Visiting Canada can be a fine experience. 

Going to Canada

Information on visiting Canada is available from the Canadian Government Immigration Website.

To find out if you need a visa to visit Canada, please check the list of countries.

Applications for visas and instructions are available here.

Please allow adequate time to obtain the Visa as you plan your travel. 

As with any travel outside the United States, be sure your passport is valid and carry it with you, and have your I-20 signed before you go and carry it with you.

Returning to the United States

Ideally, your visa to enter the United States will still be valid, and in that case when you return you can present your passport with currently valid visa and your I-20 and re-enter the United States.  That is the best case and best way to do it.

If your visa is no longer valid, the situation is more complex.  Current regulations allow you to travel to contiguous territory for up to 30 days and re-enter with your passport and valid I-20 even if your visa has expired, and this procedure is called automatic revalidation.  These regulations could change at any time (even while you are traveling in Canada)!  Even though these regulations currently exist and most students have no difficulty reentering, and you can cite the regulatory authority as 42.112(d) of 22 CFR if the officer questions why you are trying to enter with an expired visa, the officer at the Port of Entry has absolute authority to permit or deny your entry based upon her/his judgment. 

Automatic revalidation is not possible if you are a citizen of a country which is considered a state sponsor of terrorism by the United State government.

It is NOT advised to travel to Canada to apply for a United States visa.  Applications from non-Canadians are not welcomed at the American Embassies and Consulates in Canada, and if you apply for a United States visa in Canada you lose the automatic revalidation privilege.  So, if you apply for a United States visa in Canada and the visa is not issued for any reason, even if it is just delayed, you CAN NOT return to the United States.

Please keep these issues in mind as you make your travel plans.

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Publication Date: Friday, January 20, 2006 12:03 CST