usda international travel

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Obtain a Visa

As soon as you know you will be traveling internationally, search  visa requirements  to learn if a visa is needed and the forms and other supporting documentation required for your length of stay. If a visa is not required, you must still submit a request to pick-up your Official Passport from the Travel Management Branch (TMB).

FAS Employees

FAS employees and Travel Arrangers must submit the visa request via the International Passport and Visa Request System (IPATTS). FAS employees can refer to the How To Guide to Obtain a Passport or VISA   to help navigate the IPATTS system. NOTE:  CONCUR does not notify  TMB of passport and visa requests. You must use the IPATTS system for any international trip even if a visa is not required and you are just picking up a passport.

Non-FAS Employees

If you are not an FAS employee, you must notify your  Agency Travel Coordinator , who will submit your visa request to the Travel Management Branch (TMB) and inform you of any agency specific international travel requirements. Your  Agency Travel Coordinator  may have you fill out a visa form per embassy requirements.

Visa Requirements

We have provided a series of search options to find out about visa requirements, and to get general embassy information for the country you intend to visit. Click here to learn about the Visa requirement of the country you will be visiting . 

Visa Application Forms

A complete listing of necessary Visa forms arranged alphabetically by country.  All files are in fillable .pdf format unless otherwise noted. Please click here to find the necessary forms for your visit . 

Processing Times

In general, the processing periods for visa requests are as follows:

• To obtain 1 to 3 visas, allow  10-15 working days prior to departure after your passport is made available to TMB.
• If you require more than 3 visas, add 5 working days for each additional visa.
• Countries such as China, Russia and Vietnam require from 7 to 20 working days to issue a visa, depending upon the purpose of the trip. This is in addition to the time required by TMB.

If you need to renew or obtain a new passport, add an additional 8-11 weeks to the processing periods listed above.

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An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Take a Pet From One U.S. State or Territory to Another (Interstate)

When you travel with a pet, your destination State or Territory may have animal health requirements, such as obtaining a health certificate, updating vaccinations, diagnostic testing, or administering treatments. As soon as you know your travel details, contact your local veterinarian to help with the pet travel process.

Find U.S. State and Territory Requirements

APHIS doesn't regulate the interstate movement of pets. Domestic movement requirements are set by the receiving State or Territory.

Contact the  State animal health official  in your destination State or Territory if you have questions or need clarification on any of the requirements.

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Trade and Exports Continue to Strengthen American Agriculture

American agriculture remains strong. Total U.S. agricultural exports reached $174.9 billion in 2023. American farmers, ranchers, and agribusiness owners continue to have success abroad as USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service works for U.S. agriculture.

Exports are critical to the health of America’s farm sector and the nation’s economy. USDA and the Biden-Harris Administration are committed to ensuring that U.S. agriculture has full and fair access to markets and opportunities across the globe.

In the trade policy arena, USDA successfully opened a new grapefruit market in Vietnam, increased ethanol exports to Japan, and secured the removal of retaliatory tariffs on chickpeas, lentils, almonds, walnuts, and apples in India. These and other trade wins in 2023 helped U.S. agricultural producers and exporters gain access to potential markets worth nearly $6.4 billion.

USDA advocated for the interests of U.S. producers in international fora. The U.S. Codex Office’s efforts at the Codex Alimentarius Commission resulted in hundreds of new maximum residue limits for pesticides, ensuring that U.S. growers continue to have access to safe and effective pest control tools. Throughout 2023, our actions set the table for the market development and export promotion activities that directly benefit American farmers and their communities.

FAS hosted five trade missions in 2023 connected U.S. producers and exporters with buyers in Central and South America, Europe, and East and Southeast Asia. The missions facilitated more than 1,600 business-to-business meetings that resulted in nearly $70 million in 12-month projected sales. FAS organized U.S. food pavilions and exhibits at 25 international trade shows in 15 countries, enabling 820 U.S. companies and organizations to showcase their products to global buyers, resulting in $1.5 billion in projected 12-months sales.

In October 2023, USDA launched the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP), a new market development effort which emphasizes underinvested markets. The $1.2 billion initiative enables exporters to diversify into new markets and increase market share in growth markets. RAPP targets opportunities in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia where there is a growing middle class and demand for greater variety of high-quality food products.

