Apply for your United States visa online

A U.S. visa is an entry document issued by a U.S. Embassy or Consulate that lets you travel to a U.S. port of entry and request admission. It does not guarantee entry on its own: the officer at the border decides how long you may stay, and whether to admit you at all. Visa-exempt travelers do not need one and use a U.S. ESTA instead, which is an electronic travel authorization rather than a visa.

U.S. visas fall into two broad categories: non-immigrant visas for temporary stays and immigrant visas for people moving permanently. Most travelers only deal with the non-immigrant side, which is split by purpose, with the B1/B2 visitor visa for tourism and business alongside separate student, exchange and work categories. iVisa covers the short-visit lane: the B1/B2 visitor visa, and the U.S. ESTA travel authorization for travelers from Visa Waiver Program countries. The other categories are applied for directly at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate, and their rules — including the F-1 student visa rules, which the U.S. government revises from time to time — are set and published by the government, so check the current requirements with the embassy that would issue the visa.

Start by checking which document your nationality actually needs. If you hold a passport from a Visa Waiver Program country and are staying under 90 days, you apply online for a U.S. ESTA. If you are not visa-exempt, or you want to stay longer, you complete the DS-160 form and attend an interview at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate for a B1/B2 visa. iVisa confirms which one applies to you, then prepares, reviews and files it.

Citizens from Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries — such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Israel, Qatar, and many EU nations — require a U.S. ESTA for short visits. Longer stays or non-VWP citizens need a U.S. B1/B2 visa instead.

The B1 visa is for business purposes (negotiating contracts, attending conferences), while the B2 visa is for tourism, pleasure, or medical treatment. Most applicants receive a combined B1/B2 visa, which allows you to engage in both types of activities during your visit.

Every United States visa application carries two separate costs: the fee the U.S. government charges and iVisa's service fee. The government fee is set by the U.S. and is the same at every embassy; iVisa's service fee covers preparing the form, checking your documents, filing the application and 24/7 support. U.S. visa fees differ by document — the ESTA costs considerably less than the B1/B2 — and the full price for your nationality and chosen processing speed appears before you pay.

It depends on which document you need. Travelers from Visa Waiver Program countries use the U.S. ESTA, which is the cheaper option. Everyone else applies for the B1/B2, the United States tourist visa, and pays the U.S. government's non-refundable visa application fee plus iVisa's service fee. The government fee is charged whether or not the visa is approved, which is why the application is worth getting right the first time. You see the full U.S. tourist visa cost for your nationality before you pay.

A U.S. visa appointment is only needed for the B1/B2 — the ESTA is decided online with no interview. For the B1/B2 you first complete the DS-160 and pay the U.S. visa application fee, and only then can the interview appointment be booked at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Apply through iVisa and we do the scheduling for you: we book your U.S. visa interview appointment at the post you choose and confirm the date, the time and what to bring.

Appointment wait times are set by each U.S. Embassy and Consulate, not by iVisa, and they vary widely by post and by season — some have interview slots within weeks, others are booked months ahead. We cannot shorten an embassy's queue, so the practical advice is to start the B1/B2 application as early as you can: the sooner your DS-160 is filed, the sooner the visa appointment can be scheduled.

You can stay for up to 90 days per visit. The ESTA itself is generally valid for two years, or until your passport expires.

You apply again. A U.S. visa is not renewed in the sense of being topped up or reissued on request: when it expires you file a new DS-160, pay the U.S. visa application fee again, and go through the same checks as a first-time applicant. Nothing carries over automatically except your record with the consulate. iVisa handles a US visa renewal exactly as it handles a first application — we prepare the DS-160 with you, review it for the errors that cause refusals, file it, and book the interview if the post requires one.

Sometimes, and the consulate decides — not iVisa and not the applicant. Travelers renewing the same visa category they already held are the group most often considered for an interview waiver, and each U.S. Embassy or Consulate applies the rules its own way and can change them. Plan on attending an interview for your American visa renewal and treat a waiver as a bonus: if the post you apply at waives it, your renewal moves faster, and if it does not, you have lost nothing by being ready.

Up to 6 months (180 days) is the usual admission on a B1/B2, but the visa does not grant the stay — the officer at the port of entry does. They decide whether to admit you and set the date you must leave by, and that date governs, even if your visa runs for years and allows multiple entries. Check the date you are given on arrival rather than assuming the maximum, because overstaying it is what puts a future application at risk.

A B1/B2 stay can sometimes be extended; an ESTA stay cannot. To extend, you file Form I-539 with USCIS from inside the United States before your current stay ends, and USCIS decides — it is a request, not a formality, and leaving the country does not reset the clock. Changing to a different status is a separate USCIS filing again. The one thing you cannot do is modify a U.S. visa stay at the border by asking for longer on arrival.

U.S. visa appointment dates are released by each U.S. Embassy and Consulate on its own schedule, and you can only see and book them once your DS-160 is filed and the visa application fee is paid — there is no way to hold a date before that. Available dates for a U.S. visa appointment differ enormously between posts and move as slots are released and cancelled, so the dates at one consulate tell you nothing about another. Apply through iVisa and we do the looking: we book your U.S. visa interview at the post you choose and confirm the date, the time and what to bring.

The ESTA is digitally linked to your passport number, so once approved you simply receive an email confirmation. The B1/B2 visa is a physical sticker placed in your passport — after a successful interview, the U.S. Embassy keeps your passport for a few business days to print the visa, then either returns it through their designated courier service or asks you to collect it in person, depending on the post.

Yes. Every traveler, including infants and children, must have their own individual ESTA or visa. Children applying for a B1/B2, including those under 14, must also attend the in-person interview, and a full DS-160 application and the associated fees are required.

If your ESTA is denied, you must apply for a B1/B2 Visitor Visa at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If a B1/B2 application is denied, you will receive a letter citing the reason (the most common is 'lack of ties' under Section 214(b)).