Petition Instructions for Undergraduate Students

Duke Undergraduates wishing to travel to a location on the Duke Restricted Regions List (RRL) must petition at least 30-days in advance of their intended travel dates for a waiver of the restriction. Programs, units and schools who sponsor, fund or coordinate travel must ensure that students have been granted a waiver of the Duke restriction and have fulfilled all of the subsequent requirements prior to allowing travel. Faculty and Staff who work with student travelers should stay apprised of the destinations which have restrictions placed on them. Sign up for email updates when changes are made to the RRL by emailing travelpolicyupdates-request@duke.edu.

A completed petition packet should include the following six items:

1. The program at Duke University that is sponsoring, giving credit, funding, or otherwise approving the trip;
2. The specific location or locations that will be visited and the dates you plan to be there;
3. The activities in which the student will be engaging;
4. A personal statement about the reasons for the trip, why it is academically or otherwise justified, and why the traveler believes the risk will not be excessive.  This statement should include any language skills or cultural knowledge that the traveler has that is applicable to the proposed destination and/or the activity;
5. A risk mitigation strategy (students should study their destination, identify as many risks as they can and note how they plan to handle them if they were to occur); and
6. Any supporting documentation or statements from relevant personnel (e.g., faculty, program sponsors, people at host institution, etc.).

Processing of petitions can take up to 1-month for a decision as GTAC and/or the Provost engage in-country and/or faculty/staff experts on the destination in order to gather input related to the proposed activity, location and on-the-ground contacts/entities. All decisions made by the Provost on petitions are final.  If/when the petition is approved, the student and a parent/guardian will be required to sign/remit a High Risk Travel Waiver/Release Form prior to departure.  This form will be sent with the notice of approval of the petition. The student is also required to register his/her travel in the Duke University Travel Registry in order to be considered in full compliance with Duke's International Travel Policy. Both the student and funding/coordinating unit will be notified when the petitioner has fullfilled all of the requirements.

Please send this information, in either print or electronic form to:

    Christy Parrish Michels
    Office of Global Affairs
    Duke University
    705 Broad Street, Room 02 (basement)
    Campus Box 90496
    Durham, NC 27705-0496
    Tel: 919.684.2910