Visitors traveling to the United States temporarily for business and pleasure, usually come as tourists or to visit family and friends. Others come for specific purposes, such as medical treatment, a conference, business meeting, or certain types of training.
Some tourists from certain countries, traveling for visitor visa purposes for 90 days or less, and who meet all the requirements, can travel to the United States for tourism or business under the Visa Waiver Program.
Additionally, certain citizens of Canada and Bermuda do not need a visa to visit the U.S.
Many of these temporary visitors, traveling for the business and pleasure purposes explained above, need visitor visas to enter the United States. The type of visa you must have is defined by immigration law, and relates to the purpose of your travel. Please note: If you want to travel to the United States to study or to work, you will need a different kind of visa.
The U.S. government made some changes in visa procedures after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The changes in various procedures to make sure that both U.S. citizens and visitors are safe. Advance planning by travelers is essential, for them to have their visa when they need it to come to the U.S. For most visa applicants, an interview is required as a standard part of visa processing. Visa applications are evaluated very carefully and take more time now than in the past. Some applications require additional security screening. Improved and automated procedures have considerably sped up visa clearance procedures.
Obtaining a visitor visa, or tourist visa, may not be as straighforward as it seems if you’re basing it on the information on the US Embassy websites. In reality, depending on your nationality and purpose of your trip, combined with your person documentation to prove strong community ties to your home country, obtaining a tourist visa to the US may be a confounding process. Simply, you need to show more than that the fact that you want to visit Disney Land, or that you have a friend you haven’t seen in 20 years, you need to show that once you arrive in the US you will not reside their or attempt to find work and overstay your visa, or worse yet, violate the terms of your visa.
Before heading to the embassy with your application in hand, be prepared and review your documents. Ask yourself these questions:
Do I have proof that I have strong ties to my home country, such as a business, dependants, employment, or family to substantiate my desire to return to my home country after my visit to the US?
Do I have enough financial proof that I will be able to support myself during my stay wtihout having to resort to public funds or public assistance?
Do I have a letter from the friend, company, or person sponsoring my trip to the US so to demonstrate that that person or organization would be responsible for me while I’m there?
Do I have the time and patient to sit through an interview and respond honestly to the questions the interviewing officer will pose?
Once you have considered these questions, go to the US Embassy website in your home country and start the process.
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