How to Take American Visa and Step by Step

The process of taking the American visa is boring, expensive and complicated, but everyone who wants to embrace the States still needs to face it. The ghosts of the past make many people afraid of this process. In the past, travel was thwarted by visas denied. Today, the visa concession rate is very high and the process is much more peaceful.

The governments of the two countries are already dating the possibility of falling with the demand, thanks to the Brazilians mucho loci who make the joy of the shopkeepers in Miami and leave hundreds of thousands of dollars in the land of Uncle Sam.

I haven’t been to the USA yet, but I already have a visa for when the opportunity arises. In any case, I think there is much more there than outlets. So, on your next visit to the country, travel more and spend less on shopping: Alaska, Hawaii, San Francisco and Yellowstone sent a hug. But enough of small talk and let’s get to the point: the step by step on how to get the American visa.

Step 1: The Form DS-160

The process starts with you by completing the form on this website here: https://ceac.state.gov/genniv

On this page, the first thing is to choose the consulate where you do your interview and click on Start an application.

By doing so, you will be directed to a page that tells your request ID and where you should choose a security question. This information is important if you need to stop completing the form to continue at another time or want to correct some information later. From here it is important that you remember not to use accents, commas and other special characters.

Are you going to travel? Travel insurance is super important for the United States because of the high prices of medical services in the country. Book your Travel Insurance at a discount for 360meridians readers.

Have you chosen your secret question? On the next page begins to fill in your personal data.

Eight is the total number of DS-160 forms that I have had to fill in my life: my own and that of seven people in my family. That’s what you get for speaking English. After all this experience, I just have to tell you that it’s boring and time-consuming. They will ask you everything about your life, even if you have a connection with human trafficking and other crimes. As tiring as it may be, respond with calm and attentiveness. And, of course, always be honest. Go to fill in each page that appears and move on to the next steps, to the end. Remember to use English, always. If you don’t know, better ask someone for help. Have you had any questions when answering the questions of the form? Read the next topic.

Problem questions of DS-160

Some information requested in the form DS-160 may cause questions. Here’s how to answer them:

National Identification Number, U.S. Social Security Number and U.S. Taxpayer ID Number

In the second stage of the form you will be asked about your national identification number. This is no secret code, it is just our famous CPF. In fields that ask for Social Security Number and Taxpayer ID Number just mark “Does not apply” and move on.

The Passport Book Number

This number is non-existent in the Brazilian passport, so check “Does not not apply”.

Types of American Visa

In the first field, choose the tourist visa or for temporary visitor to business, category B. In the lower field you must specify the purposes of your trip. If it is only to enjoy the holidays or for medical treatment, the correct visa is B2. If you go to business events, it is B1. It is also possible to take both at a time, B1/B2, without paying any extra fees.

Dates of travel and address where you will stay in the USA

At the same stage, you must inform your date of arrival in the USA. If you have no trip planned yet, simply provide an approximate date. Like, “Oh, I wanted to travel in the second half of September.” Then inform 18/09/2014. The same goes for the time spent there. You don’t have to be precise in these fields.

When you fill in these fields, you will open a new space where you will be required to enter the address of where you will be staying in the USA. If you are going to stay at someone’s house or already have a hotel of preference, just inform this address. If you have nothing planned, look for a hotel in a city you would like to visit and inform the address. This is a field where even they don’t require you to be as accurate.

Contacts in the United States

You must inform who are your contacts in the United States. Here, just inform again the name and address of the hotel you have already said back there. Check “Do Not Know” in the part that asks to inform the person’s name.

If you plan to stay at someone’s house, the fields are reversed. Enter the name in the first field and check “Do Not Know” in the part that asks to say the name of the organization.

In both cases, it will be necessary to inform the address and the telephone number of the hosting.

Finalizing the form

Filled with all the questions, you must confirm the submission of the form. Make sure everything is right, because once sent you will not be able to make any changes. Once this is done, you will receive the shipping confirmation document. Print it on time or ask it to be forwarded to your email so that you can print it later. This document is mandatory both in the CASV and on the day of the interview, so keep this file very well.

Please note: It is no longer necessary to attach a digital photo to the visa form.

Step 2: The fee and scheduling in the CASV

If you applied to any variation of the type B visa, then you have a beautiful $160 boleto to pay (information about the other visas on the embassy website). “But I haven’t received any tickets yet!” It’s because you need it first, guess what? Fill out another form! But do not be discouraged: this one is much faster, easier and in the good old Portuguese.

It is that, in order to issue your ticket and schedule the interview of the American visa, you need to register on the CSC website, this one here: https://usvisa-info.com/s-self-service/s_countrywelcome

To get started, click on create your account. On the next page, you should read and understand the information and state it. You will open a window to check if you already have an account there. If it’s your first time on this site, just click it doesn’t.

Then it’s time to tell your whole life again, but this time in a short version. If you prefer to chat, you can tell all this by phone.

A account created? On the following screen, you should click on schedule interview:

Then make the following way:

Non-immigrant Visa Visas – Visitor Visa Visa – Business Visa (B1)/ Tourism (B2)/Business or Tourism (B1/B2) – depending on the type you applied there on the DS-160.

Select the same interview consulate that you informed when starting to complete the first form. Also choose how your visa will be delivered. Options are picking up CASV of your choice or deliver by mail to your home.

Interview in the Family

If you want your interview to be done together with other members of your family, right after creating your account on the CSC website and before clicking on “Schedule Interview”, you must choose the “Add Family Members” option and include the data of the people who will travel with you. But you have to have a close relationship of kinship. I have seen cases of people who lived under the same roof for I do not know how many years ago, but they could not do the interview together because they were not officially married.

After doing this, the interview will be scheduled for the entire group.

