All students must have a valid passport in order to study abroad. Your passport should remain valid for at least 6 months after you will return to the United States at the end of your program. Passport application forms are available from any post office that serves as a passport agent. For students here at Skidmore, West Avenue Post Office offers this service (tel: 518-584-1545). (If you are outside of Saratoga Springs, check with your local post office to see where the nearest passport office is located.) The application process takes 6 weeks. For an extra fee, you can have your application expedited. Passport applications and instructions are available online.

It is a good idea to make several photocopies of your passport and keep them in separate locations. This way, if you lose your passport, you will have a record of your passport number and other information that will help to expedite replacement. Leave one copy of your passport with someone in the U.S. and keep another copy with you but separate from your actual passport. You should register your passport at the local American embassy or consulate upon arrival if your program does not provide this service for you.

Visas

In addition to a passport, some students will need a visa to enter the host country. The program sponsor should inform you about visa requirements and application procedures. Basically, a visa is a stamp in your passport that allows you to enter a country for a specified period of time to do a specific thing. Without this stamp, you could be turned away at the border. The application process for a visa can be long and unpredictable so it is a good idea plan ahead and to start the application process early. Don’t forget that you must submit a valid passport along with your visa application that the consulate will keep until your visa is ready. This could be a day or three months. If you don’t already have a passport, you will need to take care of this first!

If you will travel to other countries while you are abroad, you should find out about visa requirements before you leave the U.S. In general, Western European countries do not require visas for stays of less than 3 months for U.S. citizens. However, many other countries will require a tourist visa, in addition to a passport for any length of stay. Many countries now have their visa requirements on the World Wide Web. Check out Project Visa for a list of foreign consulates and embassies worldwide.

If you run into serious difficulties obtaining a passport or visa, you can pay a private visa/passport agency a fee to have them expedite your application. Some of these agencies include Travisa, A Briggs Passport & Visa Expeditors, Affordable Passports, Perry International or Passport Express. We do not endorse any of these agencies; we have simply heard that they provide visa services. Please do some research before you choose one of these agencies.

When you arrive at your destination, you will pass through Customs and Immigration. Customs is a country’s method of regulating the goods and currency brought into or taken out of that country. Immigration establishes that you are legally entitled to reside in that country for a period of time. At many airports, customs and immigration are handled simultaneously, but occasionally you may be asked to go through immigration procedures separately. Remember, honesty is still the best policy in the customs business – do not try to bring things into a country that are forbidden, like fruits and vegetables.

When you leave a country, you will go through customs and immigration again. Your visa will be canceled and you will declare what goods you have purchased while abroad. When you reenter the U.S., you will go through U.S. customs at your port of entry. Each person is usually entitled to transport $800 worth of goods into the United States duty free. Purchases exceeding that amount are subject to duty taxes. If you plan to buy a lot of items while abroad, you should retain all of your receipts as proof of what you paid. For more information on customs, visit the U.S. Customs and Border Protection travel website.