How to apply for a visa in the USA? There are many nuances that must be observed, otherwise the trip will not take place. It is also necessary to choose the right visa, because they are divided by the purpose of the trip. This will be discussed in the article. Let's start with which visa to choose.
What are the visas?
Before you figure out how to apply for a visa in the United States, you need to understand what type of document you need to apply for.
So, visas are as follows:
- Business. The cost of registration is approximately 160 dollars. Before applying for a visa in the USA, you need to decide how long you will need it. The fact is that a business permit can be issued both for a multiple visit to the country, and for a single one. Such a document has been valid for three years, and most often it is combined with a tourist document. A personal interview at the embassy is very important for obtaining a visa.
- Tourist or medical. It is issued on the same conditions as a business visa.
- Student. It costs the same - 160 dollars. It is issued only for twelve months. To issue a permit, it is important not only to interview, but also the documents submitted. A visa is issued in two types: F - for students of universities, colleges, private schools, people who study the language; M - for professional and non-academic training.
- Working. Registration costs 190 dollars. Valid for two years. In order to get a visa, you need to file a petition and a whole package of documents. An interview at the embassy is just as important as paperwork. A work visa has many varieties, so it will be discussed separately.
Work Visa
How to apply for a visa in the USA, if you need it for work? Decide what type of permission you need. There are several of them:
- H1B. Such a document is intended for highly qualified specialists. The specialization of such workers is usually narrow.
- L. Issued for short-term transfer to an American branch of an international company.
- A. This permission is granted to persons who have exceptional features.
- R. Awarded to workers in the entertainment industry and athletes.
- Q. This visa is intended for people who travel to the country for cultural exchange.
- R. Designed for religious leaders.
Separately, it is worth considering visas for staff. The cost of a visa is indicated only for those people who apply for B-1, and this is 160 dollars. You can get both single and multiple permits for a period of three years. Although the interview is more important than the submitted papers, they should still be properly prepared.
So, a visa for staff happens:
- A-3. It is issued to domestic workers and those who entered on an A-1 or A-2 visa.
- IN 1. Designed for those who have non-immigrant cards or for American domestic workers.
- G-5. It is received by the staff of international enterprises who enter on a G visa.
A work visa is issued for those people who participate in exchange programs of culture, science or education. The permission is marked J. The document is valid for no more than three years, and to receive it, you must not only submit documents, but also pass an interview. Students, university and school teachers, trainees or researchers receive a visa.
Consular fee
Where to apply for a U.S. visa? This is done at the consulate, but before you get a visa, you will have to pay a consular fee. This money does not come back even in case of refusal. The cost of such a fee depends on the current exchange rate.
The fee can be paid both through the online bank, and with the help of post office employees. The receipt must be kept, as it is valid for a year. If during this time a person does not submit documents, then the fee will have to be paid in a new way.
Before signing up for an interview at the consulate or embassy, you must provide the number of the receipt, which is issued after the consul fee has been paid.
Profile
Before you look for where to apply for a visa in the United States, you need to prepare for the fact that in any place you will need to fill out a questionnaire. Both the embassy and the consulate will have to fill out an application in the form of DS-160. This applies to both adults and children if they do not have immigration permission.
This is done via the Internet. Any hand-written or printed permissions are simply rejected.
You need to send a ready-made form with answers to questions before you contact the consulate or embassy. The fact is that you can sign up for an interview only by the barcode number indicated on the questionnaire. It is indicated on one of the pages of the application, which will need to be printed out and taken with you for an interview.
When filling out the questionnaire, you will need to indicate:
- Purpose of the visit. It is important that it coincides with the one that will be indicated during the appointment for the interview.
- All data is in English. The exception is only the last name and first name.
All this needs to be filled out only on the official website, no third-party sources.
If a person has opened the form, but does not fill it out, then in twenty minutes the filling session will expire. All entered information will be deleted, so it is best to save the profile on your computer more often.
This application form implies the presence of a photograph. The same photo should be in the printout of confirmation.
The photo
How to apply for a visa in the USA yourself? Follow our instructions. And in order to do everything right, remember all the requirements for photography.