Payment of the US visa fee

Once you choose how you will receive your visa, it is time to release the money. Payment can be made via credit card or bank slip. If you choose the card, the release takes place in just a few minutes. Already pay with boleto, you will have to wait 24 hours to confirm and continue the process.

Once that is done, you are ready to schedule the interviews.

Scheduling the interview

Dare there, did you say “the interviews”? That’s right. You’ll have two encounters with the people from the USA. The first is in the CASV, where you will take photo and fingerprints. The second is the actual visa interview at the consulate.

At the time of scheduling, the first date is the visa interview at the consulate. That is, you schedule the second date before. You got it?

So let’s assume that you are from the interior of São Paulo and will do the interview in the capital. Schedule the interview from the consulate for one day and then schedule the visit to CASV the day before. So you only take a trip.

But if you are, for example, BH, you can schedule the interview at the SP consulate for one day, and schedule your visit of the CASV de Belo Horizonte a week before, it only depends on the dates available. See how you look better at your schedule.

Have you scheduled a date and regretted it? No problem, just access your account on that same website and change the date of both CASV and the consulate up to 24 hours before the interview.

Remember to print the confirmation page and take on the day of the CASV.

Step 3: The CASV

Luckily for us, CASV is available in several cities in Brazil, even where it has no consulate. Belo Horizonte, for example, has one. St. Paul has two. You can choose the most convenient one for you when scheduling the visit.

In the place, it is not allowed to enter with bags and mobile phones must be turned off. Outside the CASV it is common to have a crowd that tries to extort you by charging absurd amounts for the volume guard, printing the necessary documents for the visit, parking and other services. I forgot the confirmation role of the schedule and had to pay $30 for the impression of a miserable page.

To avoid passing anger at this trade and with the connivance of CASV personnel (they could well offer volumekeepers, right?), go prepared.

The list of documents you should take is:

Passport (remember that you need to have a validity of six months)

– Submission confirmation page of the form DS-160

– Page confirmation of the interview scheduling

If you have ever taken the American visa, take your passport on which the visa is included

You can only enter the CASV half an hour before your office hours. Still, the day I was crowded and delayed a lot. So go ready to wait. And standing up. In the CASV of Vila Mariana, in São Paulo, there is not even a chair to receive visitors. Even people who were with children or pregnant had to stay A HOUR AND HALF standing, waiting to be called to a care that should have happened much earlier. I found the situation disrespectful and unprepared, but that’s okay. Who knows, don’t give you more luck and go on a quieter day?

Have your turn come? They will check your documents, send you to collect fingerprints and take the photo that will come out on your visa. Once that is done, you can leave. No trauma.

Renewal of visas

If you are just renewing a visa that is still valid or has expired in the last 48 months, the saga ends there. As you do not go through the interview, they collect your passport and you wait for the visa to leave. Simple as that.

If your visa is older, you must go through the consular interview as well.

Documents for children under 15 years old or over 66

People aged 15 years or under and over 66 do not need to attend the CASV or do the interview. For this, the legal or forwarder representative must take:

– Valid passport

Recibe of the payment of the request fee (MRV)

– Confirmation page of the DS-160 form with the minor photo

– An extra (and recent) photograph of 5 x 5 x 7 cm with light background. Go to https://u-portuguese.brazil.usembassy.gov/en/guidelines.html for photo requirements

Step 4: The interview at the consulate

Stay calm. The interview is very quiet and no one wants to stop you from going to the United States for no reason. They have the greatest goodwill with the Brazilians. So don’t lie, take your income proof and bond with Brazil (registrations in schools, work card, counter-schekhs, evidence that you have a home and car here, bank statements, etc). “I am autonomous!” Then take the documents of your company (if applicable) or service contracts and reinforce in the income proofs. You probably don’t have to show any of this, but it’s good to take it by warranty.

The mandatory documents for the interview at the consulate are:

– Valid passport (remember: minimum of six months of validity)

– DS-160 confirmation page

Passport with a previous visa, if applicable

In the consulate, it is allowed to enter with a small bag (backpacks do not), but electronic devices and sharp objects must stand outside. The organization there is much better than in the CASV (places to sit back!) and for me it was also faster.

Also read: Tips for the American Visa Interview

Questions of the Interview

You can’t know exactly what you’re gonna ask. It depends a lot on you, your form and the mood of the guy who is interviewing you. My interview was like this:

– What do you do?

– I am a journalist.

– And work in which company?

– Company X

What would you like to see in the US?

– New York, Disney…

Have you traveled before? Ask me while smuring my passport – Oh, yes! Of course! – he himself responds when he sees my stamps.

– Very well, visa approved.

Did you see? You have nothing to fear. They won’t ask you anything you can’t answer.

Request in administrative proceedings

It is rare, but it can happen that your visa is not granted on time and go through an administrative process. This means they will have up to 60 days to better analyze your case. They will never explain why. It can be from an international fugitive with the same name as you to an error in your form. The way, in this case, is to wait. But if you have spoken the truth and are not, in fact, the international fugitive, chances are great to be okay.

How to get the American visa: what if mine is denied?

Look, I’ll even understand if you sit down and cry a little, after all you’ve been through this all. But you don’t have to despair, okay? As much as the visa approval rating is very high, the American consulate has the right to deny the visa to anyone who properly understands, without even giving any explanation to the person.

Most, however, are no clergy who want to destroy their life. So they’re likely to give you at least some clue as to why they refused. The main reasons are the lack of evidence that you can pay for the trip and the absence of links consistent with Brazil. Having already made some trip abroad before help, but it is not a decisive factor in the approval.

If you have denied the visa, try to correct the problems that led you to this and enter with the application again. You need to restart the process of starting and pay the fee again, but you can do this one week after the interview that went wrong. It is not because they have refused you since they will necessarily refuse you again.