Contact Information: Peters Hall 205 50 N. Professor Street Oberlin, OH  44074 Phone: (440)-775-8540 Fax: (440) 775-6369 Office Hours: Monday-Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm Ellen Sayles Associate Dean, Director of Programs for International Study Ann Deppman Assistant Director of Programs for International Study Donna Young Administrative Assistant

Planning Your Departure

Passports

Most programs help you with the process of obtaining a travel visa (if necessary).   You must have an up-to-date passport in order to apply for a visa. Each student is responsible for ensuring that he or she has a valid
passport if necessary.   If you do not have a passport or if your passport has expired, you should apply for a new passport or renewal as soon as possible.   Information on how to obtain a new passport or renew a passport is available at http://www.travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html .

Please note:   Many countries require that your passport be valid for six months beyond the dates of your travel in that country.

Passport and Visa pictures

Discount Drug Mart, 12289 Leavitt Road, Oberlin makes passport photos. The cost is $7.99 per photo. It takes about 30 minutes to get a photo made.

Local Passport Office

The closest local passport office is at the US Post Office in Elyria 800-275-8777.  
Passport hours are 8:00-4:00 weekdays; 9:00-noon Saturday.   Driving directions are
listed below:

Go east on Lorain Street (route 511) to the intersection just before the entrance to the highway to Cleveland/airport (route 10 to 20 to 480). At the four way stop before the highway, turn left on the Oberlin/Elyria Road (route 20). Continue on this road (which eventually turns into Middle Avenue) until you enter downtown Elyria (about 10-15 minutes). Turn right onto Broad Street

just after seeing the town square on your left (Middle Avenue actually dead ends at Broad Street).
At the third light on Broad Street, turn left onto Bridge Street (if you see the hospital on your right, you have gone too far down Broad Street). Bridge Street goes under a train overpass (note the Amtrak station on your right) and the post office-a one story, modern, red brick building-- is just beyond the train overpass on your right (345 Bridge Street).

Student Visas

In order to enter most countries a special passport stamp or other indicator—a visa—is required.   This visa allows you to enter a country for a specific purpose and for a specified time period.   Obtaining a student visa can take a few weeks so you should start this part of the process
as soon as possible.   If you are going on a study away program sponsored by a study away provider, your program will most often provide information about how to obtain a student visa

for the country to which you will travel and will help you get started with the student visa
application process.   If your program does not provide assistance in this area or if you are enrolling directly in a foreign institution, you should contact the nearest embassy or consulate for the country you will be visiting.   Most countries have visa application information, procedure and documents posted on their websites.   A useful listing of these websites is available at http://travel.state.gov/visa/americans/americans_1252.html .  This site also provides useful country information for each country in the world.

Travel Arrangements

As soon as you have confirmed your study away program and paid your deposit, you will want
to begin researching your travel options.   Some study away programs provide you with the necessary tickets for travel to and from the study away site.   In most cases, making these travel arrangements is up to you.   You should keep in mind the following considerations
before making your travel plans:

•  Check on the required dates for your program's orientation

•  Make sure to check the last date of exams for your program

•  Consider any additional travel you want to do before and after your program