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(20) Whoever travels to a place and intends to stay there for more than four days must fast, according to the majority of scholars. So if a person travels to study abroad for a period of months or years, then according to the majority of scholars - including the four imaams - he is regarded as one who is "settled" there and so he has to fast and pray his prayers in full.
If a traveler passes through a city other than his own, he does not have to fast, unless his stay there is longer than four days, in which case he must fast, because the rulings that apply to those who are settled apply also to him. (See Fataawa al-Da'wah by Ibn Baaz, 977).
(21) Whoever begins fasting while he is "settled" then embarks on a journey during the day is allowed to break his fast, because Allah has made setting out in general a legitimate excuse not to fast. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): ". and whoever is ill or on a journey, the same number [of days on which one did not observe sawm must be made up] from
other days." [al-Baqarah 2:185]
(22) A person who habitually travels is permitted not to fast if he has a home to which he returns, such as a courier who travels to serve the interests of the Muslims (and also taxi drivers, pilots and airline employees, even if their travel is daily - but they have to make up the fasts later).
The same applies to sailors who have a home on land; but if a sailor has his wife and all he needs with him on the ship, and is constantly traveling, then he is not allowed to break his fast or shorten his prayers..
If nomadic Bedouins are traveling from their winter home to their summer home, or vice versa, they are allowed to break their fast and shorten their prayers, but once they have settled in either their summer home or their winter home, they should not break their fast or shorten their prayers, even if they are following their flocks. (See Majmoo' Fataawa Ibn Taymiyah,
25/213).
(23) If a traveler arrives during the day, there is a well-known dispute among the scholars as to whether he should stop eating and drinking. (Majmoo' al-Fataawa, 25/212). But to be on the safe side, he should stop eating and drinking, out of respect for the month, but he has to make the day up later, whether or not he stops eating and drinking after his arrival.
(24) If he starts Ramadaan in one city, then travels to another city where the people started fasting before him or after him, then he should follow the ruling governing the people to whom he has traveled, so he should only end Ramadaan when they end Ramadaan, even if it means that he is fasting for more than thirty days, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) said: "Fast when everyone is fasting, and break your fast when everyone is breaking their fast." If it means that his fast is less than twenty-nine days, he must make it up after Eid, because the Hijri month cannot be less than twenty-nine days. (From Fataawa al-Shaykh 'Abd al-'Azeez ibn Baaz: Fataawa al-Siyaam, Daar al-Watan, pp. 15-16)