Before leaving for the USA, it is important to ask yourself the right questions about your visa that’s right for you. There is a US visa for virtually every situation. The most important thing to discern is whether you want to visit the USA for a specific period of time, or whether you want to live in the USA indefinitely. The key to your American dream is knowing how to get the right visa, because the US authorities take homeland security very seriously. Find out more in this article.
Non-immigrant visa
If the purpose of your trip to the U.S. is tourism, business or a temporary stay to work or study, the visa category that applies to you is the non-immigrant category.
As its name suggests, this category of visa for the USA is for people who don’t wish to move to the United States, but wish to stay for a specific period of time.
A valid passport is required for all visa applications. By valid, we mean that the identity document must be a biometric passport or an electronic passport (a recent French or European passport is biometric). Next, you’ll need to determine which US visa you need.
Tourist visas are B1/B2 visas. They allow you to travel to the USA for 6 consecutive months, and are valid for 10 years.
To apply, you first need to fill in the online form DS-160, on the Consular Electronic Application Center website. You must then make an appointment at the American embassy, and bring all the required documents with you, so that you can present your application to one of the consular officers for an interview. The application will be examined and the tourist visa will be attached to the passport.
The American visas to work in the USA and study temporarily both work on the same principle. First of all, before obtaining a work/study permit, you need to find an employer, an exchange program or an American university willing to sponsor you.
Once your sponsor has been found, he or she must complete an application, called a “petition”, and submit it to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service USCIS. If the project is deemed coherent by the US authorities, the same procedure is followed as for a US tourist visa.
There are many categories of visas for the USA of work and study. It’s not important to know all of them, as the U.S. consulate officer will determine which one best suits your situation.
ESTA authorization
Among the visas for the USA, there is an alternative for nationals of countries covered by the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).
The VWP is a visa waiver program for tourist and business travel of up to 90 days. Travelers who are citizens of a VWP member country and hold a valid passport are no longer required to apply for a U.S. visa before traveling to the U.S., but must obtain an electronic travel authorization.
The whole process involves an online application. The ESTA form is easily found on the U.S. government website or on the website of a private service provider. At no point do you have to go to the US embassy during the procedure.
The ESTA application must be made at least 72 hours before flying to the USA.
The authorization is valid for 2 years and is electronically linked to the holder’s passport number. This is why, unlike other visas for the USAIn order to obtain a new passport, the holder must apply for a new ESTA authorization.
American immigrant visas
The American visas immigrant visas are intended for people wishing to emigrate to the USA.
As with study and work visas, the first step is to find a sponsor. The difference is that this time, the sponsor must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident relative.
A citizen of the United States of America can sponsor almost any member of his or her family, while a permanent resident can sponsor only his or her spouse or minor child.
It is possible for an employer to sponsor a candidate for an immigrant visa if he or she can demonstrate specific knowledge. Individuals with “exceptional” knowledge and expertise can apply for an immigrant visa without a sponsor, if they intend to continue working in their chosen field.
Becoming a permanent resident means holding the famous green card, which gives you the right to work in the United States and live on American soil indefinitely.
