The Visa Appointment

The final step towards getting your J1 Visa is attending a mandatory in-person appointment at the U.S. Consulate.  In the last step, you should have paid for your visa and booked your appointment, so in this post we will look at the appointment itself.  Going to the United States Consulate may seem intimidating, and I’ll admit I was pretty nervous on the day of my appointment, but it’s actually a pretty simple process.

Preparation is the name of the game here, so there are two things you should do to make sure you are prepared:

First, work out where the consulate is and how to get there on time.  Note:  You are going to the United States Consulate – NOT the embassy.  If the consulate you are attending is in a city or state other than the one you live in, you will need to organise flights/transportation and possibly accommodation.  Make sure you allow yourself adequate time to get to your appointment because if you are too late you will have to re-schedule. 

Second, gather all of the documents/items you will need to take to your visa appointment with you.  These are:

• Your Passport
• Your DS-2019
• Printed SEVIS payment confirmation
• Printed DS-160 visa application confirmation
• Printed visa appointment confirmation
• Your offer letter from Disney
• Your Proof of Student Status Form
• Any supporting documents you think may be relevant (eg, a bank statement to prove you have the $300 funds you are required to have according to your DS-2019)
• Your purse/wallet with means (cash or credit card only, no EFTPOS) to pay the reciprocity fee (Australia only)

(You may not necessarily be asked for all of your supporting documents, but it is absolutely possible that you will, so I strongly recommend you take all of the items on the above list)

On the day of your appointment, make your way to the U.S. Consulate allowing plenty of time to get there.  Once you arrive, follow the signage to an area where you will need to line up and wait to be allowed in.  Once you are permitted entry, you will need to go security.  Listen carefully to the security staff and follow their instructions – they will tell you exactly what you need to do.  You will be required to log in on a computer and print out a name tag.  Then you will be asked to keep any items you need to take to your appointment and hand over anything else to be stored in a locker in the security office.  This means small handbags etc, not suitcases or luggage of any sort.  If you have luggage, you will need to store it elsewhere while you are at your appointment.

You will go through a metal detector (just like the ones at the airport) and then a security guard will escort you to a waiting room where you will take a number and a seat.  There are magazines and a television to occupy your time, or you can chat with the people around you (I made friends with the woman in line next to me).  Depending on how busy the consulate is and what time your appointment is, you could be waiting anywhere between 5 – 45 minutes to be seen, so be prepared for some waiting around.

Eventually your number will be called and you will go up to the allocated window for the first part of the appointment.  You will be asked to hand over your passport and documents and then they will take a scan of your fingerprints using a little scanner box thing.  Then you will asked to return to your seat for more waiting.  After whiling away some more time, you will be called up for your visa interview.  Once again you will go to the allocated window where you will be asked some questions about your reason for going to America, your role at Disney and any previous visas you may have had.  You may also be asked about your student status.  Once the person interviewing you is satisfied, they will approve your visa.  They will keep your passport and your DS-2019 for processing but they will be couriered back to you within a few days.

For those in New Zealand, you are now done and free to go – Yay!  For Australians, you still need to pay the reciprocity fee, so you will need to take a seat in the waiting area again.  Before long you will be called to the cashier window to pay the fee and once that is done, you are free to go.  Make your way back to security to collect your possessions and then go and celebrate your approved visa!

The last post in the visa section will look at what happens once you receive your passport, and I address that HERE, or you can head back to the Visa Instructions.