Tips, Tricks, and Workarounds

OISS Connect is a new system and sometimes has bugs or quirks. Please have patience as the vendor creates a fix or comes up with a workaround. When there is a workaround, most often the vendor is also working on a long-term solution to be delivered in one of the quarterly upgrades.

Accessing OISS Connect

  • We recommend using Google Chrome as your browser.
  • If your data is not saving, or anything out of the ordinary is happening, try clearing your cache, log out, and log back in.
  • Departments log into OISS Connect with their Yale credentials (NetID/password), while scholars log in with their email address and password they set themselves. If a scholar is having trouble logging in, direct them to Getting Started with OISS Connect.

Documents Tab

  • Please only add PDF documents to the system or convert documents into PDF files before uploading to OISS Connect. If a file is in an image format (JPG, PNG, BMP, etc.), you can convert them to PDF using these instructions: https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-turn-document-into-pdf/.
  • Documents that are attached to the record can only be deleted by OISS. Do not use the minus sign, as that will reject the document and notify the scholar.
  • If you have uploaded a Document but now cannot see it, OISS can correct this.
  • You can download multiple documents as a bundle by clicking the 'Print Documents' button in the Documents tab. You are able to select which ones to download by checking the box next to them and selecting Print. 

Text and Characters

  • Please avoid using special characters, accent marks, hyphens, or commas in any fields. Using them creates long strings of gibberish in the system.
  • If the address includes non-English letters, please have the scholar translate it.

Finding a Scholar

  • When searching for a scholar in the Dashboard, only enter one name (e.g. only 'Smith', not 'John Smith').  Entering in both names will return all scholars with either John OR Smith in their name. 
  • If you're having trouble finding the scholar, use the Advanced Search to filter by visa type or other term.

Submitting the Record and Obtaining the DS-2019

  • Make sure you click the Submit button. If you don't, we won’t know the record is ready for our review. 
  • Once the completed record has been submitted, it can take up to 10 business days for OISS to process the record.
  • If OISS needs additional information or documents from you, we will get in touch. After you have completed the record, you will need to resubmit it by clicking the Submit button.
  • If OISS needs to get in touch to obtain additional information, the 10-day processing time resets, so be sure to check your and your scholar's information and documents for completeness before submitting so that we can process the record and get the DS-2019 issued ASAP. 
  • Wondering what the status is of the DS-2019 form is for an incoming scholar? Check the status at the top left of the record.
    • Draft: No DS-2019 issued
    • Initial: DS-2019 issued
  • Once a DS-2019 form has been issued, all other changes need to be made using the 'Requests' tab or by clicking on 'Extend DS-2019' at the top of the record for J-1 extensions.

Checklists

Need More Help?