Leaving and entering when on F1 visa

yesrahul

Registered Users (C)
I am presently on F1 visa which expires on 19th Jan 2005. My graduation is in may of 2005. I plan to go to india and come back around 15th Jan, my I-20 is valid upto 25th May 2006. However, i require experiences or opinions on how safe is it to travel out of usa and come back when i am close to visa expiration date?
 
Theoretically it shouldn't be a problem but practically, I don't know. If I were you, I wouldn't travel unless it's super-necessary. What does your school advisor say?
 
yesrahul said:
I am presently on F1 visa which expires on 19th Jan 2005. My graduation is in may of 2005. I plan to go to india and come back around 15th Jan, my I-20 is valid upto 25th May 2006. However, i require experiences or opinions on how safe is it to travel out of usa and come back when i am close to visa expiration date?

Why don't you renew your F-1 visa when you are in India? That way, you can be sure that all your documents are in order. Plus, if you wanted/had to leave the country at a future date before graduation, you would have no problems.

If you don't/can't renew the visa, I am not sure how the immigration officer would handle this. Technically speaking, it should not be an issue, but it may be tricky in reality since the dates are so close...perhaps you can substantiate your status by getting adequate documentation -- say one letter each from the International student office, registrar's office (regarding your registered status for spring), your academic department, and your academic faculty advisor, giving details of your full/part time status, as well as the fact that you have not completed degree requirements yet, etc.
 
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