FAS continued to address global food insecurity in 2023. Through its Food for Progress and McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition feeding programs, FAS invested a combined $442 million to combat food insecurity in 47 countries.

While 2023 was another fantastic year for U.S. food and agricultural trade, we are not resting on our laurels. We’re setting our goals even higher as we look to diversify our markets and bring more U.S. products to all parts of the world in 2024.

You May Also Like

• A Family Brew – Celebrating Mother-Daughter Coffee Farmer on International Women’s Day
• 100 Years of Agricultural Trade: A Century of Growth, Innovation, and Progress
• Soulful Food and Sauces: Through USDA Programs, A Black Agribusiness Owner Rises Internationally

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Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

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Privately owned vehicle (POV) mileage reimbursement rates

GSA has adjusted all POV mileage reimbursement rates effective January 1, 2024.

* Airplane nautical miles (NMs) should be converted into statute miles (SMs) or regular miles when submitting a voucher using the formula (1 NM equals 1.15077945 SMs).

For calculating the mileage difference between airports, please visit the U.S. Department of Transportation's Inter-Airport Distance website.

QUESTIONS: For all travel policy questions, email [email protected] .

Have travel policy questions? Use our ' Have a Question? ' site

PER DIEM LOOK-UP

1 choose a location.

Error, The Per Diem API is not responding. Please try again later.

No results could be found for the location you've entered.

Rates for Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. Territories and Possessions are set by the Department of Defense .

Rates for foreign countries are set by the State Department .

2 Choose a date

Rates are available between 10/1/2021 and 09/30/2024.

The End Date of your trip can not occur before the Start Date.

Traveler reimbursement is based on the location of the work activities and not the accommodations, unless lodging is not available at the work activity, then the agency may authorize the rate where lodging is obtained.

Unless otherwise specified, the per diem locality is defined as "all locations within, or entirely surrounded by, the corporate limits of the key city, including independent entities located within those boundaries."

Per diem localities with county definitions shall include "all locations within, or entirely surrounded by, the corporate limits of the key city as well as the boundaries of the listed counties, including independent entities located within the boundaries of the key city and the listed counties (unless otherwise listed separately)."

When a military installation or Government - related facility(whether or not specifically named) is located partially within more than one city or county boundary, the applicable per diem rate for the entire installation or facility is the higher of the rates which apply to the cities and / or counties, even though part(s) of such activities may be located outside the defined per diem locality.

South Texas port sees first empty trucks head south to Mexico

D ONNA, Texas ( Border Report ) — Since 2011, the Donna-Rio Bravo International Bridge has connected this rural, agricultural South Texas area with northern Mexico, but only for passenger vehicles.

That changed on Wednesday morning when the first empty tractor-trailers were allowed to cross the port south into Rio Bravo, Mexico.

Mexican and U.S. officials cheered the expansion, which included U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and Mexican customs officials.

“I’m very excited about it. And I just want to congratulate the City of Donna and the stakeholders, the governor of Mexico, for all the coordination, all the success they’ve done to have this occur today — the opening of the outbound empty trucks,” CBP Donna Port Director Walter Weaver told Border Report.

Bridge inspectors will be able to process 200 empty trucks per day. That will boost the port traffic. Weaver says normally the port handles 2,500 vehicles crossing daily between South Texas and the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

“It should be easy for them. It’s not a big lift. They’re well prepared. The infrastructure is there. Mexico has the infrastructure on its side. it should be pretty easy for them to move trucks, commercial trucks, through the outbound in Donna,” Weaver said.

Non-intrusive inspection technology is being used to scan the trucks to ensure there isn’t anything in the cargo holds, Weaver said.

The expansion also should help to reduce wait times at the nearby Pharr International Bridge — the No. 1 port for agriculture in the nation.

Now, trucks that enter in Pharr can exit in Donna, about 10 miles east.

“It’s going to bring economic development for not only the city of Donna but also for the border city of Rio Bravo,” Donna City Code Enforcer Roel Chapa told Border Report. “So it’s basically a good relationship between both cities.”

The small town of Donna, with a population under 17,000, boasts on its website t hat its bridge is “located in a non-congested area of the border” and has “the fastest travel to and from Mexico.”

Sandra Sanchez can be reached at [email protected].

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