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Fulbright to India Guide – 2021-2022
Travel and Baggage Policy
Travel for all USIEF-funded, Fulbright-Nehru grantees is arranged by USIEF. Please contact the U.S. Program team at USIEF to work out your travel plans. Send your proposed date of departure and the airport closest to your home.
We highly recommend that you avoid arriving on Friday and Saturday nights and the nights preceding USIEF holidays. In case you must arrive on a weekend or holiday, USIEF staff will be available first thing Monday morning or the day after the holiday break.
USIEF will arrange your travel by the most competitive fare and the most direct route available, from the place of residence/work in the U.S. to place of affiliation in India. The Fly America Act applies to all Fulbright scholars. USIEF compares available fares before approving travel arrangements. The cost of additional travel or extra stopovers will be at the grantee’s expense. Fulbright-Nehru grantees can fly on airlines covered under the Fly America Act and Air India.
Tickets are issued only after the grantee gets an appropriate visa to enter India and medical clearance from IIE/CIES.
Please note that USIEF usually purchases non- refundable tickets for all grantees based on their requested travel dates. Any cost resulting from a grantee’s request to change/ cancel a previously booked ticket, will be borne by the grantee.
Students and scholars staying beyond their grant period in India will be paid the return India-U.S. airfare either as per the cost of the air ticket on the date of expiration of the grant or the cost of the air ticket on their actual date of departure, whichever is lower.
Grantees can choose to purchase flight tickets on their own. However, the flight must be Fly America compliant. Before booking the ticket, the grantee should share the travel itinerary with USIEF for approval. Grantee will be reimbursed up to their entitled airfare as quoted by USIEF’s travel desk. The reimbursement will be processed once the grantee arrives in India.
Scholars may send belongings by courier, sea freight, airfreight, or by mail. The excess baggage allowance paid under the grant may be used for shipping purposes. This allowance is paid after the completion of the grant and submission of final reports to USIEF and CIES/IIE.
Fulbright-Nehru scholars and students can use the diplomatic pouch to send reading materials to India. Please note that the diplomatic pouch cannot be used to send items from India to the U.S.
Fulbright Scholars are authorized to make a one-time shipment of educational materials to the American Embassy or Consulate in the country of assignment. This shipment must not meet or exceed 6 cubic feet in volume. Six cubic feet is equal to 10,368 cubic inches and 1 cubic foot is equal to 1728 cubic inches. To determine the volume of a box in cubic feet, multiply the width times the length times the depth (all in inches), and divide the sum by 1728. For example, a box that measures 24” X 24” X 18” has a volume of 6 cubic feet. If shipment becomes bulk, the entire shipment will be returned to sender. Tracking or registry numbers should be included on all parcels.
These materials cannot be sent back to the United States by diplomatic pouch.
Contents: Packages must contain only books, magazines, notes or other similar educational materials required for the grantees’ teaching or research program overseas. Packages may not contain personal effects of any kind. The Department of State may open packages suspected of containing prohibited items. If prohibited items are discovered, the box will be returned to the sender. Grantees should not enclose items that are irreplaceable. There is no way to trace items lost in the pouch system. Department of State does not assume responsibility for lost or damaged packages. Grantees should not ship anything that will be damaged by x-rays.
Number of Packages: No more than four boxes per grantee may be sent through the pouch system.
Wrapping: Materials must be packed securely in strong cardboard boxes sealed with heavy-duty packing tape (strapping tape is best), and clearly labelled. Boxes should be packed carefully since torn or broken packages will not be repacked by the mailroom.
Addressing the Package:
Return address
On the upper left-hand corner: Name
Street Address
City, State, Zip
NOTE: Please choose a return address where the recipient will know how to contact you and what to do if packages are returned.
Mailing Address: Please choose the Embassy or Consulate in the consular district where you will be affiliated.
For grantees in the Delhi Consular District: Cultural Affairs Officer Department of State 9000 New Delhi Place Washington, DC 20521-9000 ATT: CAO please pass to United States-India Educational Foundation New Delhi ATT: Ms. Priyanjana Ghosh | For grantees in the Kolkata Consular District: Cultural Affairs Officer Department of State 6250 Kolkata Place Washington, DC 20521-6250 ATT: CAO please pass to United States-India Educational Foundation Kolkata ATT: Mr. Sumanta Basu
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For grantees in the Chennai Consular District: Cultural Affairs Officer Department of State 6260 Chennai Place Washington, DC 20521-6260 ATT: CAO please pass to United States-India Educational Foundation Chennai ATT: Ms. Maya Sundararajan | For grantees in the Mumbai Consular District: SCA-IN-002 Public Affairs Section AMCONSUL Mumbai Pass to: USIEF EducationUSA 6240 Mumbai Place Washington, DC 20521-6240 ATT: Mr. Ryan. Pereira |
For grantees in the Hyderabad Consular District: Cultural Affairs Officer 6230 Hyderabad Place Washington, DC 20521-6230 ATT: CAO please pass to United States-India Educational Foundation Hyderabad ATT: Ms. Pranitha Hemanth |
In the lower left-hand corner of the box write:
UNCLASSIFIED VIA AIR POUCH
Your Name
FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS
Grantees sending only one package should write “1 of 1” in the lower right-hand corner. Grantees sending more than one package should number each package in a series and circle the markings, e.g., “1 of 3”, “2 of 3” and “3 of 3”.
Shipping: Grantees are responsible for paying domestic postage from their home to Washington, D.C. Grantees are responsible to collect packets from USIEF offices. USIEF can ship them to their place of residence in India by courier provided the Grantee agrees to pay for the courier charges.
Time Required For Shipment: Grantees should anticipate that once packages are received at the Department of State, shipping time will take from four to eight weeks, sometimes longer, to arrive in the country of assignment. The frequency of pouch shipment is outside the control of the Department of State or the receiving U.S. Embassy or Consulate.
USIEF may consider supporting 50% of the shipment cost, up to a maximum US$ 500, for transporting the artwork produced by the grantees during the Fulbright grant in India back to the U.S. This cost will be in addition to the excess baggage allowance paid under the grant.
Only fellowships awarded in the areas of sculpture, painting, and photography will be considered:
The grantee must have displayed the work in an exhibition in India during the Fulbright grant period.
The grantee must submit a request along with three quotations from shipping firms, at least one month before leaving for the U.S. Packing and insurance charges are not considered under this allowance.
The payment will be made on reimbursement basis upon submission of the original receipts by the grantee.