Pre-departure planning

Visa

A visa is an entry/residency permit and official permission granted by the authorities of the counties where you will study or travel, which allow you to enter and remain in that country. The visa itself is frequently a stamp in your passport, not a separate document. You will need a passport before applying for a visa and the passport plus visa process may take three to four months, so start early. If you are a U.S. citizen (carrying a U.S. passport) a visa is not required by most Western European countries if you are spending fewer than three months in the country visited. However, the regulations change regularly for some Western European countries, so check with the Office of Study Abroad or the embassy/consulate of your host country.

The cost and requirements for obtaining visas vary. It is your responsibility to determine visa requirements for all countries you plan to visit while abroad; this includes countries that you plan to visit before or after your study abroad program. You can do so by consulting with a travel agent, calling the consular offices of those countries, or checking the following Web sites: Travel.state.gov document requirements or Travel Document Systems.

You may be denied entry into, or be deported from, a country for which you have not obtained a required visa. The Office of Study Abroad and Michigan State University are not responsible for obtaining visas nor are they in any way responsible for visa denial. For some countries, certain medical requirements must be met before a visa will be issued. Many countries will not issue visas to persons with any type of police record!

Note: If you are not a U.S. citizen, consult the embassy or consulate of the countries you will visit to learn their document requirements. You may check the following Web sites:

• Foreign Consulate Offices listing
• Embassies and Consulates: Embassyworld.com

The procedures that you will follow may be different from those for U.S. citizens. It is important to initiate this process as soon as possible in order to assemble documents and allow time for lengthy procedures. International MSU students must visit the Office of International Students and Scholars to obtain a signature on visa documents to permit re-entry to the United States.