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If you have traveled outside the United States and have your Form I-20 or DS-2019 with you but think that you do not have a valid travel signature on the document, please:

1. Make sure that your travel signature really isn't valid. You may be better off than you think. A travel signature that was given less than one year ago is still valid (that is, the signature is valid for 365 days; a more recent signature is not needed). Travel signatures are located at the bottom of page 3 on Form I-20 and in the lower right hand corner on page 1 of Form DS-2019.

2. If your travel signature is not valid, do not sign your document yourself or ask anyone outside of ISSS to do so. Unauthorized signature could have serious consequences for you, including being barred from entering the US now and in the future.

3. If you have time before you plan to return to the US, send your I-20 or DS-2019 to ISSS and ask us for a travel signature. Send your document by Federal Express or another courier service if possible and include a prepaid, self-addressed, express return envelope for the fastest possible return. (Please keep in mind that ISSS is always closed between December 24 or 25 and January 1 or 2 and cannot respond in this period.) Our address is Office of International Programs, Suite 1W, 3701 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Our phone number is 215-898-4661.

4. If you do not have time to send us your I-20 or DS-2019 and receive it back before you must return to the US you should do the following:

   • If you are a student and have access to the Internet, print out an unofficial transcript from Penn InTouch, showing that you were registered full-time up until your departure from the US. This evidence of your full-time status may be helpful when you arrive at US immigration inspection. If you don't have access to the Internet (or if your transcript shows an unusual enrollment pattern that does not appear to be full-time) check to see if you have any documents available (receipts for your payments to the University, grade reports, etc.) that give evidence of your current enrollment at Penn. If you don't have any of these things, don't worry (at least, don't worry too much). See two paragraphs below.

   • If you are a J-1 scholar or J-2 scholar dependent, check to see if you have any documents that give evidence of your current association with Penn (letters, memos, receipts, etc.) If you don't have anything, don't worry (at least, don't worry too much). See below.

When you arrive at US immigration inspection without a valid travel signature, simply present your passport, with your valid student or scholar visa, and your I-20 or DS-2019 as you usually do. It is possible that the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will admit you as usual without further question. (In a completely rational world, this should happen, at least after CBP checks your SEVIS record online, since SEVIS provides immigration officers with up-to-the-minute information about students and scholars electronically; rationally speaking, the paper I-20 and DS-2019 forms are obsolete.) It is very likely, however, that CBP will instead admit you to the US for only a 30-day period and issue you a Form I-515 for what is called "deferred inspection." The CBP officer may do this on the spot or may refer you to another CBP office (for what is called "secondary inspection") which will probably admit you for 30 days and issue you the Form I-515. We have no reports of students and scholars whose SEVIS database records are valid being denied entry to the US because of the lack of a valid travel signature on an I-20 or DS-2019.

If you are issued an I-515, please visit ISSS as soon as possible after you arrive back in Philadelphia (and most certainly well before your 30-day admission expires) and we will help you comply with the requirements of the I-515. (Please note that the document mailing address that appears on some Forms I-515 is incorrect. Be sure to check with ISSS before attempting to comply with the I-515.)

If you have traveled outside the United States without your Form I-20 or DS-2019 your prospects are less clear.

An attempt to enter the US in F or J status with a valid visa, but without a valid I-20 or DS-2019 form, can be problematic. We know of cases where airlines have refused to allow students or scholars to board the aircraft because they did not have their I-20's or DS-2019's with them. (Though in other cases, airlines have allowed them to board without question and they have subsequently been admitted to the US for 30-days under the I-515 deferred inspection procedure described above.) So if you have traveled outside the US without your immigration document you should consider the following options:

1. If you can contact a friend who can get your I-20 or DS-2019 and send it to you via an express courier service before you plan to return to the US, you should definitely do so.

2. If you cannot contact a friend who can get your original document but have time to receive shipment via express courier, you can contact ISSS at oipadm@oip.upenn.edu and we will prepare a duplicate and ship it to you (and ask you to reimburse our costs). (Please keep in mind that ISSS is always closed between December 24 or 25 and January 1 or 2 and cannot respond in this period.

3. If you do not have time to receive shipment of an actual document, you can ask a friend or ISSS to fax a copy to you. A copy may not be sufficient in some cases but it may help in others. Airlines reportedly sometimes accept a fax copy in lieu of an original to permit boarding.

4. If you do not have time to receive shipment of an actual document before your planned return to the US, you should consider postponing your return until you can receive your document. You may decide not to postpone, and if you are allowed to board your flight you will probably be admitted to the US for 30 days under the I-515 procedure. It is possible that CBP could deny you entry, but if everything else is in order in your case (i.e. valid passport and visa, valid student or scholar record in the SEVIS database, no alert list questions or evidence of prior problems) this is unlikely to happen.