In short about American visa types and Visa Waiver Program

Added: 01/20/2006

The USA draws millions of visitors annually and many others, wishing to live in the country permanently. In fact, the USA welcomes visitors and immigrants, who greatly enlarge on the country's culture, education and economy, but at the same time there is a necessity to keep everyone safe. An American visa is one of the means to maintain secure boarders of the country, but not, as many think, a method to prevent many from US travels (for the reason of many refusals). To get any type of American visa, you have to better understand the requirements you need to meet in order to receive it.

An American visa is available in two major types, which are a nonimmigrant visa for a temporary stay and an immigrant visa for a permanent residence. The type of American visa relates to the purpose of your travel and is defined by the immigration law.

A nonimmigrant American visa is issued to persons, who intend to enter the US temporarily on business, tourism or study purposes. The package of documents and an application form, required to get an American visa, should confirm your intention to visit the United States temporarily for a limited period, your financial funds to pay for your travel and your strong binding ties (like your family, children, business, long-term job, private property and more) that will make you come back to your home country after visiting the USA. All the information is verified and during the interview, you are supposed to prove your eligibility to gain an American visa.

There is also the Visa Waiver Program that allows citizens of certain countries to travel to the United States for business or pleasure purposes without a visa if they have a valid passport, a return or onward ticket, and will stay for no more than ninety days. Nowadays, the Visa Waiver Program includes nationals of the following countries: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

An Immigrant Visa is available in three most common categories, which are family based (certain relatives of the U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents), employment based and Diversity Visas for winners of the DV lottery (Green Card lottery). You can read the latest immigration news in the United States Immigration Newsletter, a free monthly online newsletter, published by the Immigration Services. It contains the latest news, regarding the US immigration requirements and procedures, and being compiled from several reliable news organizations, it features articles, written exclusively for the Immigration Services. Here you will find information, requirements, procedures and instructions of receiving an immigrant American visa. Information about the processes and procedures, required for the status change as from being a permanent resident (a Green Card owner) to the citizen of the USA, is available on http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/

Applying and receiving any type of American visa is a time-consuming process, subject to a great degree of scrutiny; hence, an advance travel planning and an early visa application are important. Commonly, most special clearances are done within thirty days of application, but some American visa applications need more time for additional clearances or administrative processing. Additionally, the time varies, depending on individual circumstances of each case. Certainly, to get a tourist visa to US is quicker than to obtain an American visa for a permanent residence, since an immigrant visa requires more documents and procedures.

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