what to do after receiving form I-20

In this article, you will learn about the travel signature on the form I-20 and DS-2019 given to F1 visa and J1 visa international students, respectively and what you can do if you travel outside the US with an expired travel signature.

It’s very important to pay attention to your travel signature when making plans to depart the United States. Make sure you read this article to the end as you are going to learn what you can do if you realize too late that your travel signature has expired.

Form I-20 Travel Signature

The travel signature is an endorsement provided by your Designated School Official (DSO) or Responsible Officer (RO) or your school’s International Student office to international students and given to continuing international students on an F1 or J-1 visa status respectively.

This endorsement can be found on page two or three on the Form I-20 for F1 Visa student and on page one of the DS-2019 for J-1 Visa students.

New international students on an F1 or J1 visa entering the US for the first time do not get a travel signature on their initial Form I-20 or from DS-2019.

But after entering the US and enrolling in a program of study as an active F1 or J1 student, a new I-20 or DS-2019 for continued attendance will be given. This new I-20 would contain a travel signature.

The purpose of this travel signature is to serve as a permission to seek entry back into the US when an international student travels outside the United States.

Nonetheless, the travel signature is not a required documents to depart the United States as an international student.

How Long is Travel Signature Valid?

Depending on your academic status, the validity of your travel signature could be for either 6 months or 12 months.

For example, F1 and J-1 students completing their program receive a travel signature that is valid for about 12 months or until the end of their program completion date whichever is sooner, while F1 and J1 students who have completed their programs and are engaged in F1 OPT, F1 STEM OPT, and J1 Academic Training receive travel signatures valid for 6 months or until the end of the respective training period whichever is sooner.

So making travel plans outside of the US, you should ALWAYS ensure that the travel signature on your I-20 or DS-2019 will be valid on the day you plan to return to the United States.

Otherwise, you should obtain a new travel signature from your Designated school official (F1 students) or your representative official (for J1 students) prior to your departure from the US.

What to do if you forgot to get I-20 travel signature and traveled outside the US?

A quite common scenario F1 and J-1 international students find themselves in is forgetting to obtain a travel signature before traveling outside of the US. So what can you do if you realize that you departed the US with an expired travel signature?

If you find yourself in this predicament, you’ve two options to consider:

Your first option will be to contact your school’s International Student office and request that a new I-20 or DS-2019 with an updated travel signature be mailed to your international address.

Now this would only make sense if you have enough time to receive your updated travel signature before embarking on your return trip to the US. If this is not the case, then you might want to consider delaying your return trip to the US until you’ve received your updated travel signature.

As at the time of posting this article, due to the ongoing pandemic F1 International students do not need to have an originally signed from I-20 in order to enter the US as they can do so with an electronically signed from I-20, but this is subject to change at any time now.

Option number two is quite risky, as you may be denied entry into the US, but you could proceed to travel to the US and seek entry with this expired travel signature.

In some instances, this may be your only option, as is the case with some international students who find out at the Port of entry that their travel signature was expired before their departure from the US.

Now with this option, if a US Customs officer admits you into the US, you’ll be given a form called the I515A. This form is a notice that requires you to correct the entry deficiencies determined upon your arrival to the US within 30 days of your entry.

For F1 and J1 international students entering the US with an expired travel signature, you will be required to obtain a valid travel signature on your I-20 or DS-2019 respectively and send that to the Student Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) as well as all other documents listed on your Form I515A.

If you have been given an I515A, it’s best to contact your international office as soon as possible to receive proper guidance.

Now, as you can see to avoid all these unnecessary headaches, it’s best to make it a habit to check your travel signature in advance of your travel outside of the US.

Some Questions and Answers

Question: I got visa interview before two years, but it got rejected. So now I am planning to reapply, this time I need the new signature on my F2 I-20?

Answer: No you don’t need travel signature to apply for your initial F1 or F2 visa. Travel signature is given by the DSO after you enroll in your academic program in the US.

Question: What if you’re still studying with a valid student visa, and u need to travel to Canada for 2 weeks and come back. What are the procedures?

Answer: The same as traveling to any other country. You will have to meet the travel requirements to enter Canada. Now, for a special case where your US student visa is expired, you can use what is called Automatic Visa Revalidation to reenter the US after visiting Canada for 2 weeks.

Question: If my English 6 month program finish and I want to go to another school, I have to go back in my country or with the same visa F1 I can enroll to any school program?

Answer: You can transfer to the new program without leaving the USA, as long as you get an I20 from the new school program. Your US visa is only important when you try to enter the US. After you enter the US, the conditions of your US status will determine how long you are allowed to remain in the US.

I hope you found this article as a helpful resource.

DISCLAIMER: This article/post and content is designed for general information only and is NOT legal advice. I am not a licensed attorney and so the information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice. If you need legal advice, you may contact a licensed attorney.

