Please make photocopies of your travel documents and keep them in a safe place, separate from the originals. Photocopy the following documents:

• passport pages that have your picture and personal information, as well as official information (if passport is required)
• passport page with the appropriate visa stamp on it (if visa is required)
• both sides of your Form I-94 (Arrival and Departure Record)
• your Form DS-2019 (formerly known as IAP-66)

Passport

Your passport is your own government's permit for you to leave and re-enter your own country. You should keep your passport valid at all times (most passports contain an expiration date). Consult your own consulate or embassy in the U.S. to renew your passport. The consulate officials will tell you what forms and fees, if any, are required. ISSP can provide the addresses of your country's consulate or embassy, or you can link to Washington, D.C. embassies.

Visa

The visa stamp placed in your passport by the U.S. consul is needed to enter the United States but has no bearing on how long you can remain. It also indicates the classification status you will have upon admission to the United States (e.g., J-1).If you plan to travel outside of the North American continent and then return to the U.S., your expired visa must be renewed for reentry. You may renew your visa by visiting the U.S. consul in the country to which you are traveling; it is not possible to renew a J-1 visa within the borders of the U.S. You will need to consider the length of processing time when making your travel arrangements.

Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record

The I-94 shows that you have been admitted to the U.S. The I-94 is usually stapled onto the U.S. visa page of your passport. It contains an eleven-digit identifying number (called your departure number) that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) uses to keep track of your arrival in and departure from the United States. The USCIS sometimes refers to the "departure" number as the "admission" number. There may be a date written in the upper right-hand corner of your I-94. You must either leave the U.S. by that date or apply to extend your stay. If there is no date, but rather the inscription "D/S" (duration of status), you are admitted for the length of your program of study as indicated on your current DS-2019 plus 30 days.

Form DS-2019

The DS-2019 is the "Certificate of Eligibiligy for Exchange Visitor (J-1) Status" issued by the program sponsor of the exchange visitor (Emory University, Fulbright, etc.) for the program of study the scholar is presently pursuing. Various boxes on the form denote important information; for example, box 2 denotes the sponsoring agency; box 3 the start and end dates of the J-1 program for the particular exchange visitor; box 4 identifies the category of the particular exchange visitor (e.g., student or professor); box 5 lists the funding for the exchange visitor's program. The box in the lower right-hand corner of the form contains signatory lines for travel validation by a responsible officer of the program. The second, instructional, page of the Form DS-2019 contains the J-1 program conditions applicable to exchange visitors, which exchange visitors are attesting to have read upon signing their Form DS-2019.