Go online to http://www.usembassy.gov/, which is a listing of all the different U.S. Consulates and Embassies worldwide. Select the city where the Embassy where you will apply is located. You will be directed to the main website for the Embassy. Go to the Consular Section, and review the local procedures for applications for the class of visa you will obtain.
Prepare the Visa Application:
Most U.S. Consulates’ website provides an electronic DS-156 Standard Visa Application Form. When you finish and press “submit”, the form will re-appear with a bar code showing on the right side. Print the form and sign it.
Men between the ages of 16 and 45 years also must complete a Form DS-157 Supplemental Visa Application. (Some consulates also require women to complete this form.) The U.S. Consulate website for your location will advise whether the DS-157 is required in your case. If so, complete the necessary form, but note that the form is not electronically submitted. You must print and sign once finished.
Certain visa applicants also must complete a Form DS-158. Again, this is not an electronic form, so you must print and sign when finished.
A few Consulates now use a newer form, the DS-160, which is an entirely electronic submission. This replaces all the other forms listed above. Because it is electronic, you need not print and sign.
Schedule Your Appointment.
Follow the local Consulate’s procedures to book your visa appointment. The appointment date should be at least 2 months prior to the date you want to actually enter the U.S. If the appointment date issued to you appears too late for your planned travel to the U.S., check the Consulate’s website to see whether there are instructions for getting an expedited appointment. There also might be a number to call to speak to the appointment reservation system (which usually is a private company unrelated to the U.S. Consulate itself). In some Consulates, it is possible to check back each day to see if appointments on earlier dates have become available due to cancellations.
Go to the Consulate.
On the date of your interview, go to the Consulate with all the paperwork recommended to you by the Consulate and this website. Many other people will be assigned the same date and time. You will not be permitted into the Consulate until your specific appointment time, so there is little point in arriving very early. Do not, however, arrive late. You must wait outside the Consulate until they admit you, so be prepared for weather, etc.
It often is helpful to bring with you an original and one copy of each document, so that you can show the original to the Consular officer and then give them the copy, thereby eliminating the need for them to make copies themselves.
U.S. Consulates worldwide have instituted stringent security policies. As a result, the following are prohibited: electronic devices of any kind (including cellular telephones), backpacks, suitcases, attachés or briefcases, strollers, or similar items (for example, many embassies prohibit any more than one baby bottle). Security personnel will not store items for visa applicants and will confiscate all weapons. Accordingly, if you bring to your interview an item that cannot be allowed into the building, you will lose it permanently or be refused admission to the building. If you have concerns about whether a specific item will be allowed into the building, please contact the Consulate.
The Interview
When you are called for your interview, you must give your documents to the Consular officer. The officer then asks questions, such as about the proposed visit to the U.S., and your credentials and current activities. You must be able to understand and then answer the questions asked; Consular officers do not like being referred to documents instead of being answered. The answers also should be understandable, rather than scientific. The officer must understand what it is you do now and what you will do while in the U.S., and confirm that the activities are not potentially threatening to U.S. national security.
During your interview, you will be fingerprinted and subjected to certain “normal” security clearances. These are done during every visa application, regardless of your personal history or credentials.
The security clearances are conducted against international and U.S. criminal, immigration and other databases, and are based on your name, algorithmic variations of your name, your biographic data, and other triggers. In some cases, security clearances are completed within a few days. In other cases, the Consulate orders a Security Advisory Opinion (SAO) from the Department of State's (DOS) Visa Office in Washington, D.C. Obtaining the SAO takes additional time. In rare circumstances, the SAO might be adverse, in which case, further information is required. Click here for Fermilab’s current estimate of the average time involved in obtaining security clearances during visa applications.
Visa Issuance
Once the security clearances are issued, the Consulate issues the visa stamp into your passport and returns the passport to you using local procedures.
Admission to the U.S.
Following the issuance of the visa, users/visitors must contact their Experiment/Department to schedule your arrival date at Fermilab. Employees must contact their Department and the Employment Office to schedule their start date. In either case, please advise the Visa Office of the date set for your arrival as soon as it is set, as you also will need to meet with the Visa Office on your first day at Fermilab.
