March 2004 Visa Information
Traveling to and from Canada for the APS March Meeting 2004
Warning: The following information has been provided to APS by outside organizations to only help in facilitating smooth travel. All travelers should consult with their organization's visa experts to ensure that their individual circumstances are properly addressed.
- Information for US citizens and permanent residents
You are advised to travel with a current passport, valid for at least 6 months after the date of return to the US. Permanent Residents will need to present a valid Resident Alien Card ("green card").
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has additional information about travel from the US to Canada
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Information for students and postdocs currently residing in the US on F-1 and J-1 visas
General Information, Traveling TO Canada, Returning FROM Canada
- Information for physicists attending from countries other than the US
Requirements and instructions for visas may be obtained from the Canadian Government web site.
- Information for students and postdocs with F-1 and J-1 visas who are temporarily outside the US and who wish to travel to Canada and return to the US after the APS meeting
If you plan to travel abroad prior to the meeting in Canada and are considering applying for a new US F-1 or J-1 visa, please contact the advisor in your office of international students and scholars (ISS) immediately for advice.
Please remember that it is risky for F-1 and J-1 visa holders to apply for new US visas in Canada or any country that is not your country of citizenship. Even if you apply from your home country, you may be subject to very long delays. People who are found ineligible for a visa cannot re-enter the U.S. using solely their current Form I-94 as was possible in some cases in the past. (See http://travel.state.gov/exclusionvisa.html)
- Information for physicists with H-1B and O visas
Physicists with H-1B and O visas should have no trouble traveling to Canada and returning as long as your passports, employment documents and visas are valid for at least 6 months. Consult the information on Traveling to Canada given for students to learn if you need a Canadian visa and how to get it.
WARNING: If you are in the process of changing your visa status (for instance, you have applied for permanent residence), you should not travel outside the U.S. without consulting a visa expert.
Note for H-1B visa holders: Other scientific organizations have provided the following helpful insights. We will pass them along, but you should verify with you employer's visa experts. If you have received an extension of your H-1B visa status with and extended end date on the new I-94, you should be able to re-enter the United States by showing the 1-94 and I-797 Approval Notice of the H-1B extension stamp.
- Information for physicists at DOE labs
We have been informed by DOE Headquarters staff that the approval process for scientists attending the APS March Meeting in Montreal should not be more difficult than for domestic conferences if you apply at least a month ahead of time. (If you are not a US citizen or permanent resident, you may need a Canadian visa - see #2 Traveling to Canada above.) However, it will be necessary to fill out a U. S. Department of Energy Request for Approval of Foreign Travel form if you work at a DOE lab or your travel is funded by a DOE lab. Each DOE lab has a person, the Organizational Point of Contact (OPOC), who is assigned to enter this information into the DOE Foreign Travel Management system. All requests for travel to major foreign conferences, when approved at the Laboratory, are sent on to DOE Headquarters for final approval. If you run into any difficulty for the 2004 March meeting, please send an email message to exoffice@aps.org, but please start the process early. If you need help filling out the foreign travel form, here are some hints:
Block No. What to enter # 7 Enter the name of your lab or the lab that is funding your travel, i. e. Argonne National Lab # 8 University is listed here because occasionally DOE might pay directly for a university scientist's travel in which case this form must be filled out. # 13 OPOC stands for Organizational Point of Contact # 17 If you don't know your funding code, ask an administrator in your area. # 19, # 20 These can say "not applicable" if and as appropriate. # 21 This can be a simple statement of how you and your professional work benefit from attendance at such scientific meetings. # 38 The host is the Conference organizer, in this case APS. For host name and phone, use:
APS (Ken Cole) - 301-209-3288
For after hours name and phone, use your hotel in Montreal
After you have filled out the form, give it to your supervisor, who will sign it and pass it on for further approval. You shouldn't have to hand-carry it unless you are doing this at the last minute.
