While many students boast about destinations like Jamaica, Cancun and Acapulco, international students have more limited choices when it comes to choosing a vacation spot for spring break.

With the enforcement of stricter regulations after Sept. 11, 2001, some Penn State international students are thinking twice about going out of the country for such a short period.

These stricter regulations relate to new security checks when issuing visas and include name checks for all individuals. Also, these security measures bring more scrutiny for individuals coming from a list of 25 countries, mostly in the Middle East, or students in about 20 majors of study, said Jim Lynch, director of the Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) at Penn State. "Everything is more complicated, slower and rigid," Lynch said.

He said students cannot afford to make mistakes, such as leaving the country for a short period of time when their visas are expired.

Xin Liu (graduate-computer science), a Chinese student who had lived in France for the last eight years before coming to Penn State, said he is going to Puerto Rico -- which is in the United States' territory -- to avoid hassles linked with these security measures.

"I don't want to risk it. It's tougher for Chinese students to come back and to get a visa," Liu said.

Liu is at Penn State with a six-month visa that has now expired, and he does not want to leave the country until he finishes his degree.

Maureen Costello, foreign student adviser for the OISS, said it is possible for students to remain in the United States with an expired visa. In fact, many countries issue visas for only six months for graduate students, and as long as they don't return home, they are fine.

The biggest problem, however, is obtaining a visa, Costello said. The procedure may take from two weeks to even four or five months because of the U.S. security measures.

"The visa situation is the big problem. It used to be that only 20 percent of people were interviewed for getting a visa. Now everyone has to go through it, and [the embassies] just don't have the staff for it," Costello said.

Ghaith Al-Arnaout (junior-finance), of Saudi Arabia, went home after his first year at Penn State and had to renew his visa because it had expired.

"It took three weeks to make an appointment and 12 weeks to get a visa," Al-Arnaout said. "After I got permission, there was the bombing of the capital. I was really unlucky."

As a result, Al-Arnaout ended up missing an entire semester because of the delay in getting a visa. For him, going out of the country for spring break is not an option. "It was extremely stressful, and I'm not willing to risk it."

Nijad bou-Khalil (junior-architectural engineering) lived in Lebanon for 10 years but was born in the United States, so he doesn't have the problem of obtaining or having to renew a visa.

"I know friends who haven't been back for a couple of years, because they know there's a possibility they might not come back," bou-Khalil said. "I have a friend in Lebanon, and he's been trying to get a visa for two years."

Briana Rogers, branch manager of STA Travel, 104 HUB, said the most popular destination for international students going out of the country is Jamaica, because it doesn't have rigid restrictions.

"Out of the 400 people we have sold tickets to for spring break, about 10 to 20 were international students going on popular spring break destinations," Rogers said. "There are a few, but it's definitely not the majority."