International Travel

Required Steps

1. Request travel permission: see the Gillings Global Travel Kit. Your permission must be included with the rest of your documentation.
   • Faculty/Staff: Gillings does not allow the chair to sign the form; you must direct it to the school. Full instructions can be found at the travel kit linked above.
   • Students: If your travel includes dissertation research, state that explicitly in your Heels Abroad application. If you are charged the $150 fee, you may request reimbursement, but be aware that the fee cannot be charged to a grant. Your advisor will have to provide a different funding source.
2. Export Control:
   • Faculty/Staff: If you are traveling with University-owned research equipment/supplies valued at over $2500 (this includes laptops), please contact the Export Control office as soon as possible, as you will have to file paperwork to leave the country with the items. Export Control based on your destination country will be triggered by your Concur request.
   • Students: Check the section under International Travel to see if you need to contact Export Control.
3. Travel Insurance:
   • Faculty/Staff: Fill out form 1409.1.1f (through the “Insured Status” column) and give it to whoever is helping you with your travel. This allows the department to pay directly so you don’t go out of pocket. Please include both the city and country you are traveling to under “Host Country.”
   • Students: The Study Abroad office will charge your student account. (See the Gillings Global Travel Kit for details.) You are allowed to request reimbursement but will need to get a receipt.
   • If you are traveling to multiple destinations, each should have its own line in the spreadsheet.
   • There’s more information on travel insurance, what it covers, and what it costs at the Finance Policy page.

General Concerns

Alerts and Info

International Travel Toolkit
UNC Global’s Travel Information page

Business Class

Please see the Policy under “Purchasing Transportation by Air.” To summarize, if you are traveling to another continent or any leg of your trip is an 8+-hour nonstop flight, you can upgrade to business class. You are required to include this information in your Concur request.

Grants and International Travel

Make sure your grant allows for international travel. If it’s not explicitly written into the budget, the budget will have be revised.

Air Travel and Federal Grants

If you travel on a federal grant, you must fly into and out of the country on a US-owned/flagged airline. This is because of the Fly America Act.

• There is a cheat sheet that lists exceptions.

Students

• Make sure when you contact World Travel that they know you are traveling on a federal grant.
• If you meet one of the exceptions, please fill out and include the Fly America Act Waiver Request when you fill out the Pre-Trip Prompter

Faculty

• When you book via Concur or World Travel, flights that don’t comply with the Fly America Act will require you to select an allowable reason from a list.
• Once the flight is purchased, you will receive two emails:
  • the ticketed invoice, and
  • a Final Ticketed Itinerary containing the reason for the exception and three comparable flight options to validate the exception.
• When you create the expense report for the flight in Concur, you must include:
  • the completed Fly America Act Waiver Request
  • The documentation in the second email listed above.

Telework (Personal Travel only)

If you are faculty or staff traveling on personal business but plan to work while overseas, you must fill out a Telework request. This will route through HR, Export Control, and other UNC working groups. Again, you only have to do this if you are not filing a request.

• Instructions from UNC Research
• Best Practices for Gillings Faculty and Staff

UK Travel (including flights that connect in the UK)

The United Kingdom now requires an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) before you travel there.

• This includes travel with connections in the UK, but only if you are passing through border control (this has changed from the initial announcement).
• This requirement applies to everyone unless:
  • you have a visa
  • you have permission to live, work or study in the UK (including settled or pre-settled status or right of abode)
  • you are a British or Irish citizen
  • you are travelling with a British overseas territories citizen passport

Complete the online application by downloading the UK ETA app or applying online.

• Once an application is submitted, a decision is usually received within three business days.
• An ETA costs £10 and may be paid for on your T&E Card or out of pocket and submitted for reimbursement.
• Upon approval, the ETA will be digitally linked to your passport.
• An approved ETA will be valid for two years or until your passport expires, whichever comes first.

Some text was copied from the UK website and the UNC Travel Services memo of December 10th.