When you enter the U.S., present your passport with the new visa inside it. The immigration officer at the airport (an officer with the Customs and Border Protection – CBP) might ask a few questions about your proposed activities while you are in the U.S., or about other aspects of your life (such as about your school or your employer). Be concise and precise with your answers.
The CBP officer reviews and then completes the “I-94 Arrival Departure Card,” that you began filling out on the airplane. This is a small white cardboard card that will be stapled into your passport. The officer handwrites onto the card the visa classification granted to you, and the end date of your Authorized Stay in the U.S. The end date for J-1 status holders should be “D/S” which means “Duration of status”. This means that you are permitted to remain in the U.S. for the duration of the participation dates listed on your DS-2019.
Before you leave the officer’s desk, check the I-94 Card after the officer issues it to you to confirm that all the details are correct. Officers can make typographical errors during admission, especially if the airport is particularly busy or if the month or year has just changed. If the I-94 Card appears to contain an error, or contains a specific end date for your authorized stay rather than “D/S”, politely ask the officer to explain and/or correct the Card.
The end date on the I-94 Card is the last day you are permitted to remain in the U.S. You must leave the U.S. on or before this end date. Serious consequences can arise if you remain in the U.S. past this date, even if it is as little as one day.
The I-94 card is the only evidence of your authorized status in the United States, so ensure that it is safe.
Typical Visa Application Documents:
Signed print-out of the Form DS-156 Standard Visa Application that you electronically filed, showing the computerized barcode.
Signed Forms DS-157 and/or DS-158 (if applicable).
Signed DS-2019 and Signed DS-7002 Training/Internship Plan.
Invitation Letter (for visitors), or an Employment Offer Letter or Employment Confirmation Letter (for Fermilab employees). Photograph(s).
Your current passport, valid for at least six months longer than the anticipated stay in the U.S., and with at least three free/unmarked pages. If you have held previous passports, please also take them to the Consulate on the day of the interview.
Your C.V. or resume.
Evidence of your credentials, such as copies of degrees or diplomas, if available.
(For H-1B or O-1 visa applicants) Your original Form I-797 Notice of Action approving your petition. (For B, F, or J visa applicants) Evidence of strong ties to the country where you currently reside, to show that when your activities in the U.S. end, you will leave the U.S.:
Evidence of ongoing studies or employment at your home institution (such as a letter from the home institution confirming your employment, your attendance in a program of studies, or otherwise confirming that you are supposed to return).
Evidence of income, such as earnings statements, if any.
Evidence of immediate family (such as parents) in your country of current residence (if applicable).
Evidence of ownership of property in your country of current residence, if any.
This list is what often is required by Consulates, but you must check with the specific Consulate where you will apply to confirm if additional documents are needed.
Visa Processing and Security Clearances
The processing of U.S. visa applications currently is very lengthy. YOUR LAST EXPERIENCE IS UNLIKELY TO BE TYPICAL OF CURRENT CONDITIONS.
Visa applications by individuals working within the field of High Energy Physics usually are identified by Consular officers as requiring additional security clearances before visa issuance. This is the case regardless of whether you have been issued a visa before, and regardless of whether the last visa was issued within a few days.
Fermilab’s Visa Office monitors visa applications by employees and users to maintain awareness of the average length of time involved in visa applications that involve additional security clearances. At this time, based on the information provided to us by users and employees, we estimate that Consular security clearances usually are taking:
The time required to complete security clearances is in addition to the visa processing time required by the Consulate (usually 2 to 4 weeks).
Please note that this website still is under construction. More immigration information and other visa statuses will be available soon.
Visit the Employment Office’s online International Orientation, which offers many resources about adjusting to life in the U.S., including information about banking, taxes and more. More Resources coming soon!
Address: International Services, Fermilab, P.O. Box 500, Wilson Hall, 1-W, M.S. 103, Batavia, Illinois 60510-5011, USA Amanda Petersen, International Services............................ (ph) 630-840-4203 Susan Brown, Visa Office.......................................... (ph) 630-840-3933
