As Winter Break approaches, remember to pack your passport and U.S. immigration documents when you are leaving campus.  The number one immigration problem faced by College international students is forgetting to pack the form I-20!

You will need to show the following items to U.S. immigration in January to be re-admitted to the U.S. in F-1 student status:

• Valid Form I-20, signed once a year on page three by an advisor in the HIO
• Valid F-1 visa stamp in the passport
• Valid passport
• Evidence of the financial support listed in section #8 of Form I-20 (such as your financial aid award letter or personal bank statement)

Freshman received a travel signature on page 3 of the I-20 when they arrived on campus in August.  No new signature is needed at this time.

Upperclass students may need to visits the HIO to obtain a new signature.   Please look at page 3 of your I-20 now.  If the signature on the bottom of that page will be more than a year old at the time of your re-entry date to the U.S in January, stop by the HIO now to obtain a new one.

Travel signatures can be obtained on a walk-in basis from 9 am – 3 pm Monday – Friday from the Advisor-On-Call in the HIO front office.  No appointment is needed.

If your F-1 student visa in the passport has expired, remember to apply for a new one from the U.S. embassy in your home country.

Please note that the HIO will close at 1 pm on Friday, December 16 for our holiday party.  We will be open from 9 am – 3 pm December 19 – 22.  We close at noon on December 23 for Winter Break and will reopen on January 3 at 9 am.

Good luck on finals and have a wonderful holiday!

– Daphne Durham, Advisor to International Students and Scholars