Logistics & Planning

Changes to the visa policy and procedures are expected to increase the amount of time it takes to obtain a visa. It is extremely important that you apply for your visa early. Although information on the changes to the visa application process is outlined here, please refer to the U.S. Department of State’s Visa information web page for the most complete, up-to-date information. You can also refer to the U.S. Department of State’s Business Visa Center for more information. During the registration process, if using an international address, you will have the option to create and print your personalized visa cover letter.

The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) enables citizens of certain countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. Not all countries participate in the VWP. Visit this page to find information about the US Visa Waiver Program, requirements, eligibility and more relevant details.

• You must be a citizen of a Visa Waiver Program country.
• You must have a valid passport issued by the participating country.
• Your passport must be a machine-readable passport.
• You must be seeking entry for 90 days or less, as a temporary visitor for business (participating in scientific, educational, professional or business conventions, conferences or seminars is permitted as a business visitor) or pleasure. You will not be permitted to extend your visit or change to another visa category under the VWP.

A personal appearance interview is required as a standard part of this process. This can increase the processing time. It is expected fewer waivers will be granted for the interview portion of the process.

NACS cannot assist you with the interview process, nor can anyone representing NACS call the embassy or consulate on your behalf to provide support for granting a visa. If you are denied a visitor visa, you may re-apply if there is new evidence to overcome the basis for the refusal. In the absence of new evidence, consular officers are not required to re-examine such cases.

A machine-readable passport has biographical data entered on the data page according to international specifications. The size of the passport and photograph, and arrangement of data fields, especially the two lines of printed OCR-B machine readable data, meet the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization, Doc 9303, Part 1 Machine Readable Passports. OCR-B means the type is Optical Character Reader size B. If there are questions about your passport, after carefully reviewing this information, and any information that may be available to you from your country, you may want to contact the passport issuing agency or authority in your country of citizenship at the U.S. Department of State’s Visa information web page.

Please visit www.usembassy.gov to find the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in your country.