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applying for american visa
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I don't think you'll have a problem
I didn't find the process to be too much a pain. I arrived a few minutes before the scheduled time, I had sent everything online, so I had my ticket printed out... and a back up in case. I had a book and was fine. The whole process was about 2.5 hours long. I knew about cellphones and all that so we left those back home. Got the fingerprints and photos done, 3 questions about where we were going, and then went to pay the delivery fees.
Anyways, good luck!
Anyways, good luck!
There is a slightly different procedure for non-Dominicans at the consulate.
I had to do mine recently.
Start with the on-line form.
Agree everything that looks like you have to agree to..
Print it out.
Print out the acknowledgement reply.
Buy minutes from Banco Popular to call the visa line.They will give you a PIN which you quote when you call.
Pay your application fee also and keep the receipt.
Call the visa line, be prepared to wait..
Have your PIN, available dates and times for interview ready as they will ask you to give a time for your appointment and offer availability.
Confirm your time and date with them.They may send you a confirmation of this by e-mail. Print it out.
Get your photos done.
Arrive fairly early for the appointment. I arrived 1 hour early and this was plenty.
Show your appointment and receipt to the dragons at the door.(Jump the queue if time is short or the line very long as you already have the documents. Many in the line don't.)
(Carry any documents, originals, you may think could be helpful for your application and even some that you may not think useful but have 'em anyway.). Passport and photos of course.Plane bookings,hotel bookings, letters from Obama, etc.
No phone, and there is no storage inside.
The dragons will frisk you and let you in and allocate the line you need.
This seems to be where they separate the non-Dominicans.
Go to the window allocated and present all relevant documents and a brief reason for the visa requirement.
They send you into a waiting area where your number will be flashed on a screen and the booth to go to for your interview.
Go there and have a nice chat to the diplomatic gent or lady.No spouses or sponsors are allowed with you.
They will tell you if successful or not.
If successful, take your confirmation to the post room and pay for the delivery of your passport to your home address..
Go home and wait.
That's it.
It does sound a lot more complicated than it is when written down but if you follow the procedure it's not that bad.
A caveat;
I believe that the consulate has changed somewhat since I did mine but I guess the procedures should be similar.
Good luck.
I had to do mine recently.
Start with the on-line form.
Agree everything that looks like you have to agree to..
Print it out.
Print out the acknowledgement reply.
Buy minutes from Banco Popular to call the visa line.They will give you a PIN which you quote when you call.
Pay your application fee also and keep the receipt.
Call the visa line, be prepared to wait..
Have your PIN, available dates and times for interview ready as they will ask you to give a time for your appointment and offer availability.
Confirm your time and date with them.They may send you a confirmation of this by e-mail. Print it out.
Get your photos done.
Arrive fairly early for the appointment. I arrived 1 hour early and this was plenty.
Show your appointment and receipt to the dragons at the door.(Jump the queue if time is short or the line very long as you already have the documents. Many in the line don't.)
(Carry any documents, originals, you may think could be helpful for your application and even some that you may not think useful but have 'em anyway.). Passport and photos of course.Plane bookings,hotel bookings, letters from Obama, etc.
No phone, and there is no storage inside.
The dragons will frisk you and let you in and allocate the line you need.
This seems to be where they separate the non-Dominicans.
Go to the window allocated and present all relevant documents and a brief reason for the visa requirement.
They send you into a waiting area where your number will be flashed on a screen and the booth to go to for your interview.
Go there and have a nice chat to the diplomatic gent or lady.No spouses or sponsors are allowed with you.
They will tell you if successful or not.
If successful, take your confirmation to the post room and pay for the delivery of your passport to your home address..
Go home and wait.
That's it.
It does sound a lot more complicated than it is when written down but if you follow the procedure it's not that bad.
A caveat;
I believe that the consulate has changed somewhat since I did mine but I guess the procedures should be similar.
Good luck.
