Travel Guidance for International Students & Scholars

Access detailed information about OPT.
 

While waiting for OPT authorization

Travel outside of the United States while any type of OPT application is pending with USCIS is strongly discouraged. 

If you’re in the process of applying for OPT and/or your application is pending, please contact ISSS at [email protected] for guidance before making any international travel plans.
 

After receiving OPT authorization

Students who are not currently employed are strongly discouraged from traveling outside the United States.

Students with employment reported may travel outside the United States.  
 

After completing an OPT period

Grace periods apply. Please access detailed information about OPT.

Before you travel, please review the appropriate University Policy and follow all required steps:

• Faculty and Staff International Travel Policy
• Student International Travel Policy

You may also need to review the International Insurance page. 
 

Additional Reporting Requirements 

• International students who will be studying, researching or living outside of the U.S. while remaining enrolled at UAlbany must also complete out of country reporting.
• International students who intend to depart UAlbany and/or the U.S. for an extended period, they must report that departure to ISSS. Review instructions for departing or transferring students.
• J-1 scholars must report their departure from UAlbany and/or the United States. They must also report their intention to transfer to another U.S. institution to ISSS. Review instructions for departing or transferring scholars. 

Note: If you are traveling to countries outside the U.S., you are responsible for checking the visa and entry requirements for those countries.  
 

Required documents

To re-enter the United States, you must present these required documents:

• A valid (unexpired) passport, with at least six months of validity remaining
• A valid (unexpired) F-1 or J-1 visa
  • Citizens of Canada and Bermuda are exempt from this visa requirement.
  • Check your visa status online.
• A valid (unexpired) Employment Authorization Document (only required if you an F-1 student completing OPT)
• An I-20 or DS-2019 with a valid travel signature
   

Recommended documents

The following documents are not required but highly recommended:

• Proof of funding  
• Proof of enrollment (such as an unofficial transcript)
• Proof of health insurance
• Proof of employment, such as a contract or offer letter from an eligible employer (only applicable if you are an F-1 student completing OPT or a J-1 Visiting Scholar)
   

What to expect at a U.S. port of entry

Present the U.S. Customs & Border Patrol (CBP) officer with the required documents first and have the recommended documents ready upon request.

Please note that, at a U.S. port of entry, travelers do not have a right to privacy that protects their electronic devices (cell phones, laptops, tablets, etc.). Your devices may be searched.
 

What to do if you are detained for a secondary inspection

If the CBP officer cannot determine your eligibility to enter the U.S. at the initial inspection point, they may send you to a secondary inspection.

At a secondary inspection, officers may ask you additional questions or conduct more research into your status. While these issues can sometimes be resolved quickly, it is possible for a secondary inspection to take several hours.

If you are detained by CBP in secondary inspection, you have the right to:

• Contact your home country’s consulate for assistance
• Review all written statements that are prepared for you in a language you can understand
• Refuse to sign any papers presented to you if you do not agree with the contents

You may also ask the CBP officer if you may contact a lawyer and/or ISSS, though this is not always allowed.  

We recommend traveling with the phone numbers for your lawyer, ISSS (518-591-8172) and the University Police Department (518-442-3131). If you need to contact ISSS after business hours, University Police can reach ISSS on your behalf.

If you are issued a temporary admission through Form I-515A, please contact ISSS at [email protected] immediately for assistance.

If you find you are repeatedly subjected to additional screening/secondary inspection, and you believe this is in error, you can file a request with DHS TRIP.

Before you travel outside the U.S., we recommend taking these steps to ensure you’ll be able to access UAlbany networks, software and portals:

• Download UAlbany’s Virtual Private Network (VPN) and use it while you are outside the U.S.
• Check your two-step authentication settings and devices to ensure you will retain access to Duo while you’re traveling

Note: Some UAlbany systems (such as Division for Research & Economic Development’s UAlbany PACS Portal) cannot be accessed outside the U.S. Please plan your work and travel accordingly. 

Export controls are a set of U.S. laws and regulations governing the transfer of certain goods, materials, technologies, services and information outside the country or to non-U.S. persons.  

The University at Albany and the Research Foundation for SUNY must comply with these federal export control laws and regulations.

International doctoral students conducting research overseas who are enrolled in 899 dissertation load credit (or equivalent) remain affiliated with UAlbany and therefore generally fall under the education exclusion of federal export controls.

International students, scholars and their academic departments should review UAlbany’s Export Controls webpage for detailed information.

Please contact the Office of Regulatory and Research Compliance (ORRC) at [email protected] or 518-437-3850 with any questions.

F-1 and J-1 visas can only be renewed from outside the United States at a U.S. embassy or consulate.

