International Travel

Travel to certain countries deemed to have an elevated risk may require additional information from the traveler(s) and may be denied at the discretion of the College. It is the responsibility of the traveler to stay up to date on current situations/advisories for the countries where travel will be occurring. See more information below.

All international travelers must complete and submit a waiver with their Spend Authorization. Travel to countries with a Level 3 or Level 4 Department of State Travel Advisory requires special approval. Countries deemed to have an elevated risk are identified based on a variety of information including the International SOS Global Risk Ratings, Department of State Travel Advisories, as well as international sanctions or embargos. Please review these advisories and, based on the country's risk level, download and complete one of the following waivers and attach to your Spend Authorization:

THE RULES OF TRAVEL TO THE UK AND EUROPE HAVE CHANGED!

New requirements to travel to the UK 

Effective January 8, 2025, all U.S. citizens transiting the UK or traveling to the UK for tourism, family visits, business meetings, conferences, or short-term study for 6 months or less will require an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) prior to travel.

An ETA is good for multiple entries within a 2-year timeframe. Everyone travelling needs to get an ETA, including babies and children. The application for an ETA costs €10, or about $15 and it takes about 15 minutes to complete. Processing could take 3-5 business days.

Before you apply for an ETA, you will need:

  • the passport you will travel with - not a photocopy or digital passport
  • access to your emails
  • a credit card, debit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay

You will also need to upload or take photos of the:

  • passport
  • face of the person applying

To apply for the ETA:

  • download and use the UK ETA app from the App Store; or
  • click HERE and hit Continue to begin your application; or
  • click HERE to use CIBT, a trusted third-party visa provider.

For more information regarding this change in policy, please visit The U.S. Embassy & Consulates in the United Kingdom.

New requirements to travel to Europe 

Starting in May 2025, a special travel authorization—ETIAS, which stands for the European Travel Information and Authorization System–will be required. Once the program starts, people from the U.S. and other countries will need ETIAS to enter 30 European countries. The document will cost €7, or about $7.50. Travelers under 18 years old or over 70 will not have to pay a fee. The ETIAS travel pass will be valid for 3 consecutive years.

ETIAS is currently not in operation and no applications are collected at this point. It is due to start 6 months after the new Entry/Exit System (EES) is put in place. The EES is an automated IT system for registering non-EU nationals travelling for a short stay, each time they cross the external borders of any of the following European countries using the system: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

For more information regarding this change in policy, please visit European Union ETIAS website.

Step-By-Step International Travel Checklist:

  1. Review the  IC_Travel_Policy.pdf. Travelers are responsible for understanding this policy before planning any travel on behalf of the College.
  2. Identify your funding source and obtain approval from your supervisor.
  3. Complete and submit your Spend Authorization and Travel Waiver as outlined above, and provide backup documentation via the IC Finance Cloud: Creating a Spend Authorization.
  4. Upon Spend Authorization approval, register your travel with the Office of International Programs (Ithaca College International Travel Registry).
  5. Apply for and obtain an ETA or ETIAS (if traveling to the UK or Europe respectively, as detailed above).
  6. Contact the Office of Risk Management to obtain information about foreign car rentals, travel advisories, and other insurance liability issues prior to departure.
  7. Book Your Trip via Collegiate Travel Planners (CTP) (the mandatory online booking tool for college related travel for all domestic and international flights and lodging).
  8. Contact JPMorgan Chase by phone at (800)316-6056 (or internationally at (847)488-3748) to notify them that you are traveling internationally, where you are traveling, and on what dates.

Expense Reconciliation Guidelines for International Travel:

  • Every expense report submitted for an international trip must contain one zero-dollar expense item with the International Travel expense type. Use this item to list all trip attendee names, number of days travelled, and any other pertinent information. See Managing Expense Items for further instructions.
  • Reimbursement requests for International Travel follow the same guidelines as the general Travel Policy.
  • Expense Reports must be submitted in U.S. dollars with an explanation and translation of the foreign receipts and their conversions.
  • Travelers must use the currency rates that were in effect on the date the expense was incurred. Travelers may use the following websites to obtain such rates: www.xe.com, www.oanda.com (for reimbursements). For charges on the Ithaca College Travel Card, use the actual amount converted to U.S. dollars.
  • Foreign transactions charged to credit cards are automatically converted to U.S. dollars. Ithaca College Travel Card transactions will incur a 1% foreign transaction fee. These fees must be included on the expense report.

Note: If a traveler does not accurately complete and receive approval of a Spend Authorization prior to travel or if the traveler did not register their travel; the college reserves the right to seek reimbursement of funds back from the traveler and/or deny out of pocket reimbursements to the traveler.

Helpful travel links