How do I get a visa to the USA? Many people who like to travel have probably thought about this question. America is not close, but there is plenty of information about it, and as soon as you open photos of some national park or a city dotted with skyscrapers, you really want to run for an American visa.
I must say right away that in this article we will tell you how to get a tourist visa to the United States. Not immigration. Of course, there are many articles on the Internet telling how to fill out a questionnaire, what to pay attention to, what documents are needed to apply for a visa to America...
But even in them we could not find answers to some of the questions that arose in the process of filling out the questionnaire.
Steps to obtain an American visa:
- To determine the type of visa, for tourist purposes it is usually either B2 or B1/B2
- Fill out the DS-160 questionnaire on the website ceac.state.gov (the questionnaire is filled out online only.)
- Create a profile on the cgifederal.secure website.force.com
- Make an appointment for an interview, pay the visa fee ($160) during the registration process
- Go for an interview
- Pick up a passport with a visa
Link to the information on the official website (in English): ustraveldocs.com
Filling out the DS-160 form (questionnaire)
There are many examples of filling out the DS-160 questionnaire on the Internet, so it makes no sense to give an example of filling in passport data or your spouse's data again.
Questions most often arise when filling in two tabs: Travel and U.S.Contact. After all, on these tabs you need to specify where you are going and your contacts in America. At the same time, it is written everywhere that do not buy tickets in advance, do not book flights, and so on. So what should I write?
So in the Travel tab, we just specify some popular city in the USA, we indicated New York and the approximate date of a possible trip in half a year
Next, we found a suitable (and in fact the first one we came across) hotel. We went to his website and copied the address, phone number and e-mail from there. For example, we chose New York and the Harlem YMCA Hotel-hostel.
It is also worth noting that the questionnaire for Russians and Ukrainians differs, but not significantly. And even for men and women, it's a little different. The girls from Ukraine are lucky - they will need to fill only one place of work, and not the last two places and the university.
The last section of Security and Background can be read, of course, but it's easier to just put No in all questions, because you haven't trafficked people or drugs, and you're not going to stage terrorist attacks in the United States.
And don't forget to save your profile, preferably after each step...
After filling out all the items, you will need to upload a photo (do not forget that you must have exactly the same one in hard copy to take it to the embassy) and print out a confirmation of the completed questionnaire. It's with a photo and it says "This is not a visa" - it's not a visa.
Make an appointment at the American Embassy for an interview
To make an appointment for an interview, you will need to create a profile on the website ceac.state.gov
After creating a profile, click on the top left button "New Application / Schedule appointment"
Next, you need to fill in all the items sequentially, without forgetting to choose the right city in which you will be interviewed. By the way, it is not necessary to obtain an American visa in the country of which you are a citizen, for example, now in Poland there are two possible cities where foreigners can be interviewed for a visa to the United States - Krakow and Warsaw.
Also, if you want to apply with your husband/wife/children/friends, then you can use this option by simply adding names, passport details and application form number on the appropriate page.
After re-filling in a lot of details about your identity, you will need to choose the method of delivery of your passport. If you are ready to pick it up from the TNT office yourself, then choose the "Pick up" option, if it is a courier delivery, then "Premium delivery". But do not forget courier delivery is carried out for an additional fee, for the winter of 2016 it is 24 zloty. Delivery terms and prices may differ in other cities and countries.
After all the details, you will have the opportunity to pay the visa fee. which is $ 160, but it must be paid in the local currency. The current amount in local currency can always be specified on the official website (although it will still be displayed, but if you pay in cash, you will have to find out). By the way, only paying with a bank card online instantly activates the code for an appointment. In the case of payment by bank transfer or in cash, you have to wait about a day. So my advice to you is to pay with a bank card online.
Payment for an American visa by card is easy and fast, and you can immediately make an appointment for an interview on free dates. In our case, the nearest available date was 4 days later, which we took advantage of.
In Krakow, the recording is possible for some reason only at 10:45, we looked at several dates and did not find another time.
After you make an appointment for a certain time, you need to print out a confirmation of your appointment for an interview at the consulate.
Interview at the American Embassy
The American Embassy in Krakow is located in the very center of the city, next to the German one, namely on Stolarska 9 street.
They write everywhere that you have to come to the embassy in 10-15 minutes. Which we did when we arrived at the embassy at 10:30. It is worth recalling that no electronic devices can be carried inside, not even a mobile phone. I was asked to put out even ordinary headphones, and Pasha's watch was checked to see if it was a smartwatch... Moreover, there is no place in Krakow where you can officially leave all this, so it is better not to take anything electronic with you at all.
We figured out the electronic devices - you don't need to take them, but what documents should you take with you to the embassy?
List of documents for an interview at the American Embassy in Poland
Required: passport, printout of confirmation of filling out the questionnaire with a photo, printout of confirmation of an appointment for an interview, one photo 5cm*5cm the same as in the electronic questionnaire, a visit card or other document proving your legal long-term stay in Poland
Optional: tickets/reservations, if any, documents for real estate, car, work contract, in general, everything you have to prove that you are not going to stay in America illegally, but will return to Poland. In our case, only a quick map was useful, which the inspector just looked at.
After passing through the control at the entrance to the consulate building, there was a queue waiting for us and not an electronic one, but quite an ordinary one - a person out of 20!
The queue snaked up to the table, where they checked printouts with photos of the completed questionnaire and pasted barcodes - one on the passport, and the second on the questionnaire. If you have signed up to submit documents with your family / friends, then everyone will check your questionnaires at once.
Then the queue continued and approached the windows where fingerprints were taken. All ten of them.
And again, the queue continues, 3 windows with one at a time, sometimes two people (those who signed up to serve together).
All queues are moving pretty fast, the process is well established.
I always thought that an interview with an inspector was a personal moment, and suddenly what additional documents should be presented or prove that you are not a camel. And here, leaning in front of the window, in front of everyone.
But now it's our turn. The inspector is a rather young man. You can hear it well even if you don't bend over. He asked for passports and printouts. The two of us approached because we were recorded together. The interview was in Polish, but I think it was possible to ask in English.
I looked at something on my monitor. I asked where we were going to go, they said New York and maybe then somewhere else. He nodded. Then he asked who we work with and how long we have been in Poland. We have been living in Poland for more than a year, after the news of this, he wanted to take a look at our maps for a while. Then he just returned the printouts to us and gave us a paper that the visa was recognized and that's it. THAT'S IT!
The whole process with queues, fingerprints and the interview took less than an hour. All the staff is very friendly, everyone tells you where to go and what to do next.
Now it's 3-5 days and you can pick up your passport with a visa!
As it is written on paper, you can track when the passport is ready on the website ustraveldocs.com by entering your passport number.
Everything turned out even faster, and on the second day we received a text message about the readiness of the passport and the possibility to pick it up. We chose the usual free delivery, which means we need to pick up from the TNT office, which is located on Rzemieślnicza 20E, not quite the center, unfortunately. And you could see the result of our trip to the visa application center at the beginning of the article.
Have a good visa and travel to America.
If for some reason you do not want to do everything yourself, you need advice and help with filling out all the documents, you can ask for help using one of the contacts below:
gotobritain.com.ua - Visa support to America and England
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
or by phone:
- +48 732 917 367 (Poland)
- +38 050 800 55 25 (Ukraine)
