<p>You might want to read it if you are coming to the US for the first time on a F1 visa </p>
<p>You should also Always, Always keep your I20 in the same place as your passport. Always keep them with you. Don't put them in a suitcase that you will not bring on board with you. If you have your passport but you don't have your I20, the Homeland security won't let you enter the US even if you have a visa on your passport. </p>
<p>If you put your I20 in your luggage, they will keep you in the interrogtion room till an employee at the Airport find it.</p>
<p>Print your name on a paper and tape it on your suitcases and put a copy inside of your bag with your school adress</p>
<p>Never, Never leave your bags with stranger or without supervision. Nasty people can sneak drugs inside of them. [ you probably saw it on tv]. If you are sleepy, you better sit on one of your suitcase and put your head on the other one. So no one will be able to touch them.</p>
<p>If you miss a connecting flight by mistake, don't panic. Go see an employer of the company you were supposed to fly with. Tell him or her politely that you are an international student, you miss your flight, [ it'sthe first time that you are coming here if it applies to you] if she or he can help you catch the next flight that will go to your destination. If you are lucky and speak nicely [ I don't mean begging], they won't make you pay for the newflight.</p>
<p>If you suitcase is broken and you mind, don't just leave the Airport. There 's a place where you can explain what happen and the company will give you a new suitcase. </p>
<p>If you are travelling within the US during summer or any break but you want to check more than two suitcases, there are some Airline companies that let you check three suitcases and a carry on at no additional cost.</p>
<p>after you in the us,always make sure your international student advisor put your I-20 “in status” all the time and print your I-20 every time it has any changes (like address, employment on-campus, etc.).
You should ask them every semester,'cause sometimes they forget to check that and once you get “out of status”,o boy,you dont want that happen to you..</p>
<p>Before summer and winter break, your international advisor or whoever who is in charge of international students at your school will ask you to bring your I-20 so he can sign it for you because if you are leaving campus to travel to another state or to another country, you will need him to sign your I-20. Don’t forget to bring it to him. </p>
<p>In addition to the I20, the I-94 is xxxxtremely important. If you loose it, it will be hard for you to do a lot of things in the US and it might even create legal problems. If you don’t have your I-94, you might not be able to get a social security number in case you want to work on campus.</p>
<p>If you are going to a boarding school , give it to your resident advisor or whoever who will be keeping your important documents</p>
<p>Depending on where you are coming from, they might telll you that they want to do a special security check for you at the Airport. So they will bring you in this little place and look at your stuff and question you. Stay calm,just follow the agent and let them do their job. You won’t have nothing to worry about except if you bring some kg of “flour” or any other dangerous item.</p>
<p>I am not trying to advertise but Southwest Airline is the company that let you check three suitcases and a carryon. Unfortunately, you can only take advantage of this opportunity in the US because the company does not go abroad as far as I know</p>
<p>If you are from an adjacent island (caribbean islands) or Canada and Mexico, you can travel outside of the US even if your visa just expired. If you spend less than thirty days in the other country, you can come back to the United States wihout renewing your visa and the Depatmener of Homeland Security will automatically revalidate your visa. However if you tried to renew your visa at an emabassy while you left the US, you won’t be able to revalidate it. You have to get a new visa.</p>
<p>In case you don’t know, your I-94 is a little white card that they give you to fill upon you entry in the US. They wil stamp it for you at the port of entry. It is so small and so ugly that you might think that it is not important. It is easy to lose it so be carefull and don’t remove it from your passport.</p>
<p>you will return it when you will be leaving the US and get a new one when you return.</p>
<p>das, if you don’t find your luggage upon your Arival, you should go immediately to the Airline company luggage service office located in the airport that your flight stops. You will talk to an employer of the company at the office and make a report. They will take the adress of your school- or whereever you will going to- and ship the suitcase to you when they get it. That’s why it will be good, if you can put some basic stuffs ( toothbrush,toothpaste, soap, at leas one pair of underwear, … ) in case you can get your luggages right after your arrival. It might be better to travel directly to your destination, but if you are doing a long trip you might want to get some fresh air. But if you don’t mind taking several planes, it’s ok. I don’t know how often luggages got lost, but when I stop detween my flights , I never lost anything. Last summer, some friends and I could nto find our suitcases but the company sent them to our school two days later.</p>