Want to Visit the U.S. - here is the process we went through

[sharedknowledge]

Not sure if this has been outlined here but we had some difficulty finding out the info so I thought I would show our steps to receive a U.S. visitors visa.

For folks here that have a PR card and would like to visit the U.S. but are NOT visa exempt.

The process is actually pretty straight forward.....once you know where to go to apply.

First step is to visit the following site and apply for the Nonimmigrant Visa (DS-160)

https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/

There is a lot of information to fill out here but it is straight forward and has a pretty good FAQ as well as a help section when you get stumped.

You will be required to upload a recent photo and the one mistake we made was using a photo that was a few months old. Be sure to use a current one as the customs officer will look at the photo and if they feel the photo is to old they will send you to re-take the photo. Not a big deal but if you can avoid it you might as well.

Once your form is complete you will be able to print out your form....this is what you will take for your interview. YES.....there will be an interview 

So this is where we dropped the ball....for some reason I assumed we would be contacted to set up an interview....NOPE.....you need to pay the $160.00 visa fee and schedule the interview yourself. Go to the following site as soon as you complete and print out your DS-160.

https://usvisa-info.com/

You select the Nonimmigrant Visa Applicant tab and follow the directions. Again it's very straight forward and the last step you will use your credit card to pay the fee. Once the fee is paid you will be given the opportunity to schedule your interview.

We did ours in Calgary and the next available interview spot was only 2 days away 

The interview itself was very simple. Basically if you are a PR in Canada it is really easy (well it was for us....no guarantee it will be the same). We went with all kinds of into to show that my wife had no intentions of staying in the U.S. Such as marriage certificate, Mortgage paperwork, business documents etc. They never asked to see any of it.... Long story short, they asked the following...

Where in the U.S. are you planning to go?
What is the reason for your visit?
What do you do in Canada?
Are you Married?

Once she told them she was PR and married to a Canadian the interview was over. All in all 5 min total time.

There was no way to know if we got the visa....or what the duration of the visa would be but they did ask for her to leave them her passport (obviously they were going to approve the visa as they need it to insert it into the passport) we were told that we would have it back in approx one week. About 3 days later we had a call from Loomis courier to pick it up. The visa she received was a 10 year visitor visa fixed inside her passport.

I hope this info helps and don't hesitate to msg me up if you have any other questions.

Tons of thanks to you. Excellent walk-through.

 

[gosia]

just got passport back with 10 year visa

 

[buliwyf]

The actual interview took about 2-minutes.

-What is your status in Canada?
-Where do you work?
-Where'd you plan to go to the US?

The consul did not ask for any documents.

After 4-days I got my passport back with a 10-year multiple entry B2.

When I flew to the US from Toronto, it landed on a domestic terminal and I went straight out to the street from the plane (US immigration was actually in the Toronto airport)

 

[gosia]

my interviewwas 2-3 minutes as well. Interview was on Tues 09 Sept and picked up passport with visa today- 10 year multiple b1/b2. Planning my us trips now - prolly going for the black friday shopping

 

[dr_ziad80]

Congratulation buliwyf and gosia

Could u please let me know if ur origional passport is from a country which norammly get a 10 year multiple entry or they made this exception because u r a permenat resident ?

 

[gosia]

Congratulation buliwyf and gosia

Could u please let me know if ur origional passport is from a country which norammly get a 10 year multiple entry or they made this exception because u r a permenat resident ?

to be honest im not sure,but my country is not visa exempt at all.

did you apply yet?

 

[jazibkg]

There was no way to know if we got the visa...

That is odd. Because when I went for a US visa interview, I was told there and then that my visa was approved. If the visa is declined, they do not ask you to submit your passport. Whilst I was waiting in line, I saw a guy's passport being sent for 'administrative processing' (he was explicitly told) and a woman being declined a visa (she was also explicitly told).

But overall, it was a fairly basic process, I too similarly had a bundle of documents with me to show my ties to Canada but the interviewer never asked to see them and took everything I told on face value.

 

[jazibkg]

to be honest im not sure,but my country is not visa exempt at all.

did you apply yet?

This depends on the 'Reciprocity' rule. If an american national can get a maximum of 10 years visa for your country, then you will be issued a 10 years visa.