General Information About Visas to the U.S.

What is a visa?

A visa is a document, placed in your passport, which gives you permission to apply to enter the United States. It is not a permission to enter the U.S. This can only be given by U.S. Immigration authorities at the port, border crossing, or airport where you wish to enter the United States. If you do not have a valid visa, and you require one, you may immediately be returned to your place of origin. Visas are acquired at the U.S. Embassies and Consulates of your country. In the case of Venezuela, this must be the U.S. Embassy in Caracas. A visa allows you to enter the U.S. for certain specific proposes, i.e. as a student, a temporary worker, or a tourist. How long you can stay is determined by the U.S. Immigration authorities. The duration of a visa indicates the amount of time during which you can travel to the U.S., not how long you can stay.

What types of visas are there?

There are two main categories of visas: immigrant and nonimmigrant visas. The difference, as the names imply, is that the immigrant visa is issued to a person with permission to live in the United States indefinitely, while the nonimmigrant visa is issued to a person who is travelling to the U.S. and can remain there only temporarily.

Immigrant visas can be obtained through family relationship with a U.S. citizen, through employment, or through the Diversity Visa Lottery.

Nonimmigrant visas are issued for several purposes: for tourism, for short business stays, for studying in the U.S., for temporary work, etc.

To find out more about visas and how to obtain one, please refer to the menu on the left side of this page.

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