Prospective Students 

Getting a U.S. Visa

Acquiring a U.S. visa is complicated, timely, and nonsensical but necessary. An interview is required for a visa, and the waiting time for an interview appointment is very long (approximately 3 months). On the interview day, make sure that all documents are properly filled out/ printed. (If you printer skips a line or your photo is out of proportion, it may not be possible to enter the embassy.) There are various agents around the U.S. Embassy to aid you with the visa application process.

Getting to Lehigh

Airports around Lehigh University (by proximity)

• ABE (Allentown/ Bethlehem/ Easton) / Lehigh Valley International Airport is located about 10 minutes by car from Lehigh University. It is recommended to take a taxi to Lehigh (appx. $15++). Otherwise, it is also possible to take LANTA (Bus), operating Monday through Saturday.

• EWR (Newark, NJ) / Newark Liberty Int'l Airport is one of New York's 3 major airports. It is located about 1 hour away from Lehigh (by car) and 2 hours (by bus) Transbridge Bus operates multiple daily shuttles from Newark to South Bethlehem. ($17.60 one way $33.45 rounded trip from ticketing booth (not always available, if not available, pay driver and fare is $20 one way)

• PHL (Philadelphia, PA) - Philadelphia Int'l Airport is located about 1 hour away from Lehigh (by car). If you are transferring to a bus, it is not recommended to fly into this airport as there is no direct bus service. However, it is possible to take the subway to 10th and Filbert station, then transfer to the Greyhound bus station, then take Bieber bus to South Bethlehem.

• JFK (New York, NY) - John F. Kennedy Int'l Airport. It is located about 2.5 hours away from Lehigh (by car) and 4 hours away (by bus). Transbridge Bus operates limited daily shuttle from JFK to South Bethlehem. ($35.15 o/w $66.80 r/t from ticketing booth (not always available, if not available, pay driver and fare is $40 o/w) If there is no desirable time for Transbridge; you can take Airport Shuttle Bus to Port Authority Bus Terminal (PABT), then transfer onto Trnasbridge to South Bethlehem. Boarding at PABT is at Gate 10.

Flights from Bangkok (by stops)

• Thai Airways Int'l (TG) also flies non-stop to LAX. It is then possible to take United Airlines, US Airways to EWR or PHL.

• All Nippon Airlines (NH), Japan Airlines (JL), Cathay Pacific (CX), Korean Air (KE) flies to JFK via their respective hubs.

• Northwest Airlines (NW) and United Airlines (UA) offers daily two stop flights from Bangkok to ABE.

• EVA Airways (BR) offers daily two stop flight from Bangkok to EWR.

Climate

Pennsylvania is in the region called Mid-Atlantic. It has four distinct seasons. In the summer, the weather is similar to Thailand. In the winter, however, there will be snow, so be sure to pack warm cloths. It is also recommended to buy shoes that can be worn in the snow in the United States rather than in Thailand.