Daytona 2008: Travel Visa Information

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Meeting attendees from countries that require a visa to enter the United States are reminded that the process for obtaining a visa may take several months. You are strongly encouraged to plan ahead and begin the application process early.

There is no way to guarantee that you will be issued a visa. However, there are certainly things that you can do to improve your likelihood of success.

Please recognize that United States law assumes that anyone who applies for a nonimmigrant visa actually intends to immigrate. The burden of proving otherwise is placed on you. Therefore, you should emphasize the temporary nature of your visit in your interview.

It is helpful if you are able to provide the following:

1. A letter inviting you to the United States for a specific purpose, for a defined period of time.

2. Evidence of previous international travel.

3. Evidence of your economic, family, and social ties to your country of residence.

The American Ceramic Society is happy to issue an invitation letter to you. To request an invitation letter, please click here or contact ACerS Customer Service at 866-721-3322.

ADDITIONAL TRAVEL VISA INFORMATION

As soon as travel to the U.S. is considered, foreign travelers should identify whether a visa is needed. If the traveler already has a U.S. visa appropriate for this travel, check the expiration date on the visa to make sure the visa will not expire before the planned travel date. Contact the U.S. Embassy or Consulate Consular Section in their homeland to determine any additional visa procedures, the timeframe required to set up an appointment for the interview, and schedule an appointment for the interview. An interview is required for most visa applicants. The waiting time for an interview appointment for most applicants is a few weeks or less, but for some embassy consular sections it can be considerably longer. Visa wait times are available at: http://travel.his.com/visa/tempvisitors_wait.php

For the 27 countries in the Visa Waiver Program, citizens meeting the visa waiver criteria will not need a visa, but they must have a machine-readable passport. Please refer to http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/tempvisitors_novisa_waiver.html for more information on these requirements. Canadian citizens do not need a visa, but should visit: http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1260.html for more information. The U.S. Embassy Consular Section will decide, per immigration law, about a particular applicant's eligibility for a given visa type based on the information and documentation presented to the consular officer. However, we can provide this information for you. Except for Canadians and those who can travel on the visa waiver program, anyone who wants to attend a business, educational, professional, or amateur sports event, conference or meeting who is not a government official, will generally need a visitor visa (B1/B2). Media and journalists, including citizens from visa waiver program countries, will generally need an "I" or media visa. Government officials traveling for official purposes would need an "A" visa. Please refer to the Department of State website for Visa Wait Times for visa appointments at http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1260.html .

Advance planning by foreign travelers is critical. We recommend all foreign travelers consider the following when making their plans to travel to the United States:

Some applicants will need additional screening and will be notified when they apply. We recommend contacting the Consular Section via the Internet at: http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1260.html For a few countries, foreign travelers will need to contact the Consular Section by telephone. If a visa is needed, foreign travelers should apply for his/her visa as soon as possible, but no later than 60 days before the travel date. If the conference is scientific in nature, or the applicant has a scientific background, the visa application should be made no later than 90 days in advance of the travel. Applicants should apply to the U.S. Embassy Consular Section in his/her country of residence.

Under immigration law, the applicant will need to overcome the presumption that he/she is an intending immigrant. This is done by establishing, to the consular officer's satisfaction, that he/she is not going to stay in the U.S. based on strong compelling ties to his/her home country. The applicant must establish that he/she plans to come to the U.S. for a definite temporary period and that he/she has access to sufficient funds to cover the entire trip.

Such documents, such as letters of invitation, though not required in the instructions for the visa application, would be for presentation to the consular officer during the visa interview. The letter of invitation can provide information about the conference or meeting by explaining the purpose and specific plans of the intended travel, including an explanation of any funding provided for the applicant. This letter cannot guarantee the issuance of a visa.

Applicants for nonimmigrant visas must show that they qualify individually on their own merit per provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Applicants must demonstrate that they are properly classifiable as non-immigrants under U.S. law and not on the basis of an American sponsor's assurance.

The Department of State recommends our web site as the first source of up-to-date visitor visa information. Information about visitor visas, what a person needs to apply and fees is available on our web site at: http://travel.state.gov.

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