International Admissions and Services (IAS) strongly advises you to consult with an IAS advisor prior to making any travel arrangements.

Travel within the United States

Many people think that their passport and visa documents are only needed when traveling abroad.  WRONG!  If you are planning a trip within the United States to cities near or far, it is important that you carry your passport and immigration documents with you.  If you are a Canadian citizen, you are exempt from the passport requirements; however, if you have one, please carry it with you.  If not, please carry other documents, such as a citizenship card, a birth certification with a government-issued photo ID, etc.  Since September 11, 2001, there has been heightened security not only at border crossings, but also at bus terminals, train stations, and airports through the United States.  You never know when you will be stopped by an authorized government agent and questioned randomly.  Therefore, we urge you to carry your immigration documents along with a Bronco ID with you for all travel outside Kalamazoo.  While you are in Kalamazoo, please carry at least a copy of your immigration documents with you at all times.

Travel to Canada or Mexico (of 30 days or less)

Under certain circumstances, nonimmigrants with expired visas are allowed to return to the U.S. in the same status in which they departed, to continue their previously approved activities without having to obtain new visas after a 30-day or less visit to these counties.  This is known as automatic extension of visa validity.  For F and J status holders, this benefit also extends to adjacent islands other than Cuba.

Please note that you might need to obtain an entry visa to enter these countries.  Please check with a respective consulate for more information.

F-1 students need the following documents to re-enter the United States:

• Valid Form I-20 (F-1 & F-2) endorsed for re-entry by IAS
• Valid passport for (for more than six months from the date of intended return)
• Valid I-94 card
• Transcripts
• Financial document(s) listed on Form I-20

J-1 exchange visitors need the following documents to re-enter the United States:

• Valid Form DS-2019 (J-1 & J-2) endorsed for re-entry by IAS
• Valid passport (for more than six months from the date of intended return)
• Valid I-94 card

H-1B or O-1 workers need the following documents to re-enter the United States:

• Valid passport (for more than six months from the date of intended return)
• Valid I-94 card
• Original I-797 Approval Notice

If you hold any other immigration status, please consult with the IAS prior to traveling outside the U.S.

* Please note that if you are a citizen of Iran, Syria, Sudan, or Cuba, you will always need a valid visa to re-enter the U.S. Even though a national of a country other than Iran, Syria, Sudan or Cuba, my be eligible for reentry under the regulations, though, they may still require security or other clearances before being permitted to reenter the United States, which may require them to remain outside the U.S. for more than 30 days. 

Any nonimmigrant who chooses to apply for a new U.S. entry visa while in contiguous territory will not be eligible for the "automatic revalidation" benefit during the course of that trip, but would rather have to wait until the visa is granted in order to re-enter the United States. This would seem clearly to prevent someone whose visa application is denied from then reentering the U.S. under the automatic revalidation provision, but the broad language could also be read to prevent individuals whose visa application is still pending from using the automatic extension of visa validity provision to reenter the U.S. before the visa application is decided.

Travel Abroad (including visits to Canada or Mexico for more than 30 days)

Whether or not to travel abroad is a personal decision.  Students and Scholars whose U.S. entry visas have expired will need to obtain a new U.S. entry visas to return. You should anticipate longer waiting periods to obtain visas, closer scrutiny of your visa documents, in-person interviews, and possible security clearance delays.  We urge you to check with the U.S. consulate or embassy where you will apply for the visa, or its web site before leaving the U.S. to determine the particular consular post's policies and procedures because much has changed recently. Please allow yourself ample time for applying for new visas.

F-1 students need the following documents to re-enter the United States:

• Valid Form I-20 (F-1 & F-2) endorsed for re-entry by IAS
• Valid passport (for more than six months from the date of intended return)
• Valid F-1 visa
• Valid I-94 card
• Transcripts
• Financial document(s) listed on Form I-20

J-1 exchange visitors need the following documents to re-enter the United States:

• Valid Form DS-2019 (J-1 & J-2) endorsed for re-entry by IAS
• Valid passport (for more than six months from the date of intended return)
• Valid J-1 visa
• Letter from supervisor verifying continued employment/sponsorship

H-1B or O-1 workers need the following documents:

• Valid passport (for more than six months from the date of intended return)
• Valid H-1B or O-1 visa
• Original I-797 Approval Notice
• Copy of I-129 petition
• 2-3 most recent pay stubs
• Letter from supervisor confirming continued employment

If you hold any other immigration status, please consult with the IAS prior to traveling outside the U.S.

Travel and H-1B portability

Under certain circumstances, a foreign national holding H-1B status in the U.S. whose behalf a new employer (i.e. Western Michigan University) has properly filed an H-1B petition under the H-1B Portability provisions may travel abroad and apply for re-admission to the U.S.

Note: IAS does not recommend you to travel until the H-1B portability petition by WMU is actually approved by USCIS since you may unluckily encounter an immigration official who is not familiar with this rule.

You should have in your position the following documents when returning to U.S. from international travel (including to Canada or Mexico):

• Passport valid for more than 6 months from the date of intended return
• Valid H-1B visa (presumably annotated with the name of a previous H-1B employer)
• Original I-797 Approval Notice for the previous H-1B employer
• Original I-797 Receipt Notice issued to WMU that filed the H-1B portability petition
• Proof of your employment with WMU, such as recently issued pay stubs and/or a recent letter from supervisor confirming your employment
• Photocopy of your I-94 issued at the time of your last entry
• Photocopy of the WMU’s H-1B portability petition filed with the USCIS, which includes a Labor Condition Application.