It is OK if your F-1 or J-1 visa expires while you are inside the U.S. as long as your passport and I-20 or DS-2019 are still valid (unexpired) and you are still maintaining your F-1 and J-1 status.

If you plan to travel internationally after your visa expires, you must renew it at a U.S. embassy or consulate before returning to the U.S. (Note: Limited exceptions for automatic visa revalidation apply.)

If your visa has not yet expired but will expire soon, you may choose to renew it in your home country.  
 

Where and when to apply

It’s generally best to renew a visa at the U.S. embassy or consulate in your home country. Applying for a visa in another country (as a third country national) could result in delays, so please first contact ISSS at [email protected] for guidance.

We also recommend applying while you’re in your home country for at least a few weeks (such as summer break).
 

How to apply

The process for renewing a visa is very similar to the process when you first applied.

You must be prepared to provide these documents:

• An unexpired passport with at least six months of validity remaining
• An I-20 or DS-2019 with a valid travel signature
• A copy of your official or unofficial transcript
• Proof of funding, such as evidence you have paid prior UAlbany bills, a recent bank statement, a scholarship or other award letter; a bank statement and financial affidavit from any sponsor, or a combination of these sources

You should also be prepared to demonstrate continuing non-immigrant intent and strong ties to your home country.  

If your situation has changed since you first applied for a F-1 or J-1 visa, including factors related to your ability to demonstrate non-immigrant intent, please consider consulting an immigration attorney before leaving the U.S. to renew your visa. 
 

Where to direct questions

If you have questions about visa application procedures or required documents, please review information for the U.S. embassy or consulate where you plan to apply.  

The U.S Department of State Visa Office and many of the U.S. embassies and consulates each have their own websites that provide information on visa application procedures specific to the individual locations.

In nearly all cases, the embassy officials want to correspond directly with you (the visa applicant) rather than a third party (such as UAlbany). 

When you apply for a visa, you may be subject to a security clearance. This process can delay your visa being issued by weeks or even months.

International students and scholars most commonly encounter two types of security clearances:

• Field of Study: If your area of study is on the U.S. government’s Technology Alert List, which includes many of the science and technology fields, the U.S. consulate may seek a security clearance before granting your visa. This process may delay your visa application by one to three months, or longer.  
  • There is no way to definitively know if you will be subject to this type of clearance. However, if you work in one of the science or technology fields and are returning to the U.S. to resume your studies or research, we advise you to:  
    • Ask your supervisor or chair to write a letter that briefly describes the specific area of your research in layperson’s terms.
    • Carry with you a copy of your CV, your advisor's CV, and one or two of your publications, if you have any.  
  • These materials will not necessarily deter a security clearance, but they may expedite the clearance. 
• Country of Citizenship, Nationality or Birth: A security clearance may also be required by the U.S. consulate may also require a security clearance if you were born in, are a citizen or are a national of certain countries.  
  • The list of countries is not published, but seems to include the following: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and the territories of Gaza and West Bank.

If you have applied for a visa and believe that a security advisory opinion will delay your travel to the U.S., please contact your academic department immediately so they can arrange to defer your degree program start date and/or cover your teaching or research duties.  

If you have been waiting for more than one month for the results of a security advisory opinion, please contact ISSS at [email protected] to inform us of the delay.

If you are issued a 221g refusal, that means your case is undergoing administrative processing.  The visa may still ultimately be approved, but the embassy or consulate must complete additional security checks first, which may involve requesting additional information from you.  Please contact ISSS at [email protected] if you are issued a 221g refusal. 

Canada is close to Albany, and many students visit Canada during their time here. Students planning a trip to Canada should review the Canadian entry requirements and, if needed, apply for a Canadian visa to enter Canada.

F-1 or J-1 students meeting certain requirements may be able to travel to Canada, Mexico or an eligible adjacent island for 30 days or less and re-enter the United States using an expired F-1 or J-1 visa. This is known as automatic visa revalidation.  

To qualify for automatic visa revalidation, you must:

• Presently have active F-1 or J-1 status
• Have been in Canada, Mexico or an eligible adjacent island for less than 30 days
• Have not applied for a new visa in the past 30 days
• Present the following required documents upon re-entry into the United States:
  • An I-20 or DS-2019 with a valid travel signature
  • A photocopy of your unexpired I-94 record
  • A valid (unexpired) passport, with at least six months of validity remaining

Students and scholars from Iran, Syria, Sudan or Cuba are not eligible for automatic visa revalidation.

Students who do not meet the automatic visa revalidation requirements must apply for a new visa stamp for re-entry, if their current visa stamp is expired.  

If you think you qualify for automatic visa revalidation, please contact ISSS at [email protected] to confirm before traveling.