Bike & Build

Hi all, so I am from Mauritius and was a rider in NUS 07 and was on an F1 student visa.

Well, if you are still in school, there's no problem going across the U.S with a student visa. If you've just graduated, you have 60 days from the day of graduation to leave the U.S, after which you're illegal there. One exception to that is if you've applied for your Optional Practical Training period which gives you 12 more months in the US but in that case, you should be working instead of doing bike and build, according to the law. So, if you're graduating in 2010, that could be a problem :).

As far as a Canadian visa is concerned: This is important only for those in Northern U.S route, I believe, since it's the only route that crosses into non-US soil, aka, Canada. So, if you are a foreign non-Canadian from a country where a visa is required to go in Canada (as it was the case for me), you will need to get a Canadian visa. If the route hasn't changed, we cross into Canada twice, once, at Niagara Falls and a second time going into Vancouver. It's better to get a multiple entry tourist visa (called the 'temporary resident (visitor) visa') which allows you to go into canada as many times as you want over 2 years. The single entry one allows a single entry, and that will be an issue. I think the multiple entry visa will cost about $160.... Read More

For a start on the tourist visa, here's a link to the canadian embassy in New York:

http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/new_york/imm/visa_temp.aspx?lang=eng

Hope that answered some questions! Don't hesitate to ask more.

Good luck with the fundraising.. I found out that fundraising, and not visas, was the hardest part in being a foreigner! :)

Cheers!
Avnish.

Thanks Avnish! Super helpful.