Travel to Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean

If you are an F-1 or J-1 student traveling to Canada or Mexico, or the Caribbean it's possible that you do NOT need to obtain a new visa stamp to reenter the U.S. This is referred to as automatic visa revalidation. This does not renew your visa, it only allows eligible students to travel to Canada, Mexico, or the Carribbean and then re-enter the US with an expired visa so long as the following criteria are met:

Visa Revalidation Eligibility

Students may be eligible to travel to Mexico, Canada, or adjacent islands and re-enter the US even after their visa is expired, but only if:

• You are not a student from Mexico or the adjacent islands
• You do not stay in Mexico, Canada, or adjacent islands longer than 30 days
• You are currently maintaining a valid F-1 or J-1 status
• You are in possession of:
  • I-94
  • An I-20 or SEVIS DS-2019 with a travel signature from your assigned ISSS advisor
  • A copy of the Automatic Revalidation Regulations - This document is not required but recommend just in case you are challenged by the officer when you attempt to re-enter with an expired visa
  • Valid passport - Do not travel with a passport that is due to expire within 6 months or less
• You have a previously-issued nonimmigrant visa (even for a different nonimmigrant classification)
• You are not from Iran, Syria, Sudan, and Cuba. Citizens from these countries are not eligible for automatic re-validation

*The adjacent islands are: the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, St. Pierre & Miquelon, Trinidad & Tobago, the Leeward Islands (Anguilla, Antigua, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Kitts, and the British Virgin Islands), the Windward Islands (Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent), and other British, French, or Dutch territories or possessions in, or bordering on, the Caribbean Sea.