International travel by foreign national trainees and employees must be planned carefully.
If you need a travel signature from DIS on your Form DS-2019, refer to the
Document Pickup & Travel Signatures page of our website.
Travel, whether for personal or professional reasons, can be an exciting adventure or a stressful challenge. Before you catch an airplane to speak at a conference, book reservations for your perfect vacation, or take a trip home to visit family, make sure that you consider the immigration side of traveling and find the answers to your questions ahead of time. Use the resources on this page to confirm the correct documents you will need to reenter the United States to return to NIH. If you will be renewing your visa, please refer to the handouts linked below and our
poster on the visa adjudication process.
Please
Contact DIS several weeks before traveling if you have any travel-related questions so that we can help your traveling experience go as smoothly as possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
I am already at NIH and need to travel back home or to another country. What documents do I need in order to travel internationally?
Please refer to the Travel Handout for information related to J-1/J-2, O-1, and H-1B travel. Travel questions can also be handled during the .
My passport has expired and I have received a new one. My visa to travel to the United States is still valid, but in my expired passport. Do I need to apply for a new visa with my new passport?
If your visa is still valid, you can travel to the United States with your two passports, as long as the visa is valid, not damaged, and is the appropriate type. Both passports (the valid and the expired one with the visa) should be from the same country.
Do not try to remove the visa from your old passport and place it into the new valid passport. If you do so, your visa will no longer be valid.
You should also provide DIS with a copy of your new passport.
Why does DIS request a copy of my I-94 record each time I travel?
Providing your most recent I-94 to DIS allows an Immigration Specialist to review the document and ensure you have been admitted to the U.S. in the correct status and that no errors were inadvertently made by the DHS Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Inspector.
It is also useful for DIS to retain these copies so that we can better assist you in obtaining a replacement if any of your immigration documents are damaged, lost, or stolen.
Revised 05/2026