- The photograph must be taken no later than six months later.
- The background in the photo should be white or close to it.
- The image should have a square shape measuring 50X50 millimeters.
- The head in the photo should occupy no more than 70% of the image, but no less than 50%.
- The eyes should be open, and the face should be clearly visible.
- The person in the photograph should not frown or smile. Facial expression is neutral.
- Need to be photographed without hats.
- You can not act in glasses. This rule is relatively new, from 2016.
- Every tourist should have photos, even if it is a small child.
You can bring a printed photo in several cases:
- Photos are not uploaded to the site.
- The picture does not appear on the confirmation page.
- The photo does not fit the requirements.
Documents for B-1 / B-2
How to apply for a visa in the USA yourself? Collect the necessary documents. For example, for a tourist visa you will need the following papers:
- A printed letter that contains an invitation to an interview. A letter will be sent by e-mail after the person has signed up.
- Printed confirmation page of the sent form.
- A photo printed if it is not uploaded to the site.
- A foreign passport that must have at least one blank page and an expiration date of more than six months after the end of the trip.
- Past American Visas.
- Past foreign passports, if any.
- If there is, then an invitation from a citizen of the country.
- A document that guarantees the availability of housing in the country by a tourist.
- Papers that confirm the purpose of the trip and guarantee that the tourist will return home. This can be information about the route with explanations, a certificate of employment, which indicates the earnings for three months, the person’s work period, his position, the consistency of leave, the reason for the trip (for business travel).
- In addition, in order to understand how to apply for a tourist visa in the USA, you need to take care of documents confirming the financial viability of a person in advance. And it will also be necessary to submit papers on property and income.
- The traveler will have to provide information that relates to the children and the spouse, if any.
- The tourist will have to honestly tell about the availability of a criminal record, arrests or convictions.
Additional documents
How to apply for a tourist visa in the USA for students? The principle is the same, but it will be necessary to submit additional papers. It:
- Diploma or certificate of education.
- Documentary evidence of training at the institution of the native country.
- A paper that confirms monetary opportunities. This may be an account statement or other document.
For business leaders and businessmen need:
- Statement of the amount of earnings.
- A paper that confirms a person’s position.
- Letters from customers who live in America or American partners.
People who are visiting should, among other things, submit:
- A document that confirms the legality of the residence of friends or relatives. This can be a green card, a valid visa, certificate of naturalization.
- For visits to relatives, you must have a paper confirming kinship.
- A letter from friends or relatives from America. It should indicate the purpose of the trip and what kind of relationship binds the tourist and the local. The letter does not need to be certified by a notary.
For people traveling to improve their health:
- Letter from a Russian doctor. It should indicate the diagnosis, the nature of the disease, and the reasons for receiving medical care in America.
- A letter from a doctor or hospital in America who is ready to receive a patient and treat him. The letter also indicates the cost of treatment, terms, associated costs.
- A statement that persons who pay for the trip and cover expenses are financially liable.
All documents must be submitted in the original.
Where can I get a visa?
Where to apply for a visa to the USA in Moscow? In order to apply for a visa, you need to contact the embassy or consulate. You can use the services of a special agency, but this method has disadvantages. Consider both options.
Visa through an agency
To apply for a visa in the USA at the agency, you just need to apply to it and submit the documents that it will request. But there are also disadvantages of this method:
- For services, intermediaries will take a rather large amount. If you have it, but you don’t have time, then everything is in order, but if every penny counts?
- There are no visa cents in America. There is only a service that can collect documents at intermediate stages and deliver them. The Consular Relations Bureau of the State Department of the country has other functions than the visa center.
- The applicant will still have to come for an interview and fingerprinting. The latter is removed from each person older than fourteen and under seventy-nine years old.
Visa application at the embassy or consulate
How to apply for a visa to the USA by invitation yourself? Come to the diplomatic institution of America in our country. It does not matter where the person lives.
Where can I apply for a U.S. visa?
- At the embassy in the capital.
- In regional consulsulvs. They are in St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg.
