A service for new Portland State University international students and visiting scholars
COVID-19 update: FOCUS drivers and passenger will wear masks in the airport and in the vehicle as long as the coronavirus is creating a public health hazard.
Please review the following information before completing the request form at the bottom of the page.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
- FOCUS airport pickup is a service provided by volunteers.
- We are unable to consider requests that are received less than 48 hours prior to the beginning of your travels.
- If you are beginning your travel less than 48 hours from now, please see our information about Catching MAX or Downtown Shuttle at the Portland Airport
Who is FOCUS?
FOCUS is a faith-based community organization that provides services and activities for any and all PSU internationals and visiting scholars. See http://focuspsu.com for more information.
What is a FOCUS Airport pickup?
FOCUS can make arrangements for one of their staff or volunteers to pick you up at the airport when you arrive for the first time in Portland.
- This is a free service provided by FOCUS staff and volunteers.
- No agent should charge you a fee for this FOCUS service.
- The FOCUS driver will take you to your campus housing or other housing near the PSU campus.
- If you need to go to other locations in the Portland area, enter the address in your pickup request and we will see if it would be possible for us to take you to that location.
Who is eligible for FOCUS Airport Pickup?
- Due to limited resources, this service is only available for Portland State University international students and scholars who are arriving in Portland for the first time.
- You must have a PSU ID
- You must be coming on an F or J visa
- You must be one of the following:
- PSU Undergraduate student
- PSU Graduate student or Post-Baccalaureate
- PSU PhD candidate or Post-Doctoral
- PSU IELP student (PSU’s Intensive English Language)
- PSU J Visa Visiting Scholar
- Your enrollment period or time at PSU must be for at least ten weeks (one PSU term).
- You must be arriving at the Portland airport.
- Those arriving by bus or train can take the Trimet MAX (train) that goes directly from the train and bus station to the PSU campus. It is a 15 minute ride on the MAX Green or Yellow line. The cost is $2.50.
- We are not able to provide this service for those coming to Portland for internships or jobs.
What about family members?
If you have a family member traveling with you (father, mother, sister, brother, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, etc.) enter that information when you make your pickup request.
The state of Oregon has child safety seat laws that apply to children until they are at least 4’9″ (144cm) tall or eight years of age. See “child safety seat laws” at https://www.oregon.gov/odot/safety/pages/belts-seats.aspx for more information. Most of our FOCUS volunteers do not have the safety seats required to transport children who are not at least 4’9″ (144cm) tall or eight years of age.
When should I submit my request?
FOCUS airport pickups is administered by volunteers. Submitting your request early makes it easier for us to make arrangements.
- Please make your requests seven days or more before arrival so we have sufficient time to find an available driver.
- We need details about your flight arrangements so purchase your tickets before submitting your request.
- Before we can assign a FOCUS driver, we will need the address of where you will spend your first evening in Portland. Include that on your application.
- We try to make arrangements for all requests received at least 48 hours prior the beginning of your travels. Because this service is provided by volunteers, we cannot guarantee that there will be a driver available at the time you arrive.
- If we do not have sufficient time to arrange for a FOCUS volunteer to meet you, it may be necessary for you to make other arrangements for travel from the airport to campus. See the FOCUS Airport Pickup FAQ page for more information.
Can FOCUS drivers meet me any time, any day?
Our FOCUS drivers are volunteers, not employees. When you submit your request, we will ask our volunteers if they are available to meet you at your arrival time and day to take you to your Portland-area destination. We will keep you informed.
The following is a list of dates and times it may be difficult for us to find an available FOCUS volunteer:
- Arrivals before 9:00 AM or after 9:00 PM
- Arrivals on Sundays before 2:00 PM
- Holiday Periods:
- Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (December 24 and 25)
- New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day (December 31 and January 1)
- Memorial Day Weekend (the last Monday in May is Memorial Day; Memorial Day Weekend includes the Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday prior to that Monday)
- Independence Day (July 4)
- Labor Day Weekend (the first Monday in September is Labor Day; Labor Day Weekend includes the Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday prior to that Monday)
- Thanksgiving Day (the fourth Thursday in November) the following three days after Thanksgiving may also be difficult.
There are other PSU students traveling with me. Can we just submit one request for all of us?
No. Each arriving student must submit their own application. If you wish, you can enter their names in the “Other PSU students” box. Only enter names of those who will arrive on the same flight. But they must also submit their own request if they wish to receive assistance from FOCUS.
I have not made arrangements for where I will stay the first night. Can I submit my request and tell you later?
We would prefer that you wait until you have made all your arrangements: all flight information and the address of where the FOCUS driver should take you (normally the location of where you will sleep your first night in Portland). If your arrival is less than two weeks away, submit your application and then update us as soon as you have them made. But we can’t assign a driver until we know where the driver should take you.
Completing the Request
When completing the form, please DON’T use all capitals or all lower case. Examples:
YES: “Greg Steward”
NO: “greg steward” or “GREG STEWARD”.
Most fields are required. If a field is required and you have no information to enter into a field, enter “None”
[cforms name=”Airport Pickup Request v2″]