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Before leaving the U.S. make sure you have:
1. A valid passport
2. Your I-94
3. A valid visa
If you are in F-1 or J-1 status you also will need your valid,
signed I-20 or DS-2019.
Before entering another country you should contact the country’s
consulate or embassy and obtain a visa, if necessary. To obtain
the phone number of the appropriate embassy, call (202) 555-1212
and ask for the phone number of the embassy of the country
where you plan to visit.
Re-entry into the United States requires:
1. A valid passport. (Note: Canadian citizens may use
other proof of Canadian citizenship when entering the U.S.
from this hemisphere.)
2. A valid, signed I-20 or DS-2019
3. A valid visa stamp in your passport that matches the
visa document. Review your visa and note its type, expiration
date and allowed number of entries. If you need a new one,
see obtaining a visa from
abroad.
If you re-enter the U.S. in a different status, please
present your new visa information to the immigration officer,
even if he does not ask to see it. Do not leave the inspection
area without obtaining a new I-94 marked with your new visa
status.
Exceptions to the rules
1. Applicants for lawful permanent resident status (“green
card”): Do not travel using temporary visa documents
such as an I-20, DS-2019, 1-797 Approval Notice or TN documents,
even though you may have these documents in your possession.
Once you file an application for permanent residence, any
temporary status you may have is canceled. If it is necessary
for you travel abroad (e.g. family emergency), you must
apply to the USCIS and receive “advance parole,”
which is special permission to enter the U.S. If you leave
the U.S. without advance parole, you will have no legal
way to re-enter and will have to wait outside the U.S. and
complete your permanent residence processing at a U.S. Embassy
or Consulate.
2. Spouses of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents:
Do not travel using temporary visa documents such as an
I-20, DS-2019, 1-797, or TN documents. Consular and immigration
officers generally assume that marriage to a U.S. citizen
or lawful permanent resident indicates an intention to live
in the U.S. permanently. Most temporary visas require that
you have a residence abroad, which you have no intention
of abandoning. In most cases, consular and immigration officers
are required by law to deny visas and deny admission to
the U.S. to any persons whom they believe intend to abandon
their residence abroad and remain in the U.S. permanently.
One exception is the H-1B, which permits you to have the
intention to remain in the U.S. long term, even though you
hold temporary status of H-1B. The O-1 also does not require
that you have a residence abroad that you have no intention
of abandoning. Before you travel, be sure to check with
the Office of International Education – Immigration
Services or with a qualified immigration lawyer.
Others involved in the “green card” process:
Do not travel unless you have discussed your situation with
the Office of International Education – Immigration
Services or with a qualified immigration lawyer. Certain
actions that you take or that others take for you in the
green card process can make it difficult or impossible for
you to return to the U.S. in a temporary status. These actions
include, but are not limited to, filing of labor certification
application, immigration petition based on family relationship,
immigrant petition based on employment or asylum application.
3. Canadian citizens: You are not required to carry a passport
or a valid visa stamp to re-enter the U.S. from Canada,
but you must be able to prove Canadian citizenship with
other documents, and you must have the appropriate visa
document. However, passports and valid visa documents are
required to enter or re-enter the U.S. from most other countries
(as indicated above). When crossing into Canada from the
U.S., the I-94 is not taken; it remains in the possession
of the Canadian citizen.
4. See Automatic Revalidation.
Take note:
1. Understand the difference between a visa stamp, a visa
document and immigration status. A visa is a stamp in your
passport that gives you permission to enter the U.S. in
a certain status. It tells you how many times and for how
long you have permission to enter the U.S.
In order to use a visa stamp, you must have an accompanying
visa document (I-20 or DS-2019). The visa document indicates
how long you have permission to remain in the U.S. Your
immigration status is noted on your accompanying visa document
and on your Form I-94.
2. If you have more than one visa stamp in your passport,
be sure to use the correct one to enter the country. When
you re-enter the U.S., you are in the visa class in which
you are admitted and which is written on your I-94 card
by the immigration officer, regardless of what other stamps
may be in your passport. For example, if you have a B-1/B-2
tourist visa stamp and a J-1 stamp and you use the B-1/B-2
stamp to enter the U.S., you are officially present in a
tourist visa class, not J-1, even though you may have been
in J-1 class before you left. If you enter in the wrong
class, you cannot work or study in the U.S. until the U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services has changed your visa
class back to one that is appropriate for your current purpose
in the U.S.
3. If you are a citizen of a country that participates
in the Visa Waiver Pilot Program, meaning that you are allowed
to enter the U.S. as a visitor without first obtaining a
visa stamp, be sure that you do not enter on this program.
If you do enter on this program, you will be admitted as
a WT or WB and will only be allowed to remain in the U.S.
for a maximum of 90 days, nor will you be eligible for employment
and other benefits normally afforded to persons in other
temporary visa classifications. A WB or WT cannot be changed
to another visa status while in the U.S., nor can it be
extended beyond the 90-day period.
4. Do not enter the U.S. in the wrong visa class with
the intention of changing it to the correct one later. Some
individuals enter the U.S. in the wrong class because it
is easier or faster, or they are not sure they will be able
to get the proper visa. They then plan to change to the
proper visa class after they arrive in the U.S. Examples:
entering the U.S. as a tourist when the real intention is
to enroll as a student or to change to J or H class in order
to work. Generally this is considered visa fraud, and the
BCIS will examine very closely any application to change
visa class under these circumstances.
Special caution to Canadian citizens:
If you are a Canadian citizen and are not entering the U.S.
as a tourist, be certain to present the proper visa document
to the immigration officer when entering the country, even
if the immigration officer does not ask to see them. Make
sure that you are issued with an I-94 card with the proper
visa classification noted on it. If you do not present the
visa document to the immigration officer for validation, you
will have entered the U.S. as a tourist and will not be allowed
to work until you have obtained approval to have your visa
class changed. If you are attempting to re-enter with the
TN status, remember that the TN requires that you have an
intention to return to Canada.
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