{"id":10630,"date":"2021-12-10T10:08:30","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T15:08:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/global-education\/?page_id=10630"},"modified":"2026-04-17T10:52:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T14:52:35","slug":"obtaining-a-new-visa","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/global-education\/obtaining-a-new-visa\/","title":{"rendered":"Obtaining a New Visa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><br \/>\nTraveling Outside the U.S. with an Expired Visa<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If your entry visa has expired and your travel does not qualify for <a href=\"https:\/\/travel.state.gov\/content\/travel\/en\/us-visas\/visa-information-resources\/visa-expiration-date\/auto-revalidate.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">visa revalidation<\/a>, you must apply for a new visa at a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usembassy.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">U.S. consulate<\/a> abroad before re-entering the U.S. Entry visas can only be issued outside the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Department of State has updated its instructions for nonimmigrant visa applicants, effective September 6. The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/travel.state.gov\/content\/travel\/en\/News\/visas-news\/adjudicating-niv-applicants-in-their-country-of-residence.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-entity-type=\"external\">new instructions<\/a>\u00a0tighten the rules on applying\u00a0for visas in a third country (not your country of\u00a0<span class=\"field-content\">nationality or residence)<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApplicants for U.S. nonimmigrant visas should schedule their visa interview appointments at the U.S. embassy or consulate in their country of nationality or residence,\u201d the instructions state.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You must be able to demonstrate residence in the country where you are applying, if the place of application is based on your residency.<\/li>\n<li>If you schedule an interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate in a third country, you \u201cmight find that it will be more difficult to qualify for the visa.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>If you are from a country without a\u00a0U.S. embassy or consulate, you must schedule your visa interview at a designated location. Consult the list of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/travel.state.gov\/content\/travel\/en\/News\/visas-news\/adjudicating-niv-applicants-in-their-country-of-residence.html\" data-entity-type=\"external\">designated locations<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When you go to the consulate, you will need to bring your passport, I-20, financial documentation, and proof of full-time enrollment as well as any other documents requested by the consulate.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Automatic Visa Re-Validation<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Returning from Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean Islands<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You usually must have a valid visa to return to the U.S. from abroad. However, there is a special, limited provision called <a href=\"https:\/\/travel.state.gov\/content\/travel\/en\/us-visas\/visa-information-resources\/visa-expiration-date\/auto-revalidate.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Automatic Visa Revalidation<\/a> that applies to some travel. If you are in F-1 status and your F-1 visa is expired, you may still return to the U.S. from a trip to Canada, Mexico, or the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ice.gov\/sevis\/travel#which-islands-are-defined-as-adjacent-islands--2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Caribbean Islands<\/a> even with an expired visa, if you meet all of these conditions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>your passport is valid you have a valid I-20 with a valid travel signature (if you are on OPT, the signature must be signed within the last 6 months)<\/li>\n<li>you have your EAD (OPT) card (if you have graduated and been approved for OPT)<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0you have an expired F-1 visa<\/li>\n<li>you <strong>only<\/strong> go to Canada, Mexico, and\/or the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ice.gov\/sevis\/travel#which-islands-are-defined-as-adjacent-islands--2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Caribbean islands<\/a> (except Cuba) and do not stay outside the U.S. for more than 30 days<\/li>\n<li>you do not apply for a new U.S. visa while abroad (otherwise you have to wait for it to be approved and use it to reenter)<\/li>\n<li>you keep your <a href=\"https:\/\/i94.cbp.dhs.gov\/I94\/#\/home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">I-94 record<\/a> when you depart the U.S. (retain it;<strong> don\u2019t give it up at the border<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>you are not a citizen of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan, North Korea, or Cuba<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These are U.S. territories and thus an F-1 student does not need a visa to travel to those locations from within the U.S., or to return to the U.S. from those locations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Traveling Outside the U.S. with an Expired Visa If your entry visa&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":924,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"class_list":["post-10630","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","with-sidebar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/global-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/global-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/global-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/global-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/924"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/global-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10630"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/global-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12565,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/global-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10630\/revisions\/12565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/global-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}