Learn about International Travel

International Travel Website

The VCU International Travel website is designed for all Virginia Commonwealth University business-related international travel. Faculty and staff traveling on behalf of the university should use this website as a resource in planning travel, remaining safe during their time abroad and accurately representing VCU while outside of the United States. Please take time to familiarize yourself with the site http://internationaltravel.vcu.edu/

Chrome River Pre Approval

Chrome River requires users to select the destination country for their travel from a drop down menu. If a high-risk country is selected, an automatic, additional approval will be required from the Office of Research. VCU has an obligation to ensure that university travelers are in compliance with federal export control laws, which govern the transfer of certain information, items, or technologies to foreign countries to protect national security, trade, foreign policy or to comply with international agreements.

International Lodging and Per Diem Rates

GSA CONUS and OCONUS rates are used as the standard lodging and meal and incidental reimbursement guidelines.

• https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates is used to obtain allowable lodging and per diem rates for US Territories outside of the 48 contiguous states, such as Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and Alaska. Use “Maximum Lodging” category for the allowable lodging rate. Add together the “Local Meals” and “Local Incidentals” categories to get the full per diem rate.
• https://aoprals.state.gov/web920/per_diem.asp is used to obtain allowable lodging and per diem rates for all other international travel. Use the “Maximum Lodging” category for the allowable lodging rate. Use the “M&IE Rate” category for the full per diem rate. Foreign per diem rates are updated monthly; for planning purposes, use the current month’s per diem rate, however, the rate may vary at departure/return.

Submitting International Travel Reimbursements

• Chrome River uses XE.com for currency conversions. Conversions are done automatically within the Chrome River tool by selecting the currency type within each expense widget.
• Credit card statements may be utilized and submitted in lieu of currency conversions in Chrome River. Enter in the expense as USD and be sure to upload the credit card statement image to the Expense Report. Please redact sensitive information.
• For non-employee expense reimbursements, only one currency type may be selected within the Non-Employee widget. If multiple currency types are needed, simply add another Non-Employee expense widget to the same report and select a different currency type. You may include multiple Non-Employee expense widgets on the same Expense Report provided the Payee is the same.
• International transaction fees shown on a credit card statement are reimbursable. Travelers should enter the expense as a Personal Reimbursement and select “638093 – Foreign Transaction Fees”.