Travel in F-1 Status

Travel Outside the United States

You are permitted to travel outside of the United States during your active F-1 program, as long as the travel does not interfere with your full-time enrollment at the completion of your academic program at MUSC. Before making any travel plans, please discuss your travel directly with your college/academic program and follow any college-specific processes and policies regarding travel.

Please be aware that, as a nonimmigrant F-1 student, you are not guaranteed to be re-admitted into the United States. Many factors or unexpected circumstances may prevent you from re-entering the United States as planned. You should take into consideration all factors before deciding to travel. You should also create a contingency plan for the worst-case scenario if you are unable to return to the United States as planned.

Please feel free to contact the Center for Global Health if you have questions about your particular travel plans.

If you have applied for post-completion OPT, or are currently in an authorized period of OPT, please refer to the F-1 OPT Guide for more information on travel and OPT.

Out of Country Travel Request

If you are planning on traveling outside of the United States, you must submit the Out of Country Travel Request through your Terra Dotta portal. The Out of Country Travel Request must be submitted at least three (3) weeks prior to your anticipated departure date. You must submit this request before you can obtain a travel signature on your Form I-20. 

We recommend that you submit the F-1 Out-of-Country Travel Request as early as possible to avoid any issues with your travel approval or obtaining an I-20 travel signature. Also, you must submit this request in Terra Dotta each time you plan to travel outside of the United States, even if you do not need a new travel signature on your Form I-20.

I-20 Travel Signature

You must have a valid Form I-20 with a valid travel endorsement signature on page 2 in order to request re-entry into the United States. The I-20 travel endorsement signature can only be provided by the Designated School Official (DSO) in the MUSC Center for Global Health. The travel signature is valid for one year (except during post-completion OPT, when the travel signature is valid for only six months). If you have F-2 dependents that will also be traveling, they must also have valid travel signatures on each of their Forms I-20.

After your Out of Country Travel Request is submitted, it will be reviewed by the DSO in the Center for Global Health. You will be notified by email once your request is approved. Requests are typically processed within 7-10 business days. Your Out of Country Travel Request must be approved before you can request an appointment for the I-20 travel signature. Once you are notified that your Out-of-Country Travel Request has been approved, click here to schedule an appointment with the DSO to obtain the I-20 travel signature.

Travel Documents

You must have the following documents on you (not in your luggage) when you request re-entry into the United States:

• Current MUSC Form I-20 (with valid travel signature)
• Valid passport
• Valid F-1 visa
• Financial documents

Your passport should be valid for at least six (6) months beyond your intended period of stay in the United States. If your passport is expired or close to expiring, you must make arrangements to renew your passport, either prior to traveling or in your home country during your trip. Please contact your home country’s embassy or consulate to find out how to extend or renew your passport.

Applying for a New F-1 Visa

If your F-1 visa has expired (or if you do not have an F-1 visa in your current passport), you must apply for a new F-1 visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate before you can request re-entry into the United States. F-1 visas are currently only issued outside of the United States. In other words, it is not possible to renew your F-1 visa while being physically present in the United States. However, you can start the visa application process before you depart from the United States. Refer to the website of the specific U.S. embassy or consulate in your home country for more information on the visa application process and appointment wait times.

Each time you apply for a visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate, you typically must go through the same process and pay the DS-160 visa application fee. However, you do not need to pay the SEVIS I-901 fee each time. You may need to provide proof that you previously paid the SEVIS I-901 fee with any subsequent visa applications.

Please take into consideration the time associated with applying for a visa when making your travel plans. We highly recommend that you schedule your visa interview appointment before departing from the United States. Visa interview wait times can be very long, so it is very important to plan in advance and schedule your appointment for the first or second day after your arrival in your home country. You must allow sufficient time for your application to be processed and for your passport to be returned to you. Typically, if your visa application is approved, it can take a few weeks for your passport to be returned to you.

Processing and approval of nonimmigrant visas is at the sole discretion of the U.S. Department of State. Unfortunately, MUSC cannot intervene on your behalf if your visa application is denied or if you experience significant delays in the processing of your visa application (such as administrative processing). However, please notify the MUSC center for Global Health if your visa is denied or your application is significantly delayed so that we are aware of your situation and can update your travel records accordingly. In addition, you must also notify your college if you experience delays that will impact your travel return date.

Automatic Visa Revalidation

F-1 students and F-2 dependents with expired visas can travel to Canada, Mexico or the adjacent Caribbean islands for 30 days or less and still re-enter the United States, as long as they have a valid I-94 record and are otherwise maintaining valid status. This is known as automatic visa revalidation. Visit the websites below for more information on automatic visa revalidation:

• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Reentry for F-1 Nonimmigrants Traveling Outside the United States
• U.S. Department of State – Automatic Visa Revalidation

If you plan to travel under the automatic visa revalidation rule, you must still have all of your documents in order as if you were traveling with a valid visa, including a Form I-20 with a valid travel signature. You must also submit the Out of Country Travel Request as noted above.

Returning to the United States

Each time you enter the United States from abroad, you will be assigned a new I-94 admission record. The I-94 record is important because it serves as evidence of the nonimmigrant status you were granted when you last entered the United States, and how long you may legally remain in the U.S.

Once you return to the United States, you must immediately retrieve your I-94 record from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection I-94 website. You must print a copy (or save a PDF) of the I-94 record and keep it with your immigration records. You must also save the I-94 record as a PDF document so that you can submit it to the Center for Global Health. The best way to do this (to create a PDF-friendly document) is to click the blue ‘Print’ button on the I-94 web page and then choose Adobe PDF as your printer.

After you have retrieved your new I-94 admission record, you will upload a copy through the approved F-1 Out of Country Travel record in your Terra Dotta portal. If you received a new F-1 visa or passport during your trip, you must also submit copies of these documents through Terra Dotta. After you log in to your Terra Dotta portal, in the Records section, click F-1 Out of Country Travel. Navigate to the questionnaire section and click ‘Documents to Upload After Return to U.S.’ After uploading the documents, submit the questionnaire. If you have any issues with submitting your travel documents in Terra Dotta, please contact the Center for Global Health to request assistance.

Travel Within the United States

Once you have been admitted into the United States and are maintaining valid F-1 status, travel within the U.S. is not restricted, as long as it does not interfere with your full-time enrollment and the completion of your academic program. We do recommend that you carry your passport and status documents (Form I-20 and I-94 record) with you when traveling within the U.S., in the event you need to present them to law enforcement officials.

During your active F-1 program, if you will be traveling within the United States during the standard school week when classes are in session, please submit the In Country Travel record through your Terra Dotta portal. This information is collected in case of a site visit to the MUSC campus from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The In Country Travel Record is not required if you are traveling within the U.S. on the weekends or during official school breaks.