Visa processing
First, you must realize that a visa does not guarantee entry into the U.S. A visa just allows a foreign citizen to travel to the U.S. port-of-entry, and that is where the Department of Homeland Security U.S. immigration inspector analyzes or rejects admission to the U.S.
The process of obtaining a visa for Australia and New Zealand can be a complex process. The complexity of the process depends largely on the type of visa being applied for and the evidence you have in support of your application. For instance, short-term tourists who are passport holders from certain countries (if there is no adverse record against their name) have free entry to New Zealand and are granted a visa when they arrive at the New Zealand airport. The current list of countries is located at Best check this passport status well in advance of ticket purchase and making travel plans.
It is of utmost importance that a visa must be valid at the time a traveler is all set to get admission to the U.S., but the pivotal factor here is that the expiration date of the visa (commonly known as validity period/length of time the visa can be used) has no correlation with the length of time a temporary visitor may be authorized by the Department of Homeland Security to remain in the United States. If you are the holder of multiple visas, you get an option for repeated trips to the U.S., for travel for the same objective, as long as the visa has not expired, and the traveler has done nothing wrong according to the US law after entering the U.S., at port-of-entry.
How can I find out for how long I am allowed to stay in the U.S?
The answer of this question is quite straightforward. As soon as you enter the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security, US immigration inspector, will give you a small white card, commonly known as Form I-94, Arrival-Departure Record in your passport. On the other hand, Visa Waiver Program travelers get Form 1-94W. The US immigration inspector on this form either a date or "D/S" (duration of status). In case if your I-94 contains a specific date, then that is the date by which you should leave the United States. As you can pretty much imagine, Form I-94, or I-94W is a very pivotal document to keep in your passport, as more often it demonstrates your permission to be in the U.S.
I have seen many newspapers reports depicting that it is very tough to get a U.S. visa. Is this correct?
This is totally baseless. Large chunk of applicants qualify for their U.S. visas. If you take into account the provisions of the law, the Consular Officer has to be convinced that your situation here will not qualify him/her as a potential immigrant. Because of this, it may be likely that unemployed applicants or people who are presently in between jobs do not qualify. Though, it is worthwhile pointing that every case is considered on an individual basis and generally speaking there is no single standard for visa applicants.
Latvia is now known as a European Union member state. Does this mean that I can travel to the U.S. without the need of a visa?
No, that is not the case. As a matter of fact, you still do require a visa to travel to the U.S. Remember the point that in order to allow Latvian citizens to travel to the U.S. without a need of visa, it is essential that Latvia become a part of the Visa Waiver Program. Furthermore, as the qualification of each country is judged on an individual basis not on a group, Latvia's European Union membership does not qualify it for the Visa Waiver Program. Therefore, Latvia has to comply with number of requirements in order to accomplish this.
I have a valid visa in my passport, but I am interested in changing my passport. How can I keep my authentic visa?
In this regard, it is of paramount importance that you request passport authority not to cancel your visa page. Interestingly, you will be able to travel to the U.S. with your expired passport and your new passport. But for that to happen, it is mandatory that the visa page in your old passport has not been cancelled. Though, in case if you have modify your last name, you may be interested in traveling with both passports and most importantly a document clearly depicting the modification of your last name in English. On the other side of the coin, you may not travel with two passports, in case, if you have completely modified your citizenship, for example from Russian to Chinese. In such types of situations, you have to apply for a new visa.
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