There are always taxis which are stationed there by the Texaco station so that you can take one of those after your interview rather than having your in-laws wait for you.
You will also be right next to my favorite restaurant, Cappucinno's , which is on the other side of the Texaco station.
There are folks whom you can pay to hold your cell phone for you = have never done it, but I have paid the guys at the gas station. Being without the phone is a drag.
Also note that you cannot have a lighter, or a pen knife.. (which I have on my keychain)
You will also be right next to my favorite restaurant, Cappucinno's , which is on the other side of the Texaco station.
There are folks whom you can pay to hold your cell phone for you = have never done it, but I have paid the guys at the gas station. Being without the phone is a drag.
Also note that you cannot have a lighter, or a pen knife.. (which I have on my keychain)
wrecksum, thanks, great recap. by original papers you mean original house title and marriage certificate? do they keep those or just look at them?
do i fill up online form before buying the PIN? i thought it was the other way around. or maybe i can buy the PIN, fill up the form and then call?
MA, thanks for the heads up on the location. i have been to cappuccino's before. will it be safe to walk from the embassy?
do i fill up online form before buying the PIN? i thought it was the other way around. or maybe i can buy the PIN, fill up the form and then call?
MA, thanks for the heads up on the location. i have been to cappuccino's before. will it be safe to walk from the embassy?
Fill in the form before anything else.
There maybe something on the original application that is a stopper so saves you going further.
You can buy the PIN any time before calling but you must have the receipt for the application to get inside the consulate.
Yes, take all the originals and they only have a quick look and hand them back.Maybe they don't even ask but I took a folder with everything I could think of but he was happy after just a few questions. I have held US visas all my life but for a first application they will be more inquisitive.
They are taught that everyone and his dog is desperate to go and live in the land of the free and that once you've seen such a great country, you'll never, ever go home and will stay illegally to gorge on the fruits of their great nation.
It's your task to convince them you've got other plans and a life somewhere else.
Also you must have a lot luck, because I hold Canadian Visa, expire in 2019, had been in Canada more than 3 times, and they rejected me because think I never go back home, so funny their thoughs, lol
Well, I know people with U.S. visas who have had their their Canadian visa applications rejected. They were kind of taking it for granted that the Canadian visa would be so much easier to get!
Take a copy of your husband's visa and any other family members that have a visa and traveled on them. I helped someone get a tourist visa (30 y.o. male, no money in bank account, nothing to keep him in country really) and because the majority of his family has visas and traveled on them, they gave him a one year visa as he didn't have anything else.
ok, thanks! this is why i post here, people are 1000 times helpful and ready to get you on the right track!
canchita, i think the consulate will know who in the family has an american visa, when and where did they travel and so on. but i will take a copy of miesposo's visa just in case.
as far as my purpose to visit: it really is shopping, to be honest. is it ok to say my in laws have a house in the states and that's where i am most likely to stay during my trips? i will not have a ticket to show thou. i may travel in may, providing i will get a visa by then, to accompany my MIL.
I think shopping and sightseeing are very valid reasons to visit US. Of course you can tell them about the house your in-laws own there. There is nothing wrong with this. Also, bring proof of your ties to the RD and other paperwork with you, but don't "offer" them anything they don't ask for, just be polite and confident. They can sense if someone is nervous.
I think you should answer only the questions being asked by the consul, nothing more. In the past two months people that I know that were denied at least once two or three years ago got visas. Al of them women in their early 30s, unmarried, had their own car a good paying job and now house. However, they were renting.
You should be fine.
You should be fine.
The person at the consulate you speak with has a limited amount time to spend on each interview. They are not likely to spend the time it takes to research your families travels from their data base. On the other hand, if you have your husbands passport and visa with multiple entries available to look at right up front it makes their job easier. Telling them you want to go to the U.S. to spend money touristing and shopping is a good idea. I wouldn't volunteer the inlaw part of your housing. I would just say you were staying with people your husband knows in the U.S.
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