Once you have all items necessary to travel to LSU, you can make your airline reservations and prepare for your arrival to the United States and Louisiana!
Travel and Entry to the U.S.
Flight Arrangements
There are no direct international flights to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. International Student Services (ISS) recommends flying to a major airport in the U.S. and taking a connecting flight to Baton Rouge. ISS recommends allowing for at least 3-4 hours between your initial U.S. arrival and your connecting flight to go through the U.S. Port of Entry and U.S. Customs.
U.S. Immigration rules allow you to enter the U.S. up to 30 days before the program start date listed on your I-20/DS-2019. However, ISS recommends that you arrive only a few days before the program start date on your I-20/DS-2019 due to limited temporary housing. Please be aware that the program start date on your I-20/DS-2019 is the day of the mandatory International Student Orientation.
If you anticipate delays and expect to arrive later than the program start date or decide not to attend LSU, please notify ISS by email: isodoc@lsu.edu.
Should you fly to New Orleans?
You can choose to schedule a flight to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. However, please be aware that there is no public transportation system that goes from the New Orleans airport (located in Kenner, Louisiana) to Baton Rouge. The nearest Greyhound bus station is 20-30 minutes away from the airport (1001 Loyola Avenue, downtown New Orleans). Depending on your flight's arrival time and the remaining bus departure times to Baton Rouge, you may need to be prepared to stay in the city of New Orleans overnight and schedule a bus departure for the next day.
U.S. Port of Entry and U.S. Customs
During your flight to the United States, flight attendants should distribute a Customs Declaration Form for you to complete. If your dependents are traveling with you, you need to complete only one declaration form for your family. You will be required to provide the Customs Declaration Form to a U.S. Customs official after you have collected your luggage.
The first airport in the United States where you arrive is called your Port of Entry (POE), and you will have to go through U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) before you can go to your connecting flight to Baton Rouge. You must present your passport and your I-20/DS-2019 to the border officer at your POE. The officer may ask you a few questions while processing your papers.
I-94 Arrival/Departure Record
The I-94 is the arrival/departure record issued by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer to international visitors entering the United States. The I-94 determines your lawful status and the benefits you can have while you are in the U.S. as an F-1/J-1 student. Other U.S. government agencies use the I-94 for various purposes.
You will not have an I-94 until you have entered the United States and are processed by a CBP official at the U.S. port of entry.
Within hours of your arrival to the U.S., you should be able to access your I-94 admission record information online. You will need your I-94 when reporting your arrival to ISS.
Secondary Inspection
If something in your paperwork is not clear to CBP officials, they may ask you to proceed to secondary inspection, where they will ask you some additional questions. You should have hard-copies of all your documents with you and answer all questions politely and briefly. To avoid misunderstandings, do not tell the official anything they did not ask for.
If there are problems with your documents, you may still be allowed to enter the U.S. with a Form I-515A, which allows you to stay in the United States for only 30 days. If you receive an I-515A, come to International Student Services (101 Hatcher Hall) as soon as possible during business hours after your arrival to campus so that we can assist you with the paperwork needed to extend your stay in the U.S. Our business hours are 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.
In the unlikely event that you are denied admission to the U.S., call our advisers as soon as possible: +1-225-578-3191 (or after hours or on weekends at +1-225-252-0582). Be extremely cautious about arguing with CBP officials. The officials could decide to issue an expedited removal, which entails a five-year ban on future admission to the U.S., and there is no appeals process if such a procedure is deemed necessary by CBP. (If an expedited removal is considered, you may be able to inform the CBP officers that you are wiling to consider withdrawing your application for entering the U.S. rather than being subject to expedited removal.)
Housing
First-year undergraduate students are required to live on campus, with limited exceptions. All other students can choose to live on campus in a residence hall, apartment, or residential college, or they can choose to live off campus.
If you are considering living off campus, please note that there are many apartments in Baton Rouge. You may want to locate an apartment near campus and along the LSU Tiger Trails bus route or Baton Rouge's Capital Area Transit System (CATS) if you do not plan on purchasing a car.
If you plan to bring your family to the United States as your F-2/J-2 dependents, we recommend that you arrive first to give yourself several weeks to make housing arrangements and to take care of your own affairs before your family arrive. Please be aware that on-campus residence halls cannot accommodate families or friends who may be travelling with you.
The Cook Hotel is an on-campus hotel with guest rooms and suites that are available to anyone. You can also search online for other hotels/motels that are close to campus and along the LSU Tiger Trails bus route or CATS route.