Fort Lewis College | International Programs

2008 and Academic Year 2008-2009 terms. This service is available only to students in the jurisdictions of the Consulates of Spain in Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

As you may know, most consulates currently require that students apply for their visa in person, which can be a financial burden and time-consuming task for students who live hundreds, or even thousands, of miles from their consulate.

The consulates listed above now allow an ISA representative to present our students' visa applications on their behalf, saving students a trip to the consulate. For a $100 fee, students can mail their complete student visa application to ISA, and our representative will then deliver their application to the consulate in person. We are offering this optional service to our students in hopes of saving them both time and money.

Since student visa requirements and deadlines for each consulate vary, I encourage you to contact the ISA office for further details. Students who wish to wish to use ISA's visa service should submit their ISA program application as soon as possible, since consulates require their documents well in advance. Students will also receive information about this service upon acceptance to ISA programs in Spain.

For more information about this service, please contact Teresa Kubos, the ISA Spain Student Visa Specialist, at tkubos@studiesabroad.com or 800-580-8826.

Susan

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Passport Information:

The State Department is swamped with passport applications. The backlog is driven in large part by new rules that require U.S. citizens to have a passport (and not just photo ID and a birth certificate) in order to re-enter the country by plane from Canada, the Caribbean, and other countries in the Western Hemisphere.

Wait times for normal applications have nearly doubled, with normal processing taking 10 weeks. "Expedited" processing still takes a month.

Students hoping to study abroad this WINTER term (2008)need to apply for passports NOW.

If you wait, there are ways to still get your passport, but it will be stressful and expensive (see below).

Note: If you have urgent travel plans and need a passport immediately, same-day passports are still available, but you need to apply in person at a passport agency, with proof that that you'll be traveling within two weeks. Be prepared to wait in line. See here for locations.

http://travel.state.gov/passport/about/agencies/agencies_913.html

National Security Education Program

The Institute of International Education (IIE) is accepting applications for the 2008-2009 National Security Education Program (NSEP) David L. Boren Scholarships for undergraduate students for study abroad. The 2008-2009 Boren Scholarships provide funding for summer, semester, or yearlong study in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. national security, but are underrepresented in study abroad.

The Boren Scholarship application must be completed and submitted online.

Please check

www.iie.org/nsep

for details or "scholarships" under Resources.