* Note for scholars with more than one employer -- please note that the back of your I-94 card must list all of your employers, not only one.  Thus, when you travel, please be sure to present all relevant documents from all of your employers so that an immigration officer will be fully aware of the scope of your stay in the U.S.  For example, an H-1B employee working for two H-1B employers (with two separate H-1B approval notices) must be cautious and present both H-1B approval notices for an immigration inspection at a port of entry.  And he/she must make sure that the names of both H-1B employers are noted (by an immigration officer) on the back of the I-94 card.  If not, you may lose an eligibility to work for one of the H-1B employers after returning to the U.S. from an international trip.   

Sensitive Areas of Study/Research

U.S. visa officials worldwide have been requesting Security Advisory Opinions (SAOs) from Washington for nonimmigrant visa applicants wishing to enter the United States for educational or business purposes that involve sensitive areas of study/research. Such a clearance can add up to 16 weeks or longer to the normal visa processing time.

Nationals applying for nonimmigrant visas who are from countries identified by the U.S. State Department as being state sponsors of terrorism will warrant special scrutiny if their purpose for entering the United States involves sensitive areas of study/research. Those countries are: Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria. But even if a foreign national is not a citizen of one of the countries listed above, their field of study/research (especially if it is in the sciences, technology or engineering) might require the visa application to undergo a security clearance REGARDLESS of the country they are from.

Special Registration

Nonimmigrants from certain countries, as well as other individuals who the Attorney General Counsel or the Department of State (DOS) designates on a discretionary basis, are required to be processed under "special registration" procedures.

In December 2003, the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) published an interim rule that suspends the automatic 30-day and annual follow-up interview requirement (also known as "re-registration") for foreign nationals who are registered in the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS).

However, the departure control will continue.  Special registrants must leave the U.S. only through a port that has been authorized for NSEERS departure.  At the authorized port, the special registrant must report to a departure control office where his or her exit will be verified and the registration will be closed.  Failure to fulfill departure obligations without good cause will result in the registrant being presumed inadmissible to the U.S. in the future.  A list of (NSEERS) authorized departure ports and other information is available at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/visitors_us/.   

In addition, a waiver for relief from the departure portion of the special registration requirements may be requested in writing.  There is NO form to request a waiver; a letter is sufficient.  Example of the circumstances that might warrant a waiver includes, but is not limited to the following:

• a representative of a foreign government who was issued a visitor's visa in lieu of a diplomatic visa
• an individual who should be exempt from special registration but was registered in error (such as an individual entering with a diplomat's visa)
• an individual who is eligible for the frequent traveler exception to registration

All waiver requests should be sent to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Field Office Director for the port from which you intend to depart or (for frequent travelers) the port for which you most frequently arrive in the U.S.  If a request for a waiver is not approved in writing before your departure, you must report to the port-of-departure office and comply with the departure requirements.  A list of addresses for the CBP Field Offices can be found at www.uscis.gov. In the waiver request, please provide:

• a detailed description of the relief that you are seeking
• your name
• date of birth
• Fingerprint Identification Number (on your I-94 card)
• a 1 inch x1 inch passport style photograph
• alien registration number, if applicable
• any document supporting your application

The frequent travelers must also show that there is good cause or unusual circumstances to warrant the exemption.  In determining whether to grant relief, the field office director may consider the foreign national's mode of travel, business and economic concerns, the purpose of the travel, and other factors.  If granted, relief from port-of-entry registration also includes relief from the departure control requirements.

US-VISIT

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that effective May 6, 2007 foreign nationals will no longer be required to use the U.S.-VISIT exit kiosks which were available in select airports when they leave the United States.  Foreign nationals who receive a Form I-94 upon arrival must still return the form to an airline or ship representative when departing the United States. The DHS stated that in lieu of the U.S.-VISIT exit requirement, it will be soon be publishing a regulation outlining its plans for implementing an integrated air exit strategy which will be implemented in conjunction with the airline industry. The DHS stated that this new system should minimize its effect on foreign nationals departing the U.S. and ensure seamless biometric collection regardless of the foreign national’s departure point. The current system for capturing biometric information for the U.S.-VISIT system upon a foreign national’s admission into the United States will continue.

DHS deployed the entry-exit registration program known as US-VISIT (U.S. Visitor and Immigration Status Indication Technology) at 115 airports and 14 seaports on January 5, 2004.

Foreign nationals entering the U.S. with a visa will be fingerprinted and photographed at the time they are inspected at a port of entry (i.e. airports).  Foreign nationals registering for the first time will have their right and left index prints scanned electronically and their photograph digitally captured.  Border officers will then collect comprehensive information on the visitor, including name; date of birth; citizenship; sex; nationality; immigration status; passport number and country of issuance; country of residence; U.S. visa number, date of issuance, and alien registration number, where applicable; and complete address in the United States.

The visitor will be checked against various national security and law enforcement databases to determine eligibility.  Some foreign nationals are already having their biometric data captured at the consulate.  The biometric data will only be captured one time either at the consulate or at the port of entry.  The foreign national's fingerprint will be used to verify identity upon each entry into the United States as well as at visa revalidation at the consulates.  It is not yet decided whether those eligible for a waiver of the personal appearance interview will still have to undergo an identity check upon visa revalidation. Everyone age 14-79 will have his or her biometric data taken.

Upon exit, foreign nationals will be required to sign-out at one of the US-VISIT kiosks that will be located beyond the TSA (Transportation Safety Administration) checkpoints. The exact location of the kiosks will vary depending upon airport layout.  The kiosks are similar to INSPASS or an ATM machine.  Touch screen technology will guide the person through the checkout process.

Those entering with connecting flights should probably be advised to allow more time than usual between international flight arrival and the connecting flight.  If an individual goes through the US-VISIT registration at a preflight facility, then there should not be a delay upon U.S. arrival.  Additional information, including brochures that explain the process, is available at www.dhs.gov/us-visit.

For more information, please contact IAS prior to traveling outside the U.S.