Job Interview Travel and Reimbursement Guidance

The information on this page helps you (an NHSC scholar or Students to Service Loan Repayment Program (S2S LRP)) participant:

1. Obtain NHSC Approval for Job Interview Travel & Reimbursement
2. Plan Your Job Interview Travel
3. Follow Job Interview Travel Rules
4. Review Job Interview Site Visit Expenses (Maximum, Allowable, not allowable)
5. Follow steps to receive Your Reimbursement 

1. Obtain NHSC approval for job interview travel & reimbursement (if applicable)

1. Submit a Scholar Travel Request for ALL interviews in your My BHW portal, at least 14 days in advance, or sooner.
   • Follow Scholar Travel Request instructions in Step #3, Section #1.
2. After NHSC receives your request, you will get a message in the My BHW portal within three (3) business days letting you know if your request is approved. If your request is not approved, an explanation will be provided.
   • For questions about your approved job interview travel duration (if you plan to interview at more than one site the same geographic area during your trip), go to your My BHW portal, select “Ask a Question,” and choose the category “In School: Scholar Travel & Relocation.”
3. If your request is approved for non-local travel with NHSC Reimbursement, NHSC will notify the federal travel contractor, Civility Management Solutions (CivilityMS).
   • NHSC contracts with CivilityMS to provide travel planning and reimbursement guidance to scholars interviewing at NHSC-approved sites.

2. Plan your interview travel

1. Once notified of your approved request, CivilityMS will send you an email from hrsa-s2s@transitiontoservice.com with instructions to create a CivilityMS Travel Management Portal account to schedule a “Site Visit Planning” appointment for travel planning and reimbursement guidance.
2. Confirm that your email address and phone number in the My BHW portal are correct so CivilityMS can contact you.
3. Follow instructions to create your CivilityMS Travel Management Portal account.
   • Your email address will serve as your username when logging into the Travel Management portal.
   • Add .cms to the end of your email address to create your account, e.g. JSmith@abcclinic.com.cms
4. You must schedule a “Site Visit Planning” appointment with a CivlityMS Travel Coordinator.
5. If no appointments are available with CivilityMS before your job interview travel, you may arrange your own travel and still be reimbursed for allowable expenses.
   1. Review the job travel expenses section below to understand which expenses are eligible before proceeding with your travel.  
   2. All receipts must be saved as PDF documents and show proof and method of payment.
   3. Schedule an Expense Planning appointment with CivilityMS for a date after your travel is complete.  
6. You may arrange your own travel if you are unable to schedule an appointment with CivilityMS, prior to your interview travel. Upon your return, schedule an Expense Planning appointment with CivilityMS. Refer to the allowable expenses section below and save your receipts. All receipts must be saved as PDF documents and display proof of payment.

3. Follow job interview travel rules

Please review Job Interview Travel Rules that apply to you and one family member (if applicable):

Scholar/Students to Service (S2S) LRP awardee

• You have a total $1,200.00 allotment to conduct all your job interview travel.
  • Please note that the $1,200 amount represents the total reimbursement of all job interview visits, not $1,200 per visit.
• If you are traveling locally, less than 50 miles from your origin residence to your job interview, you are not eligible for reimbursement. Local interview travel is not reimbursable, and participants are not eligible to use NHSC travel funds for these visits.
  • Origin residence is your address currently listed in the My BHW portal or the address you listed in your scholar travel request.
• You will not be reimbursed if you visit the same site more than once.
• The travel allotment covers job interview travel during your initial job site search. Future travel (that is, site transfers) is not reimbursable.
• If you travel with another member of your scholar or S2S LRP class, you must each use your own allotment to cover travel costs to interviews.

Family member

• NHSC permits reimbursement of up to $1,200 for one family member to accompany you on only one job interview visit.
  • A family member is anyone relocating with you during your NHSC service.
• We only reimburse the family member for the standard visit 3 days/2 nights of travel. This applies even if you are approved for additional days of travel.
• The family member’s allotment can only be used to reimburse their meals and incidentals and roundtrip airfare expenses.
• You and your family member must depart and return together when traveling.
• You must stay together in one hotel room.
• You are not allowed to use your family member allotment for other scholars or S2S LRP awardees in the same class.

4. Review job travel expenses (maximum, allowable, not allowable)

5. Follow steps to receive your reimbursement

1. Schedule an “Expense Planning” appointment in your CivilityMS Travel Management portal after you complete your travel. You may schedule it in advance, but the appointment must be set for a date after your travel is complete.
2. Upload your receipts and expense report into your CivilityMS Travel Management portal for review and approval, as instructed during your appointment with the CivilityMS Travel Coordinator.
   • Do not upload these documents before your expense planning appointment.
3. Submit your expense form and receipts for reimbursement within 90 days (3 months) of your return date for each trip. If you do not submit them within 90 days, you will no longer be eligible for reimbursement.
4. Once your reimbursement is approved and processed, you will receive an automatic email from "MELIO" confirming your payment status.