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International Student and Scholar Services
Open suitcase with hat, camera, starfish, and other items after coming home from a trip
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Automatic Visa Revalidation Process When Re-entering from Canada, Mexico, or the Adjacent Caribbean Islands

Eligibility Requirements

✓You must be in lawful nonimmigrant status
✓You must not have applied for a U.S. visa while in one of these destinations.
If you apply for a visa during your visit, you must wait for it to be issued before you return. If it is denied by the U.S. consulate, you will have to go directly to your home country to apply for a new visa.
✓You must travel to only one of the destinations. For example, you may not go to Canada, then to a third country, and back to Canada before reentering the U.S.
✓You must return to the U.S. within 30 days
✓You are not a citizen of Syria, Iran, or Sudan or countries identified by the Department of State as a state that sponsors terrorism

Traveling Requirements

  • Learn whether you need a visa to visit your destination by checking information on the website of the consulate or embassy.
  • Return to the U.S. within 30 days after visiting only one destination.
  • Carry the necessary documents.
    • Unexpired passport
    • Unexpired I-94 arrival/departure record. If you have changed your status in the U.S., carry the USCIS approval notice with you)
    • Expired visa in passport
    • Unexpired I-20 or DS 2019 with valid travel signature
    • Documentation such as your ticket that you have been outside the U.S. for less than 30 days
collage of pictures from the Caribbean islands

If you are traveling to Canada, Mexico, or the adjacent Caribbean Islands (except Cuba) listed here, you may be able to return to the U.S. in the same status with an expired visa. This process, automatic revalidation, is not considered a new admission to the United States.