You are obligated to surrender your Departure Record (Form I-94), which is the small white paper stapled into your passport upon arrival to the U.S., to authorized personnel in airports or at border crossings. (If you are planning to visit Canada for less than 30 days and return directly to the U.S., you should not surrender your Form I-94 because the Canadian authorities need to see that you are lawfully entitled to return to the U.S.)

F-1 STUDENTS: NEVER SURRENDER YOUR FORM I-20 WHEN YOU LEAVE THE U.S.

J-1 STUDENTS AND SCHOLARS: NEVER SURRENDER YOUR FORM DS-2019 WHEN YOU LEAVE THE U.S.

H-1B SCHOLARS: If you earned taxable income during your stay in the U.S., you are required to obtain a Certificate of Tax Compliance, which certifies that you are departing from this country without owing any federal income tax. Depending on your tax status, you will be asked to file either Form 2063 or Form 1040-C which you will get at the Internal Revenue Service office in the Federal Building at 15th and P streets in Lincoln. Bring with you:

1. Your airline ticket showing the expected departure date and, if returning to the U.S., your return ticket
2. Your passport
3. Your Form I-94
4. Copies of your federal income tax returns for the past two years and receipts or canceled checks for the taxes paid
5. A statement from your employers during the current year showing the income you earned and the taxes that were withheld, including your most recent pay stub
6. Documents relating to the sale of any of your personal property
7. Documents relating to any scholarship or fellowships you have held in the U.S.

You must apply between 14 and 30 days before you leave the U.S. and, if you and your husband or wife are leaving together, both of you must apply together. Be prepared to pay any taxes due for the current year or bring a statement from your department that it guarantees that your taxes will be paid.

If you have the F-1, F-2, J-1 or J-2 visa classification and have filed Form I-485 applying for adjustment of status to permanent resident, you will not be able to re-enter the U.S. without first obtaining “advance parole” from the Immigration Office. (This is because you have become an intending immigrant and, as such, no longer have the intent to return home required to enter the U.S. in the F or J visa classification.) Advance parole is granted for personal or business necessity but not for incidental travel or casual visits home. If you have the H-1B or H-4 visa classification and have filed Form I-485 for adjustment of status to permanent resident, you may re-enter in the same classification without advance parole, provided your period of authorized stay in the H classification has not expired. If it has expired, you must have advance parole before you can be re-admitted to the U.S.

Whether or not you need a visa to enter a particular country is based upon the foreign relations policy of the country you seek to enter toward citizens of your country. If you are thinking about entering a certain country, you should inquire long in advance from the Embassy of that country as to ( a ) if you need a visa to visit that country, ( b ) what the application procedures, forms and fee are for obtaining a visa, ( c ) whether you need to apply for a visa in person, ( d ) how much time it takes before you receive your passport with the visa imprinted by the Embassy and ( e ) how long you might visit with a tourist visa.

Telephone numbers of all Embassies are available at International Affairs. Information about particular countries may be found at http://www.embassy.org/embassies/index.html For travel to Canada, contact the Canadian Consulate General in Detroit (313-567-2340) or Buffalo (716-858-9500) or go to http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp. For travel to Mexico, contact the Mexican Consulate in Denver (303-331-1110) or San Antonio (210-227-9145) or http://www.mexonline.com/consulate.htm

It may take many weeks to obtain a visa, including a personal interview at the Consulate, so plan accordingly.

If you hold the F-1, J-1 or H-1B visa, you will need:

1.A VALID PASSPORT (U.S. law requires that passports be valid at least six months into the future unless there is a mutual treaty which considers passports of each country to be valid six months longer than their expiration date.) Canadians are exempt from this requirement if entering the U.S. from the Western Hemisphere.

