Applying for a US visa on your own

Anyone who is going to go on vacation to America requires a US tourist visa for Russians in 2019. Its design is somewhat different from obtaining a permit to enter the Schengen area, therefore, before proceeding with the procedure for collecting the necessary documents, you should first figure out how to get a visa to America from Russia on your own and what its price will be.

How to get a tourist visa to the United States of America

Before you get a tourist visa to the United States, you need to perform a number of steps in stages.

Step-by-step instructions for obtaining a US visa on your own:

1. Register on the official website of the Embassy;
2. Open and upload your new photo;
3. Complete all items of the DS-160 questionnaire (in English);
4. Prepare the necessary package of documents;
5. Pay the consular fee for a US visa in 2019;
6. Choose the date of the interview;
7. Appear at the specified address and undergo an interview;
8. Wait for the time required for the administrative check;
9. Pick up your passport.

List of documents for a US visa

There is no official list of documents required to obtain a US visa, but this does not make it easy to apply for a US visa. The task of the applicant is to convince the employees of the consulate of the solvency and strength of their business ties at home, and this must be done documented.

The main documents for a US visa in 2019 are as follows:

1. Passport valid at the end of the trip with at least one blank page;
2. The original or a copy of the old international passport (if any), where there are visas of the Schengen countries of the USA, Great Britain, Canada for five years;
3. Photo in printed and electronic form, taken in accordance with the requirements of the American Consulate in Moscow;
4. Completed application form DS-160. This questionnaire should be printed in good quality so that you can read the information encrypted in an individual barcode. Men aged 16 to 45 also complete Form DS-157;
5. Receipt of payment of the administrative fee;
6. Documentary evidence of the tourist that at the end of the stay he will return to Russia (presence of work in Russia, close relatives, real estate).

Documents for a visa to America can be drawn up in English or Russian to choose from, no translation is required.

Before you apply for a visa to the United States on your own, you need to take care of certificates that confirm attachment to your home country and loved ones:

• Certificate of employment indicating salary and documentary evidence of any permanent income within the Russian Federation. You can also attach a certificate from the work of the spouse (spouse) or parents;
• If the applicant is a student, he provides a certificate from the university;
• Individual entrepreneurs prepare a copy of certificates of registration and registration with the tax service;
• Certificate of availability of real estate objects, land plots;
• Pensioners and the unemployed provide an application from relatives who will sponsor the trip, as well as a certificate from their place of work indicating income and copies of documents confirming kinship;
• Information about the closest relatives in Russia (wife, husband, children);
• Persons who have previously visited America provide a copy of a foreign passport with an old visa, stamps indicating the date of entry and exit from the United States;
• Minors attach a copy of their birth certificate.

  If children are traveling without parents (without one parent), a notarized permission to leave the country from both (one of) parents must be issued.

After analyzing the reviews about obtaining a visa to the United States, it is easy to conclude that there are not many documents for the American consulate. The more certificates are provided confirming the traveler's normal income level and his attachment to Russia, the more chances he has that the consulate's response will be positive.

US visa photo requirements 2019

A photo for a visa to the States should be taken on the eve of submitting documents to the American mission, it must meet certain criteria.

Photo requirements for US visa:

It is forbidden to take pictures in scarves, hats, headphones. The exception is religious headdresses.

How to get a US visa on your own in 2019: step-by-step instructions for filling out the application form

Those who are wondering if it is difficult to get a US visa should know that for many Russians, it is the step-by-step filling out of the application form on the official website that is the most difficult task. If an employee of the consulate checks and reveals the slightest discrepancy between the information indicated in the questionnaire and the certificates provided, most likely, denial of an entry permit.

Naturally, the applicant has the right to appeal, but in this case, the cost of a visa to America from Russia will be doubled for him, since the consular fee will have to be paid again. Yes, and the process of opening a visa is restarted, which means that you will have to wait a long time - from several weeks to several months.

The questionnaire is filled out on the website https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/ :

1. Questionnaires for obtaining a non-immigrant visa are opened after the country (Russia), city is selected in Get Started and the START AN APPLICATION button is activated.
2. Further, the applicant receives his individual number, which is automatically sent to him in the e-mail box specified during registration in the form of a letter.
3. The site redirects the user to the desired page of the electronic form of the questionnaire, where you need to upload your photo and fill in the following cells:
   • Data of the internal and foreign passport;
   • Information about the place of study and work (current and past);
   • military service data;
   • Name and date of birth of parents and spouse;
   • Information about trips to foreign countries for the last 5 years;
   • Which US cities are you planning to visit?
4. After filling in all the required fields, the applicant receives a ten-digit code. The questionnaire with a photo must be printed on a printer in good quality, its barcode must be read on a special device.

