Passport & Visa Information
At Compass, we welcome participants of all nationalities to participate in our program. Because we travel internationally, we want to
ensure you have all the information you need to make international travel as
seamless as possible.
Please note: There are additional expenses associated with obtaining a passport or
visa that are not included in the cost of participating in a Compass program. If these additional expenses will burden you, please contact a Compass staff to discuss the financial support we have in place to help out.
Passports
All Compass participants traveling internationally will need a passport. If you do NOT have a current passport, see below for instructions on how to obtain one. If you DO have a passport, please double-check to ensure that it will not expire until at least six months after our travel dates.
If it will not expire within that timeframe, then you are good to go (unless you don’t have a US passport- see below)!
If your passport has expired or will before that time, you will need to apply to get a new one. US citizens can follow this link for instructions on how to apply for a passport. Those who are not US citizens will need to get instructions from their respective government’s travel website on how to apply.
Please note: You must apply in person using Form DS-11 if at least one of the following is true:
You are applying for your first U.S. passport
You are under age 16
Your previous U.S. passport was issued when you were under age 16
Your previous U.S. passport was lost, stolen, or damaged
Your previous U.S. passport was issued more than 15 years ago
If none of the above statements apply to you, you may be eligible to Renew your passport by mail using Form DS-82.
If the program is 14+ weeks out, you can apply for routine processing time and should get your passport in plenty of time. If there are only 13 or fewer weeks from the time you apply for your passport to the time the program is happening, you will need to apply for an expedited passport processing time. If there are fewer than 9 weeks, you will need to apply for an urgent processing time, but be aware that this requires you to travel in person to a passport center, and it must be within 14 days of your departure date. Not all states have passport centers, so depending on where you live, you could have to travel very far to go to one in person! Both expedited and urgent processing times come with additional fees.
Please note: the processing time for your passport does NOT include the time it takes for the passport to be mailed to and from the passport processing center. For faster turnaround, you can pay extra for express shipping. (Choose this option at the post office to send it, and include an additional check for $19.53 with your application and processing fee. You can review the details on this page under “Can I pay for Faster Delivery and Return Shipping?”)
If you send it in for routine processing time, you can change the status to expedited but you’ll need to pay an extra fee. Same goes for expedited to urgent.
Visas
If you hold a US passport:
You do not need a visa to travel to Iceland.
If you are a dual citizen, you don’t need a visa to travel to Iceland or get in and out of the US as long as you have a US passport. If you have dual citizenship but no US passport, please contact the Compass office.
If you don’t hold a US passport:
Please contact the Compass office immediately. You may need a visa to travel to Iceland AND/OR to travel in and out of the US. If you don’t have any passport whatsoever, or if your non-US passport has expired, please note that you must have a passport BEFORE you can apply for a visa. Both passports and visas can take months to process, so please ensure that there will be ample time for you to obtain your passport and visa(s) prior to the start of the program.
If you are living outside the US, you will need a B2 (tourist) visa to enter the US to participate in Compass **Citizens of Canada or Bermuda, please review the exceptions here**
Though there are educational components, Compass is not an accredited academic program, so DON’T apply for a student visa!
If you are already in the US and have a green card, you likely won’t need a visa to come in and out of the US, but please verify with Compass staff.
If you are already in the US on a work or student visa, you will need to make sure that the visa will allow you to come in and out of the US, if not, you may need to apply for an additional visa.
For an overview on how to get a US visa, please review the instructions here.
Some countries are able to enter Iceland for a stay of less than 90 days without a visa. Others will need to apply for a C (tourist) visa.
All non-US passport carriers need to confirm! Please check if you need a visa for Iceland by reviewing the list here.
For instructions on how to apply for a visa to Iceland, review the instructions here.
For a list of where to apply for an Icelandic visa, look here (Please note: you may need to travel out of state to the nearest Icelandic consulate to obtain an Icelandic visa).
Students must notify us (info@compasspath.org) when they apply for their visa. To apply for either an Icelandic or US visa, one of the accompanying documents you will need is a letter from Compass confirming your participation in the program, which we will send to you.
Students are required to send copies of all the visa paperwork (including the visa itself) to Compass. Compass will provide a direct link to our secure online storage for you to upload these documents.
Please note: It could take several weeks to a few months to get all of your needed documentation, so don’t put this off! If you do not have all the required documents in hand three weeks before the trip’s departure you may not be able to participate.