If you wish to temporarily visit your country of citizenship or permanent residency, you will be allowed to enter that country if you hold a valid passport.    Before temporarily visiting a country other than your country of citizenship or permanent residency, you must check on entry visa requirements for said country.  The addresses and phone numbers of all foreign embassies located in Washington D.C. are listed on the following website: http://www.embassy.org

 

To reenter the US after a temporary absence (i.e., an absence of five months or less), you must have a valid passport, valid F-1 visa, and a properly endorsed Form I-20.   If you have applied for post-completion Optional Practical Training and have completed your program of study but have not yet received an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), you must also present the Form I-797 receipt notice for the pending EAD application to reenter the US.  If you completed your program of study and have been issued an EAD for post-completion Optional Practical Training, you must also present the EAD and a letter from your current or prospective employer to reenter the US.

Properly endorsed Form I-20:  If you have already used your Form I-20 to enter the US once, then you must have your International Student and Scholar Services, ISSS, Advisor endorse page 3 of your Form I-20.  This page, when properly endorsed, may be used for reentry to attend the same school after a temporary absence from the US.  Each certification signature is valid for only one year from date of signature, or until the Form I-20 expiration date, whichever comes first.  You will need to allow five business days for your ISSS Advisor to endorse your Form I-20 since a signature on a Form I-20 requires an evaluation of your academic and immigration status.

Valid Passport:  You must have a passport that is kept valid at all times while you are in the US.  If your passport will expire within six months, contact your embassy in the US (http://www.embassy.org) and make arrangements to renew as soon as possible. 

Valid F-1 visa:  You must have a valid F-1 visa in your passport. If your visa has expired, you will need to make arrangements to renew your visa at the American Consulate/Embassy overseas. 

Documents you will need for visa issuance:  You will need a valid passport, a current photograph, a properly endorsed Form I-20, proof of financial capability for continuing studies, and continued nonimmigrant intent.  Please check the Department of State website to inquire what other documents you may need: http://www.state.gov/ 

Where to apply:  Although you may be able to secure an original or renewal of an F-1 visa in a foreign country other than your own, your chances of being issued an F-1 visa are greatest when you apply at a US consular office in your country of citizenship or permanent residency.  You may face more stringent requirements in a third country and should allow more time in case of delays.    It is not possible to obtain an F-1 visa in the US. 

When to apply: You usually cannot apply for a new visa until 90 days before the expiration of the old one.

Visa voidance: If you have overstayed or been unlawfully present during your studies immediately prior to leaving the US, you might be subject to visa voidance.  Such overstayed students would be subject to payment of the $100 Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) fee and would need to obtain a new F-1 visa stamp in the home country in order to reenter the U.S.  The SEVIS fee must be paid online through use of a credit card, locally using the Western Union Quick Pay service, or by mail through use of a check or money order at least three days prior to the date SEVIS fee payment verification is required by the U.S. Consular Office.  ISSS highly recommends that you file and pay the required SEVIS fee online with a credit card or in person through the Western Union Quick Pay service instead of by mail with a check or money order since the online option and the Western Union Quick Pay option result in speedier processing of your required fee payment.  Please ask your ISSS Advisor for detailed information on options for payment of the SEVIS  fee. 

Online payment option: To pay the SEVIS fee online and obtain the required receipt for payment, you must:

1.   Complete and submit the Form I-901 online at www.fmjfee.com with the required Visa, MasterCard or American Express information for payment of the $100.00 SEVIS fee (please make sure to write your name exactly as it appears on your Form I-20); and

2.   Print a copy of the online payment receipt for your records and for submission of your F-1 visa application. 

Mail payment option: To pay the SEVIS fee by mail and to obtain the required receipt for payment, you must:

1.   Download and print Form I-901, available at www.fmjfee.com;

2.   Complete Form I-901 (please make sure to write your name exactly as it appears on your Form I-20);

3.   Prepare a check or money order in the amount of $100.00, payable to the “Department of Homeland Security;”

4.   Mail the completed Form I-901 and payment to:

I-901 Student/Exchange Visitor Processing Fee
P.O. Box 970020
St. Louis, MO 63197-0020

For expedited delivery of your payment, mail the completed Form I-901 and payment to:

I-901 Student/Exchange Visitor Processing Fee
1005 Convention Plaza
St. Louis, MO 63101
United States

Phone number: 1-314-418-8833 (U.S. country code: 011); and (4) wait for Form I-797 receipt notice for your records and for submission of your F-1 visa application. 

Please note that payment coupons are generated only when you complete your Form I-901 online and choose to pay by check or money order, in which case you should print and mail the coupon with your payment. You will not need to fill in a paper Form I-901 as well. When your payment is received at the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), the coupon will be used to match your payment to the information you entered.

Whether you pay online with a credit card, in person through the Western Union Quick Pay service, or by mail through of check or money order, please note that the website dedicated to the I-901 fee (www.fmjfee.com) allows you to verify online that your SEVIS I-901 fee payment has been received and when the official receipt for the payment was issued.

“Automatic revalidation of visa” benefit:  Under certain circumstances, you may reenter the US with an expired visa as though the visa were still valid.  An expired F-1 visa may be considered to be automatically extended to the date of application for readmission to the US (and therefore the visa in the passport need not have an expiration date that is in the future), provided you do the following:

1.   Apply for readmission to US after an absence not exceeding 30 days in contiguous territory (Canada or Mexico) or adjacent islands (Saint Pierre, Miquelon, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, the Windward and Leeward Islands, Trinidad, Martinique, and other British, French, and Netherlands territories or possessions in or bordering on the Caribbean Sea other than Cuba);

2.   Maintain lawful F-1 status and intend to continue doing so;

3.   Present a valid passport containing Form I-94 which authorizes a stay beyond the date of entry (e.g., D/S);

4.   Present a properly endorsed Form I-20.

Under these circumstances, you may be saved the necessity of applying for a new F-1 visa even if your visa has expired.  A student whose visa has been canceled or voided is not eligible for automatic revalidation of visa benefit.  Citizens of “state sponsors of terrorism” cannot take advantage of the automatic revalidation benefit.  Any non-immigrant who chooses to apply for a new visa while in contiguous territory is not eligible for the automatic revalidation benefit during the course of that trip, but has to wait until the visa is granted in order to enter the U.S. 

Transfers: If you have lawfully transferred schools while in the US, the visa will specify the school for which it was initially issued.  In this instance you may reenter with an unexpired F-1 visa and Form I-20 from the new school without having the new school's name endorsed on the visa.

Status Violation and Travel: If you have violated your F-1 immigration status prior to traveling abroad and wish to seek reentry to the U.S. with a new Form I-20 to resume your F-1 status, you must pay the $100 SEVIS fee prior to being able to seek reentry to the U.S. with proper documentation (see separate handout for information on procedures regarding payment of SEVIS fee).

Application: Travel I-20