If you are planning a family trip, after filling out the form, you get the opportunity to click on the “Fill in for one more” button. This function can significantly save time, since the program will be able to copy some data in the general fields from the first questionnaire, and combine requests with each other. After the collective filling, all relatives are invited to the consulate at the same time for a general interview.

Interview

Since many people want to get an American visa on their own in Moscow, waiting for an interview can be delayed for some time. You can find out available dates and make an appointment for an interview in any available way:

• On the website of the Consulate;
• When contacting the contact center by free phone +7 800 100 2554;
• By preparing a request for skype ustraveldocs-russia or e-mail [email protected]

Before the interview, each tourist must be fingerprinted.

Some of the most common topics that come up in interviews include:

• Purpose of the trip. If tourism, you need to tell which places you want to visit, in which hotel a settlement is possible;
• About work. Position, amount of earnings, on what conditions the management granted the official leave, during which the tour is planned;
• Is there any extra income?
• About family. They may ask why you do not go on a trip with the whole family. If there are relatives in the States, they may be interested in their status;
• If you decide to open a visa through an invitation, there will be several questions regarding the host;
• If the sponsor is paying for the trip, the consular officer will ask about who he is related to the applicant and how solvent he is.

Tourist visa to America on your own: reviews and recommendations of tourists

According to the vast majority of independent travelers, obtaining a US visa does not cause any particular difficulties. The main thing is to behave naturally and naturally during the interview, to answer questions briefly, without going into special details.

If you find out what documents are needed for a US visa and have collected all of them, be sure to take these certificates with you to the interview. It is necessary to remember well the basic information about the planned trip: the purpose, the duration of the visit, the number of places you are going to visit.

To make the dialogue with the consul as short as possible, it is advisable to simply answer his questions, don't give too much information. Mandatory documents - passports (internal and foreign) and a questionnaire - must be provided immediately, it is better to give the rest on request.

You should come to the embassy in advance, as sometimes you have to wait in line.

If you are tormented by the question of how to open a US visa without speaking English, do not worry. The interview is not very difficult to pass, it can take place both in English and in Russian. According to traveler reviews, even if the dialogue started in a foreign language, you can always switch to your native language.

Registration cost

How much a visa to America from Russia costs depends on its type and the procedure for issuing it (independently or through a travel agency). In the case of contacting an intermediary, the price of a US visa includes:

• Consultation on the formation of a package of documents and its verification for compliance with the requirements of the consulate;
• Assistance in filling out an electronic questionnaire;
• Accompanying the applicant in the representation;
• Obtaining a passport with a stamp.

Regardless of whether the applicant applies to the US Embassy on his own or he decides to use the service of an intermediary, he is obliged to pay consular fee of $160.

It is worth considering that the cost of a US visa for Russians in 2019 differs depending on the purpose of the trip. Thus, religious ministers, participants in the cultural exchange program, employees transferred to a branch of the company, interns and seasonal workers pay a consular fee of $ 190, grooms, brides, spouses of Americans - $ 240, and for international investors and traders the price of a visa to America is 270 dollars.

How long is the entry permit valid?

A multiple entry visa to the United States is issued for a period of one to three years. The first time an entry permit is given only for one year, but if the interview was successful, you can ask to issue it immediately for a longer period. You just need to ask how much a US visa costs for Russians in this case, since you will have to pay a consular fee.

Reasons for rejection

According to statistics, every tenth citizen of the Russian Federation receives a refusal when applying for an American visa. Applying for a US visa may not be successful if there are any of the following problems:

• The applicant is a young childless boy (or girl), unmarried, working for a small salary. Also at risk are students who will soon graduate from the university;
• These questionnaires do not match the answers at the interview;
• Earlier, the applicant violated the deadlines for returning from the States;
• A person is visiting relatives who previously immigrated from Russia to the United States;
• The traveler's visa history is not credible (no visas to enter the Schengen area, UK);
• The student is applying for a student visa, but he himself does not speak English. Therefore, before applying for a US visa, a student may need to improve their knowledge and learn the rules;
• The consul doubted the authenticity of the certificates provided.

How to get a passport

If the applicant is refused a visa, the passport is given to him immediately. If approved, you will have to wait a few days until the administrative review for the US visa in 2019 is carried out. In this case, you need to pick up your documents, where the entry permit will be located, at one of the offices of the Pony Express courier service (their location diagram is on the official website). If you can’t leave your home or office, you can order targeted delivery to your home or work.

Thus, a tourist visa to America for Russians in Moscow is issued quite simply. But you need to be as careful and confident as possible from the very beginning.

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