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Embassy and Consulate Resources

Depending on your travel destination, your length of stay, and your citizenship, you may be required to obtain a visa for your trip abroad. It usually comes in the form of a stamp, placed in your passport. (Thus, getting a passport is the first step to getting a visa!) It allows you to enter (and re-enter) a specific country for a designated period of time. Generally, one works with the US-based consulate or embassy of his or her destination country, to apply.

It is good to know the basic distinction between an embassy and a consulate, as they both offer different services. A country's embassy is generally located in the capital city. The embassy deals with the main diplomatic relations between the home nation and the host nation in which the embassy is located. A consulate can be considered a smaller version of an embassy and is usually located in major tourist cities but not the capital. A consulate usually handles more of the minor diplomatic issues such as trade, issuing visas, and taking care tourists.

It is important to note that every consular and embassy office operates differently, under varying rules and requirements. Therefore, it is important to contact your jurisdictional office for application materials and information on obtaining the necessary travel documents. There is a wealth of information found on the World Wide Web for research into these matters.

Anyone who is planning overseas travel should look at the following site to begin research on foreign entry requirements:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/americans/americans_1252.html

Embassy and Consulate Resources

Before you go, to locate foreign embassies in the US, visit:

www.embassy.org/embassies/index.html

In Canada, visit: www.allembassies.com/embassies_in_canada.htm

www.travel.state.gov/index.html is a useful website for general information on consular affairs.

The information of student visa and embassy for each ISA program country is located below.

To locate a U.S. embassy at your program site, check out:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/embassies/embassies_4972.html

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