Automatic Visa Revalidation Program – Travel to Contiguous Territories

The Department of State rule, known as the “automatic revalidation” of visas is a rule which allows holders of almost all classes of U.S. visas to travel to a “contiguous territory” and return to the U.S. without a current valid stamp in the passport.

Persons in F, J, H and O status can travel to Canada or Mexico and return to the U.S. without a valid visa stamp.  Persons in F and J status can, in addition to Mexico and Canada, visit the “adjacent islands” (Caribbean islands except Cuba) and return to the U.S. without a valid visa stamp in their passport.

The automatic revalidation is a slight misnomer because it does not revalidate the visa in the passport in all circumstances.  If the visa stamp in the passport matches the current status in the U.S., then the stamp is considered to be automatically revalidated as of the date of the person’s trip back to the U.S.  If, on the other hand, the person has changed status in the U.S. so that the visa stamp does not match the current status, the visa stamp is considered to be changed to the visa type corresponding to the current status.

There are certain requirements, specified in the Department of State regulations.

• Citizens of countries which are considered sponsors of terrorism are ineligible.
• The time outside the U.S. must not exceed 30 days and must be spent solely in a contiguous territory – Canada, Mexico and, for F/J holders, the Caribbean islands, except Cuba.
• Upon return, the person must present valid and current supporting visa document such as I-20, DS-2019, I-797, etc.
• The passport must be valid and unexpired at the time of the return into the U.S
• The person must not have applied for a U.S. visa while in the contiguous country or adjacent island, as applicable.

The Automatic Visa Revalidation program is a very useful, yet somewhat undiscovered, tool for travel to/from Canada, Mexico and certain Caribbean islands.  Please contact us if you would like to obtain more information about this program.