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Visa's
Preparation is the name of the game! Jen is the most organised and well prepared person I know, and it's a credit to her that our VISA applications went so smoothly!
If you are a UK passport holder and intend to visit the USA for more than 90 days then you will need to apply for a VISA. If you intend to be a tourist for the entire period, then you need a B2 non-immigrant visa. This involves going to the US embassy in London for a short interview. We booked our appointments by phoning up, the cost of the phonecall was £1.20 a minute, but you need to do it if you want an appointment! (add a clicky to booking stuff). You will be given an appointment time and have to pay a Visa application fee of $100 each, this can be paid by credit or debit card over the phone.The instructions tell you to turn up no more that 30 minutes before your appointment time, this is good advice as they make you queue outside the embassy with everyone else who has the same appointment time, in our case this was about another 100 people. If you turn up earlier, they will tell you to come back nearer the time. Do not take any mobile phones, computers, palmtops, bags or anything of value, they aren't allowed in. If you do you will have to leave it in the security cabin outside the embassy or will be turned away completely, it only has a very limited amount of space.
When your appointment is confirmed, you should receive an email that looks like this...
| Dear Visa Applicant,
Our call center's records indicate that you are scheduled for a visa appointment at the U.S. Embassy in London or the Consulate General in Belfast in the near future. This message is to alert you that mobile phones, Blackberries, PDAs and all other electronic devices are no longer allowed within the Embassy. PLEASE DO NOT BRING ANY ELECTRONIC DEVICES to the Embassy on the day of your appointment, or your visa interview will have to be postponed. The embassy has limited space within which applicants can queue and there is no waiting area adjacent to the Embassy. Local authorities have told us that people will not be allowed to wait in the immediate area. Please, therefore, do not arrive at the Embassy more than 30 minutes before the scheduled appointment time. Do not bring large bags, such as backpacks, suitcases or packages. Consider checking luggage at a transport station. Note: Those who do not follow these instructions will experience considerable delays at the security check point which could result in the interview being cancelled. In order to be admitted for your appointment, please be sure you have brought your: ____ current passport ____ fee receipt showing you have paid the $100 application fee ____ DS-156 completed on line with barcode ____ DS-157 completed ____ recent photo ____ DS-2019s, I-797s, I-20s, proof of SEVIS fee payments, or other documents relevant to your application. For more information on what additional documentation may be necessary, please visit the Visa services page of our website, http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/visa/index.html Sincerely |
Although this is the first time we have ever applied for a Visa, I'm sure it was Jens planning and preparation that made the whole experience completely painless. Her investigations showed that we needed various information to support our applications. We also needed a US embassy approved passport photo. These can be obtained through the local chemists shop just down the road or there is a photo booth in the actual embassy if you like to cut things a bit fine!
Information we needed included where we intend to stay. Given the nature of our trip it is impossible for us to have a fixed location so instead we had a rough itinerary with key points at key dates. We also had printouts of hotel booking web pages showing that there were vacancies at the time we intended to be at each of the key locations.
A key question is how you intend to finance any long term stay in the USA as you will not be allowed to work. Taking copies of bank statements, credit card statements, or letters from solicitors showing any money you may be due will definitely help you.
You may also be asked to show that you have commitments back here in the UK. This can be anything from family to social ties. In our case we both have families in the UK and a cat that will want us home. This may sound daft, but it shows that you are committed to coming home and are not intent on becoming an illegal immigrant. Jen's details of her job when we returned are also a prime example of the fact we will be returning home.
Once inside, you are given a ticket... it's a bit like visiting Argos! When your number is called out you go to the nominated window. This part only took about 15 mins. You must then hand over all the paperwork you have, your visa application forms, passports and you may be requires to also hand over any supporting documents. Visa applications forms are the DS156 which can be filled out online and if you are male between the ages of 16 - 45, you will also need to fill out a DS157. Make sure you fill these out and take multiple copies with you. Then you get the long wait! It took about an hour and a half before we had our interview. The chappy that interviewed us was a really nice bloke (I would say that, he gave us our visas!!). He had a broad american accent and wore a statue of liberty tie. With each question he asked, we were able to pull out a wedge of paperwork. I think he was impressed (or scared!). At one point he had us worried though because he said we were too well prepared which made him suspicious, but the worry only lasted a couple of seconds as he gleefully shouted "only joking, I'll give you 12 months!"
Grinning from ear to ear, we left the interview which lasted all of 10 mins and paid for the courier service to get our passports back to us (this costs between £10 - 35). About 2 weeks later, our passports were hand delivered back to us with a lovely extra page :-)