2.A VISA stamp in your passport in the classification in which you will re-enter the country, imprinted in your passport by a U.S. Consulate, valid on the date you return. A “single entry” visa which allowed you to enter the U.S. on a previous occasion is no longer valid. (Exception: if you are “in status” and you are visiting Canada or Mexico for a period of less than 30 days and returning directly to the U.S. and if you are not applying for a new visa while in Canada or Mexico, you may use an expired F-1, J-1 or H-1B visa or you may use an expired visa in your former classification if the immigration office has authorized a change of nonimmigrant classification to F-1, J-1 or H-1B, as noted on your Form I-94. If you hold the F-1 or J-1 visa, this exception also applies to visits to any of the Caribbean Islands adjacent to the U.S. except Cuba.) It is possible to obtain a new H-1B visa stamp by mail but only if you already have an H-1B visa in your passport. This takes many months. If your visa stamp is marked with the notation 212(d)(3)(A), you may need to have advance authorization of your visa. Please see the International Affairs staff.

PLEASE NOTE: Your visa is void (automatically cancelled) if you stay in the U.S. longer than the period of time for which you were admitted to this country. This means that your visa can not be used to return to the U.S. if, for example, you have stayed more than 60 days beyond the completion date on your I-20 (or the completion of your studies, if earlier) or more than 30 days beyond the completion date on your IAP-66 (or the completion of your program, if earlier.) Consequently, you may not re-enter the U.S. unless you are issued a new visa by a U.S. consulate in your home country.

3.PROOF OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT adequate to provide for your educational program. (For example, a copy of your sponsor’s or bank’s certification sent to UNL when you applied for admission, a new certification from your sponsor or a letter from your department indicating the amount of your graduate assistantship or salary.)

ALSO

F-1 :If you hold the student visa -- EITHER (a) your Form I-20 endorsed on page 3 by International Affairs, provided that items 3, 4, 6 and 7 of Form I-20 are still accurate or (b) a new Form I-20, which should be requested form International Affairs at least a week before departure.

J-1 :If you hold the exchange visitor visa -- Your Form DS-2019 issued by your Program Sponsor (this may be UNL, the Institute of International Education, the Latin American Scholarship Program at American Universities, US/AID, etc.) -- provided that the expiration date will not have passed at the time of your reentry and it been endorsed for reentry by your Program Sponsor or, if there is no provision for your Program Sponsor’s signature, a letter of endorsement from the issuer of your current Form DS-2019. If the period of authorized stay of the old Form will have expired, you will need to request a new Form at least a week before departure. (Your visa stamp must indicate your present Program Sponsor; otherwise, you must apply for a new visa.)

H-1B If you hold the temporary worker in a specialty occupation visa -- The original Form I-797, (Notice of Approval of Visa Petition), maintained in your department’s file, provided the expiration date will not have passed at the time of your reentry. If you have filed for adjustment of status to permanent resident, you will also need the original form I-797 (Receipt Notice for Form I-485)

If You Need A New Visa

To obtain a new visa you must apply in person at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If you have ever overstayed your authorized period of stay in the U.S., you must apply for a visa in your home country. You must bring with you (a) your passport, (b) current proof of adequate financial support and (c) for the F-1 visa, a new or endorsed Form I-20, (d) for the J-1 visa, a new or endorsed Form DS-2019 or (e)for the H-1B visa a copy of Form I-797 and a copy of the H-1B petition submitted by your department, including all supporting materials; be sure it includes a copy of the Labor Condition Application, ETA 9035, certified by the U.S. Department of Labor.

For the F-1 and J-1 visas you must also be prepared to demonstrate that you are not intending to be an immigrant (permanent resident of the U.S.) and that you have strong ties to your home country that you do not intend to abandon. Some Consulates may require students to submit a transcript to show that you have, in fact, been a full-time student throughout your stay in the U.S. (Bring a transcript to be prepared. The International Affairs office can also provide a certificate of enrollment.)

Enrollment After Returning

Continued enrollment at UNL is, of course, conditioned upon having met all academic standards and financial obligations.

Family Members (holders of F-2, J-2 and H-4 visas)

Family members may return to the U.S. with the primary visa holder without additional documentation. Family members who return separately must have separate forms, which should be requested from International Affairs at least one week prior to departure from the U.S. Family members who need to obtain new visas at a U.S. Consulate also need separate documents unless they apply at the same time as the primary visa holder. NOTE: Family members will be granted visas and may enter the U.S. only if adequate additional financial support for their maintenance is documented.