HOW TO GET A VISA

A Visa is a permit allowing you to apply for entry into a country's borders.

Under U.S. law, the Department of State has responsibility for issuing visas. One of its consular officers, after looking at your documents and conducting a short interview, decides whether you qualify for a visa—a process called "adjudication." Consular officers have the final say on all visa cases.

Just as an application does not guarantee you will get a visa, a visa does not guarantee entry to the United States. It simply indicates that a consular officer has reviewed your application and determined that you are eligible to travel from your country to a U.S. port-of-entry for a specific purpose.

The Process

To obtain a visa and enter the United States, you must begin by completing an application form, DS-156 Contact the U.S. Embassy in your country to make an appointment. Take your application, passport, a photograph, and supporting documents to the embassy or consulate, where you will be interviewed about the purpose of your visit. You must also pay an application fee, currently $100. The visa allows you to travel to a U.S. port-of-entry where an official will again look at your travel documents before granting you permission to enter the country.

There has been little change in that straightforward process since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, although there have been changes in various procedures in order to address increased security concerns:

• All males between the ages of 16 and 45 are required to complete an additional form, DS-157, to provide a detailed history of their previous travel and their affiliation with various institutions. Consular officers can request that this form be filled out by other applicants as well.

• All student and exchange visitors, regardless of nationality, must complete a supplemental application form and be enrolled in by their sponsoring institution.SEVIS.

• Almost all persons requiring visas must have a face-to-face interview with a consular officer. Previously, consular officers could waive the requirement for an applicant's personal appearance, and some travel agents could submit applications for their clients. Because this is no longer the case, over the past three years the State Department has greatly increased the number of its consular officers and worked to improve appointment scheduling systems.

• Technological systems have been put in place to electronically share visa files and law enforcement and watch-list information, as well as to track student enrollments. Since 2004, the technology, the consolidation of databases, and the correction of problems within these systems have been dramatically improved and backlogs reduced.

• Since 2004, embassies have been instructed to expedite the processing of visas for students and business travelers. As a result, consular posts have set up special appointment times and now give priority to scheduling and processing these visas.

• The United States and many other countries are moving toward tamper-resistant machine-readable visas, passports, and other entry-exit documents that contain digital photographs and biometric indicators, such as fingerprints. For instance, finger scans are taken during the visa application process and again on arrival in the United States.

• Information on the identity of all passengers is provided to U.S. immigration officials by all commercial ships and airplanes en route to the United States.

• Passengers who would normally require a visa to enter the United States must now have one even if they are just in transit, traveling on a carrier that stops in the United States on its way to another destination.

The requirements and costs for a U.S. visa are similar to those of other democracies; and the need for a visa, additional fees charged, and any restrictions imposed are based on reciprocity with other nations—that is, they match the requirements that other countries place on U.S. citizens wishing to travel there.

Plan Ahead: Waiting Times

Although the average amount of time it takes to get a visa has been noticeably reduced recently, it is still very important to plan ahead and start the visa application process as soon as you begin your travel planning. It takes time to fill out the forms, assemble the documents you will need to show the consular officer, and get an interview appointment.

Because your and every applicant's circumstances are unique, the process—and the time involved—varies. Individuals wishing to study or work in the United States, for example, need to fill out additional forms and provide more documentation than tourists.

Similarly, the average waiting time to get an interview appointment varies by country. If you are a student or business traveler, check for expedited appointments.

The State Department is committed to making the visa application process easier to understand, and a list of important resources can be found at the end of this journal.

The Interview

It is extremely important that you be well prepared for your visa interview.

Not only must you bring a completed application form, the paid application fee receipt, your valid passport, and a photograph that meets certain criteria, you must provide documentation showing that you intend to return to your home country at the end of your stay.

If you are applying for a student visa, you must also have a receipt showing that your SEVIS I-901 fee has been paid.

The consular officer will conduct a short interview, during which you will be asked to explain your reason for wanting to visit the United States, and review your documents. In addition, your two index fingers will be recorded by a special, inkless digital scanner as part of the US-VISIT program's security precautions, and your identity will be checked against databases containing the names and records of people who are ineligible for visas or whose applications require additional review.

You will be told whether your application has been approved or denied at the end of the interview. Most approved visas are delivered within one week. If there are security concerns, however, it may take a few weeks to resolve the issue through additional screening.

Should you be denied a visa, you can always re-apply with additional documentation, but each time you do so, you will have to pay the non-refundable $100 visa application fee.

Visa Denials

The consular officer is required to look at each applicant's individual circumstances and apply U.S. immigration laws accordingly.

The most common reason for being denied a visa is the inability to show that your ties to your home country are so strong that it is highly unlikely you would try to illegally stay in the United States. This refusal is commonly known as 214(b). "Ties" are the various aspects of your life that bind you to your country of residence. This requirement to prove that you have a residence abroad and which you have no intention of abandoning is part of U.S. law, the Immigration and Nationality Act.

You can demonstrate your intent to return home by showing things that would compel you to leave the United States at the end of a temporary stay: a job or enrollment in an academic program in your home country; family members still living there; substantial property holdings such as a house or money in a local bank account, etc. There is no distinct group of documents that you must present to the consular officer or set of circumstances that will guarantee visa issuances, but the facts of your case must be convincing. The law places the burden of proof for meeting this residence abroad requirement on you.

If you are refused a visa for failure to prove you will return home, and your circumstances later change, or you have gathered further evidence of your ties, you may reapply, but you will be charged another application fee.

Consular officers are aware of the cultural and social differences that can define ties in different countries and understand that younger applicants may not have had an opportunity to form many significant financial attachments. They consider all these circumstances when adjudicating visas.

Other reasons for visa denials include having a contagious disease, a criminal history, or association with terrorist activities.

Following are some terms you may find helpful in deciphering the visa code. Links to more comprehensive explanations are provided at the end of each definition.

Information Source U.S. State Department