Visa of United States

While the citizens of various countries are obliged to acquire a visa that will be out in their passport, the citizens of other countries may enter the United States without a permit under a Visa Waiver Program.

Two types of visas are valid on the territory of the United States:

• Immigrant Visa is given to citizens that enter the USA with the intention of the permanent stay.
• Non-Immigrant Visa is given to citizens that enter the USA with the intention of the temporary stay.

A Visa Waiver Program enables the citizens of the particular countries to enter the United States without a visa: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom.

To acquire a membership in the Visa Waiver Program, a person shall apply for Electronic System for Authorization (ESTA) 72 hours before the flight/departure. The document given will be valid for two years after obtaining and allows traveling to the United States visa-free.

To obtain a Visa Waiver Program membership, the one shall be the citizen of the country that is not under restriction of acquiring a visa to the United States; possess the ESTA authorization; stay in the country for 90 days or less; and travel to the United States for business, tourism, and transit purposes. If the one travels to the United States by air, s/he shall provide an onward/return.

Among countries, citizens that do not require a visa when entering the USA as well are The Turks and Caicos Islands, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, Cayman.

Some specific details shall be discussed in advance. For instance, Canadians and Bermudians can stay on the territory of the United States for a maximum of six months.

The issuance of visas to the citizens of particular countries as Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen has gone into effect on December 4th, 2017 after a presidential proclamation signed by Donald Trump.

The visa issuance to the citizens of particular countries as Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea, and Sierra Leone was diminished due to lack of the cooperation between the United States and those countries. The pact was signed on September 13th, 2017.