Most F-1 and J-1 students can travel to Canada, Mexico, and the Adjacent Caribbean Islands and re-enter the United States on an expired visa, but only if their stay is less than 30 days. This brief travel makes you eligible for automatic revalidation when you re-enter the U.S., if your remaining immigration documents are current.
Checklist for Automatic Revalidation
- Visiting Canada, Mexico, or adjacent Caribbean Islands for less than 30 days
- A current I-94
- A valid unexpired passport
- SEVIS I-20 or DS-2019 with travel authorization signature
- Evidence of health insurance
- Evidence of funding
- Copy of transcript
- Proof of enrollment for the upcoming semester (if available)
- Have not applied and do not plan to apply for a new entry visa at a U.S. Consulate
- Not a citizen of Iran, Iraq, Cuba, Libya, Sudan, Syria, or North Korea
Adjacent Islands include: Saint Pierre, Miquelon, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Bermuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Windward and Leeward Islands, Trinidad, Martinique, and other British, French, and Netherlands territories or possessions.