Only people who sign up for an interview can enter the embassy or consulate building. You can register on the Internet portal of the Bureau of Consular Relations. The passport status is also monitored on the same resource.
Waiting time
You can apply for a visa to the United States in St. Petersburg in less than a week, more precisely, for this period you can sign up for an interview and go through it.
If you don’t feel like waiting, you can immediately sign up, but for this you need to have documents confirming the urgent need. It could be:
- Emergency treatment.
- The funeral of a close relative.
- Visit to a relative with a serious illness.
- Student programs that have a specific start date.
It is important to understand that even with the documents provided, there is no one hundred percent probability of approval of the request.
Some nuances
Before you apply for a work visa in the United States or any other, you need to know what requirements Americans put forward for an interview. They must be strictly observed, because it depends on whether they will give you permission to enter. So let's get it right:
- To apply for a visa to the United States in Moscow or other cities, you must come exactly at the appointed time. Best if you are there ten or fifteen minutes before the start.
- You can not take some items with you to the embassy of the capital. This is a mobile phone, tablet, gadget charging, laptop, flash card, camera, camera, voice recorder, batteries, electronic cigarettes.
- But you can take a handbag or a small diplomat with you.
- Of the products allowed only baby food.
- It is forbidden to bring manicure scissors, knives, nippers, metal nail files, knitting needles and other sharp-cutting objects.
- You can only apply for a visa to the United States in Vladivostok or in another city in our country if the person who came for the interview has no weapons and objects that could easily catch fire. It can be matches, perfumes, a lighter, deodorant, alcoholic drinks or hair spray.
Security officers are involved in the search. If one of the applicants finds a prohibited item, then it will simply be escorted out of the building.
How to behave in an interview?
For the interview to be successful, you do not need to be nervous or fussy. In order to maximize the likelihood of an employee, try to answer questions as sincerely as possible. Do not stretch your answers, they should be clear and concise.
If you follow these rules, the interview will be successful.
Deadlines
How much to apply for a visa in the USA? This procedure does not take as much time as it seems, and applies mainly to tourist visas. In Moscow, you can open a permit in three days. It will take two days to wait in St. Petersburg, and up to four days in Vladivostok or Yekaterinburg.
The design can stretch for several weeks. It depends on whether special requirements have been put forward or whether special circumstances have occurred. For this reason, visa documents must be submitted in advance, preferably two to three months before the trip.
Visa for a child
In order for a child to get a visa, you can use the simplified procedure. Children under the age of fourteen are not interviewed at the embassy or consulate.
The principle of operation is exactly the same as for an adult visa:
- Payment of the consular fee.
- Filling out an electronic questionnaire according to the established model.
- Registration on the website. It is needed so that you can track your passport.
Children who have reached the age of fourteen, but have not crossed the sixteen-year threshold, are required to undergo an interview. The exception is not that the child has already been to America on past visas.
Parents or proxies have the right to come for an interview with the children. Those who are sixteen years old come to the interview alone.
Why refused
Often people are denied a visa. There may be the following reasons for this:
- Incorrect information indicated in the electronic application form.
- A person speaks one at the interview, and the other is written in the questionnaire.
- Inconsistency of the purpose of the visit, which is in the documents, and real. This applies to both confusion and intentional non-compliance.
- Fake documents that were submitted to the consulate or embassy.
- The applicant does not meet the requirements of a diplomatic institution.
- A person cannot confirm the purpose of his arrival in the country in any way.
- The applicant has no close ties at home. An embassy worker immediately begins to suspect a person of a desire to emigrate. This applies not only to relatives, but also to their own housing, permanent work or any other property that is dear to a person.
- During previous trips, the traveler violated the visa regime.
- No less important is the violation of law in past visits.
Conclusion
As you can see, getting a visa should be taken very seriously. It is better to double-check the documents several times and not try to deceive the embassy staff. In no case do not falsify documents, from this a person will not only not receive a visa, but will also break the law.
But even in case of refusal, you should not be upset. You can always apply again. Moreover, it will be possible to do this the very next morning after the failure.
Follow the rules established by the diplomatic institution, and then you will not have problems with entering any country, but only pleasant impressions will remain.