Leaving the US on a J-1 Summer Work and Travel Visa: Travel and Re-entry Rules

A short trip to Canada, Mexico or your home country can feel easy, but for an exchange student it is a re-entry decision with paperwork, and without the right signature you may be unable to re-enter. This page follows the steps in order, from the signature you need before you leave to the cases where an expired visa still works. Other trip topics are in the travel hub.

The short version

1. Ask your sponsor to approve the trip before you buy a ticket.
2. Get the travel signature on your DS-2019.
3. Print your DS-2019 and carry it with your passport and visa.
4. Check that your passport is still valid.
5. Apply for a new J-1 visa if yours has expired and you travel abroad.

Can you leave and come back? Yes, with a travel signature

You can leave the US during your program if your sponsor approves the trip on your DS-2019. When exchange visitors plan to travel outside the United States, the sponsor’s officer must sign the DS-2019, either digitally or in ink, to denote travel approval. Sponsors may apply digital signatures in the Travel Validation section of the form. You must then present a paper version of the DS-2019 to re-enter the United States. Without a valid travel signature, you may be unable to re-enter.

Sponsors are allowed to issue DS-2019 forms to facilitate re-entry after travel outside the United States during the program. So ask your sponsor for the signature before you buy a ticket.

1. Ask your sponsor to authorize the trip.
2. Get the travel validation signature on your DS-2019.
3. Print the paper DS-2019 to present when you re-enter.
4. Check that your passport is still valid.

Your sponsor is responsible for advising you on all matters relating to your J-1 program, including authorizing travel outside the US. The sponsor also checks that your J-1 documents are valid at all times.

What you carry back to the border

Expect to show your passport, visa and DS-2019 at the port of entry. After you present them, a CBP officer makes the decision. A visa does not guarantee entry into the United States. CBP officers at the port of entry have authority to permit or deny admission.

Use the printed DS-2019 whenever you depart and re-enter the US. Exchange visitors must continue to present paper DS-2019 forms at the port of entry to participate in the program. If your initial form is lost, stolen or damaged, you may not reprint it yourself, so keep it safe.

A valid U.S. visa in an expired passport is still valid. You may use it with a new valid passport for travel and admission to the United States.

Your J-1 visa is tied to one program and one sponsor. If you want a second exchange program in another category with another sponsor, you will need a new Exchange Visitor Visa to reenter. Visitor (B1/B2) visas and the Visa Waiver Program are not allowed for taking part in an exchange.

When your visa has expired

If your visa has expired and you do not plan to travel outside the US, you do not need to renew it. If you travel outside the US during the program after the visa has expired, you must apply for a new J-1 visa in your home country to re-enter and continue your program.

There is an exception for short trips, called automatic revalidation. Certain temporary visitors holding expired nonimmigrant visas who seek to return to the US may be admitted at a port of entry by CBP. It applies to brief travel to Canada, Mexico or an adjacent island, for F and J nonimmigrants, for thirty days or less. The rule is in 22 CFR 41.112(d) and 8 CFR 214.1(b).

What you need for automatic revalidation

Citizens of Canada and Bermuda may enter the United States as exchange visitors without a visa, but they must present a valid DS-2019 at the border or airport for admission. For everyone else holding an expired visa, the conditions below apply.

Automatic revalidation is not the same as applying for a new visa. If you apply for a new nonimmigrant visa, you cannot take advantage of it. You must also apply for readmission within the authorized period of admission.

8 CFR 214.2 words the short-trip rule for exchange visitors in its own way. An exchange alien may be readmitted for the time left on the I-94 after a visit solely to foreign contiguous territory or adjacent islands lasting less than 30 days, if the original I-94 is presented. All other exchange aliens must present a valid Form IAP-66.

Trips that break automatic revalidation

Many nonimmigrants must reapply for visas to re-enter when their visas have expired. The State Department lists cases that need a new visa, even with a valid admission stamp or paper I-94:

• You applied for a new visa that has not yet been issued.
• You applied for a new visa and were denied.
• You were outside the United States for more than thirty days.
• You traveled to a country other than Canada, Mexico or an adjacent island.
• You have an F or J visa and traveled to Cuba.
• You are a national of a State Sponsor of Terrorism designated country, including Iran, Syria and Sudan.

CBP decides at the border. When in doubt, ask your sponsor before you leave.

After your program ends

Participants are expected to depart the United States when the program is complete. You have a grace period of 30 days to depart. During those 30 days, participants are no longer in J-visa status and are under the jurisdiction of USCIS. Although participants may travel in the United States, it is recommended they not travel beyond its borders, as they may not be permitted reentry. The grace period page explains the 30 days in full.

A J-1 exchange visitor may remain in the US for 30 days after the program end date for departure or to try to maintain lawful status. The USCIS Policy Manual limits the stay after the program to 30 days, for travel. Participants are advised not to travel beyond US borders during the 30 days, so plan any side trip abroad before your program end date.

Your exit gets recorded

Your I-94 records your exit. If your Form I-94 was issued on paper, you must give it to the airline or a CBP officer when you depart. If you received an electronic I-94 and depart by land to Canada or Mexico, your exit may not be recorded properly. You may want to travel with evidence of your land departure. CBP records a land departure if you re-enter before the expiration date stamped in your passport. When you leave by air or sea, CBP records the departure electronically from carrier information or by CBP.

Evidence of departure can include entry stamps in a passport, transportation tickets, pay stubs or other receipts. The I-94 page shows how to check your record, and the CBP I-94 site holds the record itself.