Harvard International Office

If you are planning on traveling internationally over the upcoming school breaks, please check to ensure that you have all required immigration documents necessary to re-enter the U.S. with. 

If you need a travel signature on your Form I-20 or DS-2019, please review the applicable instructions below. Please note, the HIO will be closed for Thanksgiving break Wednesday, November 23 through Friday, November 25.

• F-1 students may request a travel signature to be sent via email by completing the F-1 Travel Signature Request Form.
• J-1 students, scholars, and student interns and their dependents will need to visit the HIO during our walk in travel signature and document pick up hour, which takes place Monday-Friday from 12pm - 1pm on the 8th floor of the Smith Center to obtain a travel signature.
• Beginning November 2nd, the HIO will be hosting travel signature hours in the Longwood area for students, student interns, and scholars to obtain a travel signature or to pick up documents from the HIO. An HIO Advisor will be available every other Wednesday, beginning November 2nd, from 1:00pm - 3:00pm in Gordon 006 (at the HMS/HSDM Office for Postdoctoral Fellows - see map). The full schedule may be found here. 

For more information on contacting the HIO, please see Contact Us.

Effective January 1, 2022, President Biden rescinded the presidential proclamation restricting entry to the U.S. for non-U.S. citizens who were physically present in the following countries in the 14 days prior to their entry to the U.S.: the Republic of Botswana, the Kingdom of Eswatini, the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Republic of Malawi, the Republic of Mozambique, the Republic of Namibia, the Republic of South Africa, and the Republic of Zimbabwe.

Students and scholars located in the above mentioned countries will be allowed to travel directly to the U.S. as of January 1, 2022. Please ensure that you have the required documents for travel.

We are thrilled that members of the classes of 2020 and 2021 are welcome back to campus for an unforgettable and joyous Commencement on May 29, 2022.

Any graduates from the classes of 2020 and 2021 who are not currently located in the U.S. on F-1 Optional Practical Training (OPT), STEM OPT, J-1 Academic Training, or any other visa status, will need to travel to the U.S. on a B-1/B-2 visitor visa or visa waiver program (ESTA) for the purpose of attending the Commencement. Please see the website of the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in your home country for more information if you need to apply for a B-1/B-2 visa stamp.

If you are no longer an enrolled student at Harvard you are not eligible for University visa sponsorship for an F-1 or J-1 student visa. There are no specific visa documents, e.g. an F-1 Form I-20 or J-1 Form DS-2019, with which to apply for a B-1/B-2 visa. The B-1/B-2 visa is a personal application that does not require documentation from the Harvard International Office.

We hope that international students, scholars, and student interns are settling in to campus well for the start of the term. If you are in need of talking with your HIO advisor, please review the resources below to get in touch with the HIO:

• Connecting with an HIO Advisor through daily virtual advisor on call sessions (for quick questions only)
• Contacting your HIO advisor directly via email or phone
• Making an appointment for a virtual 1:1 meeting with your HIO advisor
• Emailing internationaloffice@harvard.edu
• F-1 students may request a travel signature to be sent via email by completing the F-1 Travel Signature Request Form.
• Limited walk-in services are available for J-1 DS-2019 travel signatures and document pickup only in the Smith Center. This service is not intended for advising questions or HIO registration. If you need a travel signature or a replacement document, please review the applicable instructions on the Contact Us page.

On October 25, 2021, President Biden issued Presidential Proclamation 10294 rescinding the geographic COVID-19 travel bans and adopting COVID-19 vaccination requirements for all international air travelers to the U.S., with limited exceptions. The proclamation will go into effect on November 8, 2021.

National Interest Exemptions (NIEs) will no longer be needed for noncitizens who were physically present in any of the 33 countries (identified in earlier travel restriction proclamations) during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the U.S.

With limited exceptions, travelers will be required to be fully vaccinated and provide proof of their vaccination before boarding a plane to the U.S, in addition to proof of a negative COVID-19 test. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has confirmed that for purposes of travel to the U.S., vaccines approved or authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or on the World Health Organization (WHO) emergency use listed (EUL) vaccines will be accepted. Please refer to the CDC website for the list of accepted COVID-19 vaccines and how to confirm you are fully vaccinated to travel to the U.S.

