These guides and checklists will help you travel inside and outside the US. We also
offer resources to explore Glendale and Southern California. Stay informed about upcoming
activities in our newsletter and follow @GCC_ISO on Instagram! As always, please do
not hesitate to contact us at gcciso@glendale.edu if you need assistance at any time.
Request Your Travel Signature
Travel Guidelines & Travel Do's & Don'ts Advisory
Invitation Letters (invite your friends and family to visit you)
Driving in the US
Explore Glendale
Transportation options
Popular Attractions/Destinations
VisitCalifornia: Official Site
Travel Advisories:
All students must carry proof of your legal status or "legal registration" with you
at all times in the US. This means carrying a printed version of your I-94 card and your printed and signed I-20 (signed by you); students on OPT must carry their
EAD card. We also strongly recommend that you have a copy of your passport easily accessible
in a cloud drive, such as Google Drive or iCloud. Change of status students, remember:
your I-94 is on your change of status approval notice.
Visa appointments: Social media is being used in the vetting of students for visas. Please review this article for more information.
Visa Reciprocity Changes: Effective July 2025, certain countries will only be eligible for single-entry F-1 visas with an expiration date of 3 months
after issuance. Please consult the US Visa Reciprocity Chart to check on your country's current issuance limitations. If you currently hold a valid visa that shows a longer duration and/or multiple entries,
then this issuance will continue to be honored. A "single-entry" means your visa can only be used once. Any current student with
a single-entry notation on the visa who departs the US after entry, will need to apply
for a new visa the next time you travel outside of the US. If your visa has expired, you will need to schedule your visa appointment no earlier than the number of months
listed in the visa reciprocity schedule AND enter the US before the limit has been
reached (expiration date of the visa). Example: Your country has a 3-month visa reciprocity limit. This means that, once issued, your
visa is valid for entry to the US for only 3 months. In this example, you should apply
for a new visa no more than 3 months prior to your expected return date.
Travel Ban: Effective January 1, 2026, Presidential Proclamation 10998 “Restricting and Limiting
the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the Security of the United States” banned
entry to the US on tourist and student visas for an additional 19 countries not included
in the June 2025 ban, bringing the total affected countries to 39:
- Original Jun 2025 Country List: Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Burma/Myanmar, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti,
Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan,
South Sudan, Syria and Yemen and those who hold Palestinian Authority Travel Documents.
- Countries Added in Jan 2026: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Cote d ‘Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon,
The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Venezuela,
Zambia, and Zimbabwe
This does not affect your visa or your current F-1 status, and the government has
clarified that current students with valid visas issued before 1/1/26 (Jan 2026 countries) or 6/9/25 (June 2025 countries) will continue to be able to reenter. Should you have a valid
visa and decide to engage in travel, e encourage you to print and carry the White House Fact Sheet addressing this proclamation in the case that you need to show it to an immigration
officer. If your visa has expired, you should not engage in international travel at this time,
as student visa issuance is no longer available to citizens of these countries.
It should be noted that the original country list that was being considered for travel
bans in early 2025 included the following countries: Belarus; Benin; Bhutan; Cabo
Verde; Cambodia; Cameroon; Djibouti; Ethiopia; Egypt; Ghana; Kyrgyzstan; Liberia;
Pakistan; Russia; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Sao Tome and Principe; Tuvalu;
Uganda; and Vanuatu. Other countries may be being considered. The only bans that are
currently in effect are the ones listed above, but students from these countries with
expired visas may wish to take extra caution pending further updates to the Presidential
Proclamation
Visa Revocations: To see if your visa has been revoked, please visit ceac.state.gov. If you have had any interaction with law enforcement that resulted in fingerprinting/an
arrest, you should assume your visa has been revoked and not engage in international
travel.
Effective May 12, 2021 the US Embassy in Moscow has stopped issuing F-1 student visas. Any student from Russia with an expired or expiring visa is encouraged to remain
in the US. Otherwise, you will now need to go to a 3rd country for visa stamping.
The U.S. Department of State has designated the following posts for Russian student
processing: Mission Kazakhstan and U.S. embassies Belgrade and Yerevan. Applicants
are encouraged to check each post's website for the latest information on services
and appointment availability at that specific post. Though these have been designated
by the US DOS, it does not mean that you are limited to these posts. Please review
our Travel Guidelines document for a discussion of third country national processing
The information contained in this web site is provided as a service to the international
students, faculty, staff, employees and administrators of Glendale Community College,
and does not constitute legal advice on any immigration, tax or other matter. We strive
to provide useful information, but make no claims, promises or guarantees about the
accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to this
web site or any associated site. As legal advice must be tailored to the specific
circumstances of each case, and laws are constantly changing, nothing provided herein
should be used as a substitute for the advice of competent counsel. Neither Glendale
Community College nor the International Student Office is responsible for any errors
or omissions contained in this website, or for the results obtained from the use of
this information.