Have you received your Form I-20 and are wondering what the next steps are? In this guide, you will learn the simple 3 step process to follow after receiving your Form I-20 as a prospective U.S international student. The I-20 form is a certificate of eligibility for nonimmigrant student status.

What to do after receiving form I-20

These steps include reviewing and signing the Form I-20, applying for your F-1 visa and scheduling your visa interview appointment, and paying the SEVIS fee.

Reviewing the Form I-20

You’ve received your form I-20 which could have been delivered electronically or delivered by mail, the first thing you should do is to review the form I-20, pay close attention to the spelling of your first name and your last name and all the biographical information that’s contained on the first page of the I-20.

You would also want to review page three of the I-20 that contains instructions for you, the student who is going to be responsible for signing the Form I-20.

Signing the Form I-20

Once you’ve read and understood everything on page three of the I-20, and when you’ve checked that your information appears correctly on the I-20, you would then sign the I-20 in the Student Attestation section located at the bottom of page number one.

Your signature here on the I-20 should be in black ink, and the date you write on the I-20 should be the date you signed the I-20. For example, if you sign the I-20 on August 1, 2021, then the date you are going to write on the I-20 should be August 1, 2021.

If you happen to be under the age of 18 at the time you’re signing the form, it would also need to provide a signature and a date from your parent or Guardian. Again, this entry from your parent or Guardian on the form I-20 should be printed in black ink.

You should keep in mind that on the Form I-20, the Attestation section appearing in page number one is the one and only place that you’re ever going to write anything in. Once you’ve signed and dated form I-20 on page number one, your job is done.

If you’d like to learn more about the form I-20, you can find the linked below where I take a deep dive explaining what every section of the Form I-20 is.

READ: Understanding the Form I-20 for F1 Visa International Students (The Ultimate I-20 Guide)

Book an appointment for your U.S F1 Visa interview

The second step in this process is to book an appointment for your U.S F1 Visa interview. In order to do this, you would have to go to the U.S Department of State website and find the nearest U.S Embassy or consulate that is currently accepting F1 Visa interview appointment.

It’s possible that when you go to the U.S Department of State website, you may not be able to find any U.S Embassies or consulates that are currently accepting F1 visa interview appointment.

In such a case, you might need to look into making an emergency visa interview appointment with the U.S Embassy and Consulate in your home country. As it is quite possible that the U.S Embassy or consulate in your home country might be offering special treatments for students who are trying to enter the U.S on an F1 visa.

Paying for SEVIS I-901 Fee

Once you’ve been able to secure your U.S Visa appointment, preferably on a date that works best for you, you would want to go ahead and pay the service fee, which is also called the SEVIS I-901 Fee.

You should plan to pay a service fee and have a receipt of payment before you attend your U.S F1 Visa interview.

At the time of making this article, the service fee could be paid in three different options.

• The first way is the most common way, and that is by making an online payment;
• the second method of payment is by Western Union Quick pay;
• the third form of payment is payment in U.S dollars, made using a personal check from a U.S Bank or using a money order.

Note: You must have a complete and accurate Form I-20, which is given to prospective F1 and M1 students. If you’ve received the Form I-20 and it happens to contain an incorrect information, then you must contact your designated school official or your program sponsor.

A very important note about the SEVIS I-901 Fee is that if you have any dependents coming to the U.S on an F2, an M2 or J2 visa, they are not required to pay the service fee. The service fee is only required for prospective immigrants coming to the U.S on an F1, M1 and J1 Visa.

On the first entry, you would want to put in your service ID, which you can find this on the top left corner of your form it. You can also find this on your top left corner of the form DS 2019.

Then you enter your last name and your first name, as it appears on your form I-20 or your form DS-2019.

Finally, you would enter your date of birth with the birth month first, the birthday second, and the birth year last. Once you’re done, you click and submit. And if information is answered correctly, you will be taken to a page that accepts your online payment in the form of a credit card.

Once your payment for your SEVIS Fee is accepted online, a payment confirmation page will be generated. You are required to print out this confirmation page and present this as proof of your SEVIS Fee payment before you attend your F1 Visa interview.

In conclusion

As an F1 students who have received the Form I-20:

• The first step would be to review and sign the Form I 20;
• the second step would be to apply for your F1 Visa and book your F1 Visa interview appointment, and;
• third step would be to pay a service fee and receive a payment confirmation before you attend your F1 Visa interview.

These are the three simple steps that you should follow after you’ve received a form I-20.

The next phase you’re going to be working on is getting ready for your F1 Visa interview.

READ: F1 Student visa Interview Questions and Answers.

I hope this article has been helpful to you.

Disclaimer: This site is not owned by any U.S Government Agency or an Immigration attorney. The contents in the site/post is for informational purpose only collected from various public domains. You may need to contact an Immigration Attorney for your specific immigration needs.