Everyone loves to travel, experience new places and cultures and have an exciting adventure. And one of the most requested destinations by many people is the United States. From the East coast to the West coast there are thousands of cities and places worth visiting. But In order to make this trip it is necessary to apply for an American visa.
And for many people that seems to be the monster under the bed that discourages them from even trying to take the trip of their dreams.
At Global Connection we have a lot of experience with this issue due to the number of visa processes we have done for our students.
That is why today we want to show you a step by step of how we process the American visa..
Fill out the DS-160 form to start the American visa process
It all starts with filling out this form, a form that collects all the data of the non-migrant traveler. That is, by filling out this form you apply for a temporary visa, either a tourist visa or a student visa.
In this form you provide detailed information about yourself, your academic career, your work history and your travel information..
Thanks to this form, the embassy will be able to see all the information necessary to ensure that you are indeed a temporary traveler and that you have no reason to stay in the United States.
As is known, The United States of America is very demanding regarding the issue of migration and seeks to prevent illegal migrants from entering their country.. Therefore, you can expect this to be equally demanding. However, it is not impossible.
Make the SEVIS payment (only for student visa)
If you apply for a student visa, this is the next thing you must do to be able to apply for the visa.
The SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) is a system used to register all international students arriving in the United States.
To be registered in this system it is necessary to pay a fee of 350 USD. Once you have paid this fee you can continue your process for a student visa.
If you are applying for a tourist visa, this payment will not be necessary.
Create the account on the embassy platform for the American visa process
After doing all the previous steps, it is time to create the account on the embassy platform with your personal email.
With this you will be in the embassy database and they will be able to communicate directly with you and be aware of your process.
In this step you must also do the visa fee payment, this charge is made for all types of visa and has a cost of 160 USD
Attend assigned appointments
After this entire process, you will be assigned two appointments, the first is at the CAS (Applicant Service Center) where they will take the photo that will remain on your visa and the biometrics for the document.
The second is surely one of the ones that scares everyone the most: the interview with the immigration officer.
But it is more scare than reality, because it is a matter of simply being prepared and calm while doing the interview.
At Global Connection we like to help our students so that they feel much more prepared, so we have a visa team that will do a pre-interview to help you prepare for the interview with the immigration officer and check that all the documents you present are correct.
After the interview, the immigration officer will confirm if your visa was accepted or denied.
If you have more questions you can consult the American embassy website.
If you want to do a study trip process, contact a Global Connection Counselor.
