It is finally spring break! And while some of my peers are travelling the world, discovering new places – I have never been happier to stay in NYC. You see I am still recovering from a little mishap that happened to me about 2 months ago – where I literally saw all of my dreams and aspirations flash in front of my eyes. Ok, I will stop with the dramatics and tell you what happened.
I went to Montreal for an interview, thinking that I would be gone for one day and then back. On my way back, the U.S. immigration wouldn’t let me enter the States, and do you know why? My passport had about 4 months left – the minimum required to enter the US is 6 months. I had naively assumed that the standard was 3 months, that I still had a month, and that I could renew it once I was back. They asked me to either get an extension, or to get a new passport. Being a Rwandan citizen, a panic ensued. Our consulates do not provide passport extensions, and I would need a new passport all the way from Rwanda – which usually takes 2 to 3 months.
And so my month of waiting began. I told my professors and my spring internship what happened, and that I would be starting late. I left Montreal for Ottawa where the Rwandan Consulate is to ask for their help. I sent an expedited request to my uncle who represented me with the ministry in Rwanda, and asked for a new passport on my behalf. Then I went to Toronto and raided my sister’s closet :). Since I literally had come for one night, I definitely didn’t have clothes to last me a month. I spent the month with my sister, half of it visiting with friends and trying to enjoy my time in Toronto, and the other half panicking about the classes that I was missing, and the spring internship that I had not started. Finally my new passport arrived, and within a week I had a new student visa from the American embassy and I was on my way back.
4 Weeks! From January 22,2015 – February 19th, 2015… The moral of the story is that really 2 things would have helped me avoid this situation from the beginning:
1. Leveraging the Office of Global Services (OGS) – whether it was by going to the office and talking to them, or looking at the website
OGS is the office that helps international students. They issue our I-20s, give us International Students Do/Don’ts Training before school starts, and help us when we have questions. Had I thought of checking with them, I would have seen it written clearly: Only travel if your passport is valid 6 months into the future.
2. Knowing my rights
Even though my passport was valid for less than 6 months, technically they could/should have let me in. There is some small fine print that says that since I had been out of the country for less than 30 days (and in my case, 1 day!) I could have gone through and renewed my passport in the US. However, I did not know that and therefore could not build a case for it.
As international students, we have to pay attention to a few more things, and our student status is the priority! Thankfully that scare is over, and I will use this week to organize myself and catch up on my life – as they say, we live and learn!
Have a great week,
Michaella