-employee relationship and a signed I-983, the unemployment clock runs.
• Running out of J-1 time. A long fellowship late in a J-1 stay can hit the five-year limit and the 24-month bar after it, which is a different rule from 212(e).
• Trusting third-party deadline lists. Damon Runyon runs two rounds a year, and its January date opens a round rather than closing one.
• Reading the OIG subpoenas as findings. As of 2026-10-28 the OIG had announced none, and the investigation targets the universities' J-1 programs. Your host's J-1 Responsible Officer can say whether it touches your program.

Frequently asked questions

Which postdoc fellowships accept non-US citizens?

As checked on 2026-11-01: NIH's K99/R00 (no citizenship requirement), HHMI Hanna H. Gray (current postdocs authorized or eligible to work in the US), Burroughs Wellcome CASI (temporary residents included), and Jane Coffin Childs, Damon Runyon, Helen Hay Whitney, LSRF and NASA Hubble. Non-citizens generally must hold these awards at a US institution; CASI also allows Canada.

Can international researchers apply for NIH or NSF postdoc fellowships?

Only some NIH awards. The K99/R00 is open to visa holders. NIH F32 fellowships and T32 slots require citizenship, US nationality or permanent residence at the time of the award; NSF's PRFB and MSPRF require it at submission.

Does a fellowship affect whether I get a J-1 or an H-1B?

Yes. A stipend often points to a J-1 sponsored by the host, while an H-1B needs the host to employ you and pay at least the required wage. Government or home-country funding can trigger 212(e), so ask the host's international office and an immigration attorney before you accept.

Can I hold a fellowship on STEM OPT?

Only if the host employs you. USCIS requires E-Verify, a signed I-983 and a bona fide employer-employee relationship, which a foundation stipend often lacks. Ask your DSO first, because days without employer information count toward the 90-day or 150-day limit.

When are postdoc fellowship deadlines?

Each funder sets its own. As posted on 2026-11-01, for visa holders: Hanna H. Gray opens 2026-11-03 and closes 2026-12-15 (current postdocs only); EMBO's cutoff is 2027-01-22; Jane Coffin Childs is due 2027-02-01; Damon Runyon's next round is due 2027-03-15. For green-card holders: PRFB 2027-09-28 and MSPRF 2027-10-20. LSRF, Helen Hay Whitney and NASA Hubble have closed for this year.

Sources

• NCI program pages: K99/R00, F32, T32
• NSF solicitations: PRFB, NSF 26-504; MSPRF, NSF 23-603
• Foundation terms: LSRF award details; Jane Coffin Childs award terms
• USCIS: STEM OPT, OPT for F-1 students, cap-gap, I-129, I-539
• SEVP: unemployment counter; F-1 OPT
• DOL: H-1B program; OIG press release, 2026-10-09
• State Department: J-1 research scholar; 2024 Skills List notice; J-1 proposed rule
• AAU: PhD admissions data
• Each fellowship's own page, linked in the tables above

How we checked this: we read each funder's eligibility and dates pages, plus the USCIS, SEVP, DOL, State Department and Federal Register pages listed, on 2026-11-01 and re-checked the fellowship dates on 2026-11-02. Rules and dates change between cycles, so reopen each link before you apply.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Your DS-2019, I-20, I-94 or approval notice, and your DSO, J-1 Responsible Officer or immigration attorney, govern your case.

If you are weighing a fellowship against an industry role that sponsors, our guide to visa paths from postdoc to industry research scientist maps the move, and F1Jobs helps international researchers run a focused search for employers that sponsor visas.