International Travel
The purpose of these guidelines is to provide you and your team members with guidance from an export compliance perspective, on advisories and preparations that should be made before traveling outside the U.S. to attend a conference or a meeting. This is particularly important if your project contains aspects that are ITAR controlled or are subject to dual-use controls that are prohibited for export to certain countries without an export license.
- International Traffic In Arms Regulations (ITAR) - controls military and space application items. The ITAR is administered by the Department of State.
- Export Administration Regulations (EAR) - controls dual-use Items (Hardware, Software, and Technical data). The EAR is Administered by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), under the Department of Commerce.
- Dual-Use - Items with both a civil and military application
- Full glossary found here
You should plan to travel with "clean" electronic devices, such as your laptop, smart phone, electronic storage media, etc. This means that your electronic devices should not contain any export-controlled information. Please remember that it is violation of U.S. export regulations to take export-controlled technical data (controlled information) out of the U.S. without a U.S. export control license or applicable exemption, even if you do not share it with anyone while you are abroad. There are also certain activities such as providing technical assistance to a Foreign Person that may require government approval.
Additional guidance from NSA can be found in the following document:
NSA Cybersecurity Information - Mobile Device Best Practices When Traveling OCONUS
Please submit an email request to the IMSS help desk two weeks prior to your travel date to arrange for the use of a "clean," MFA (multi-factor authentication) enabled loaner laptop for your institute travel.
- Online: visit https://help.caltech.edu and open an email "ticket."
- IMSS Help Desk at x3500 or 626-395-3500 (Monday - Friday, 8AM - 5PM).
Resources:
- Information Security: https://www.imss.caltech.edu/services/security
If you are presenting a paper or a lecture, please contact us at least three weeks prior to your departure if you need assistance in reviewing your presentation to ensure that it does not contain any export controlled information. As a reminder, the "fundamental research exclusion" as defined in the State Department regulations ends at the U.S. border.
Please note that travel to certain countries, including sanctioned and embargoed countries have higher levels of controls for import and export of items and activities, including those that are not otherwise controlled in other destinations.
If you need to take or have shipped to you any export-controlled items (hardware, software or technical data) for your trip, you will need to apply for and be in possession of a valid U.S. export control license or authorization before your travel begins. Please contact the Office of Export Compliance for specific guidance and to discuss licensing requirements.
It is highly recommended that you review the travel precautions contained in the online export compliance awareness training module on MyLearn. The Caltech Export Compliance Awareness training module can be accessed by logging in to your access.caltech account or by following this link (Clicking the link you will be prompted to log into your Access.Caltech account).
Travelers may wish to schedule a travel briefing with the Office of Export Compliance (usually held over Zoom, and approx. 30 mins) to ask questions, discuss specifics of their travel, and receive tips on how to comply with export regulations while abroad.
It is the traveler's responsibility to ensure that electronic devices and presentations do not contain any export-controlled technical data or other export-controlled information.
For more information please visit the Caltech Export Compliance website. The Caltech Export Compliance Office will be happy to meet with you if you have any questions, or need any additional information.
Vice Provost's Travel Advisory
Read the VPR travel advisory for who to contact if a device you are traveling with is seized.
Do You Know the Highest Risk Destinations?
The highest risk countries include, but are not limited to: Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Sudan, and Syria. Please contact our office to discuss any questions or specific concerns relating to your project or travel destination
Get More Information
Access the latest U.S. government security warnings and other external resources related to travel.
Malign Foreign Talent Programs (MFTP)
A foreign government-sponsored talent recruitment program is an effort directly or indirectly organized, managed, or funded by a foreign government, including state-owned enterprises, or a foreign institution to recruit science and technology professionals or students (regardless of citizenship or national origin, and whether having a full-time or part-time position).