Travelling on F1 visa

[rajanvi]

Hi! when I first came into the US I came to Calif. State Univ. Now I have transferred to another school so I still have the CSU visa stamped on my passport which actually expired in May 2002. I am suppossed to go for a conference to Canada and I have a valid I-20 until 2006. My international students counsellor said that there would be no problem for me to enter back into the US as long as her signatures are there on my I-20. But I'm still not convinced since I-20 and I-94 are valid documents to stay within the country and a visa would be required to enter in the US. I leave for Canada on the 29th and I want to make sure whether it would be wise for me to leave the country. Kindly advise me if anyone has had similar experiences.

 

[Raj1994]

You can re-enter based on I-94 and I-20 alone if your stay in Canada is less than 30 days. But note: if you apply for a visa and they refuse, then you cannot re-enter the US directly, but will have to go to your home counry, get a visa, and then reenter the US. So it may be better not to apply for a new visa. Of course, if they give you the visa, then you can enter the US.

The above may not apply to citizens of certain countries (iran, iraq etc) who may find it very diffcult to reenter.