Please refer to the CDC website to confirm you have the required COVID-19 vaccination and testing documentation to travel to the U.S., on or after November 8^th. Please also see the FAQs and list of exemptions to the requirement on the CDC website.

F-1 students graduating in December 2021 can start applying for Post-Completion Optional Practical Training (OPT) up to 90 days before their program completion date (Form I-20 end date) in order to be eligible to work in the U.S. following graduation. 

To help accommodate the large number of OPT requests, the HIO will begin accepting OPT requests via a new web form starting Wednesday, September 8, 2021 for students graduating this December. The HIO will start releasing new OPT I-20s via email on Friday, September 17, 2021. 

To receive your OPT I-20 on the earliest release date, you must submit your OPT request to the HIO no later than Wednesday, September 15, 2021. Any OPT requests submitted after September 15, 2021, will be processed by the HIO in 5-7 business days. 

Please visit the OPT section of our website for a detailed overview of the OPT process. If you have any questions on the process, please log in to speak with the Advisor on Call.

With the beginning of the new school year approaching, the HIO would like to welcome new and returning international students, scholars, and their families to Cambridge/Boston area! For many of you, this may be your first time arriving on campus at Harvard. We hope the start of your orientation and fall semester goes smoothly.

New and returning international students and scholars should always contact the HIO directly for any immigration-related questions or concerns during your time at Harvard. While our offices remain closed for walk in advising until further notice, HIO advisors are available via phone, email, for virtual appointments, and virtual drop in advising hours.

Newly arriving international students and scholars may find information to help ease their transition into life in the U.S. in our virtual New Student Welcome Guide and New Scholar Welcome Guide.

We also want to remind incoming students and scholars that, while Boston and Cambridge are relatively safe, it is important for you to use caution when dealing with both physical safety and other safety issues such as identity theft. We encourage you to visit the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) should you have any questions regarding safety issues, and to familiarize yourself with the safety resources that Harvard offers. You should also protect your personal information from scams by not responding to unsolicited phone calls and emails. We hear of a number of scams each year (a dishonest way of soliciting money by deceiving people) targeting non-immigrants and U.S. citizens alike, including calls from individuals claiming to be immigration and tax officials requesting personal information such as social security numbers and credit card information. Government officials do not call or email requesting such personal information. If you receive any calls like those described above, simply hang up!  You may find more information on the Safety, Scams, and Identity Protection page of the HIO website.

As we approach Harvard’s return to campus, and look forward to welcoming thousands of incoming international students, scholars, faculty, and their families to Harvard’s campus, we are happy to share that the U.S. Department of State and Department of Education recently released a Joint Statement of Principles in Support of International Education.

The message reaffirms the U.S. government’s commitment to fostering international education, including “study in the United States by international students, researchers, and scholars.” The message states that these key federal agencies intend to “welcome international students, researchers, scholars, and educators to the United States in a safe and secure manner and encourage a diversity of participants, disciplines, and types of authorized schools and higher education institutions where they can choose to study, teach, or contribute to research” and “recognize the significant benefits that international students, researchers, scholars, and exchange alumni contribute to research, innovation, economic development, and job opportunities in many fields and sectors throughout the United States.”

This has been a particularly challenging year for us all in many ways. The impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic have had on international education, and our international community, are immeasurable. However, we feel hopeful for the future, and encouraged that the U.S. government is reaffirming its commitment to international education.

On July 6, 2021, the Department of State announced that National Interest Exceptions (NIE) to all COVID-19 travel bans will now be valid for 12-months from the date of approval and may be used to travel to the U.S. multiple times for the purpose indicated in the approved NIE. This extension applies to travelers subject to the presidential proclamations due to their presence in China, Iran, Brazil, South Africa, the Schengen area, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and India who currently have approved NIEs or who were granted NIEs in conjunction with a visa application. As a reminder, F-1 students and their dependents are not subject to the travel ban and do not require an NIE. 

If you were previously approved for an NIE to travel to the U.S., your NIE will now be valid for 12 months from the date of approval and can be used for multiple entries to the U.S., as long as the NIE is used for the purpose under which it was granted. Previously, NIEs were only valid for 30-days from the date of issuance and could only be used for a single entry to the U.S. This new State Department policy expanding the validity of an NIE is effective immediately. 

For more information regarding the NIE and your visa type, please review the HIO COVID FAQ under “U.S. Embassy Visa Issuance and Travel Updates”.