You should file a document called RTA (Request for Travel Authorization) before you travel. This is required even if you are not going to be reimbursed from the department (say if you got travel money from the conference organization).
Fill the form online and submit. You will get an email notification that you submitted the form. Forward this to Stacy. The page also indicates some other forms that need to be submitted. Those cannot be filled online. Print them, fill and submit them to Stacy or the department accounting office.
You will get an email once your RTA is approved. This usually happens within a few days.
If you are the first author of a paper at the conference, you can get an AI lab travel grant. It is also available for first year PhD students for one conference, regardless of whether they have a paper in it. It is for an amount of 500$ but you will be taxed on this if the conference is in the US. You will receive a tax form from the university for this grant that will go in your income tax return.
To request for it, send an email to Stacy with the following details:
To get RTA approval for international travel, you need to fill and submit to Stacy an additional form called the ITRAF (International Travel Request Authorization Form). Apply for RTA at least a month before your travel. This is required because if you are travelling to a country in a (constantly changing) restricted countries list, the approval depends on a committee that meets once a month. Countries can be on this list for a variety of reasons so always assume you need a month's time to get approval.
When filling the ITRAF, it will ask you to create a record in the International Travel Registry. This requires your flight and accommodation details. After creating the record, you need to print the confirmation page, and submit that along with the filled, printed and signed ITRAF form to Stacy.
Approval of your international RTA will automatically enrol you in UT Overseas Coverage which costs 19$ per week, unless you are an international student going to your home country. If you purchase additional travel insurance (eg: for Visa purposes) you can only get one of them reimbursed.
If you need to get a Visa for the destination country, you can get the Visa fees reimbursed. If the Visa requires you to appear in person at a consulate, you cannot reimburse travel expenses to the consulate (or related stay/ food etc). If the Visa does not require you to appear in person, you can use a Visa processing service, and get the expense reimbursed. Check with Stacy for approved services.
After you return from your trip, bring your receipts to Stacy and she will reimburse you. For major receipts (like registration, airfare, hotel) the receipt has to be in your name and show that it has been paid by one of these methods:
for a taxi receipt it doesn't have to show payment was made. If you will be being reimbursed for food, food receipts are not needed at all. If you are sharing any bills with another student, make sure you have a bill in your name. Hotels will usually provide separate bills upon request.
