Ask the US Embassy: Visa processing and qualifications

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Q: I have a visa appointment scheduled for Friday, but I need to use my passport to travel from Kingston to Barbados for business on Monday. If I am issued a visa, how soon will the embassy return my passport to me?

Due to required technical and security procedures, the US Embassy does not offer same day processing service for applicants. Once a visa is approved, each case must undergo further processing. While this processing is underway, the consular section keeps an applicant's passport so the visa can be printed and inserted into the passport as soon as possible. After a visa is printed, the applicant will receive his/her passport through DHL. It normally takes three to five business days for an applicant to receive his/her passport after the visa interview. Those applicants requiring their passports sooner may discuss expedited delivery options with DHL.

Whenever possible, applicants should avoid scheduling an appointment close to the date of any planned international travel. Applicants should never make final travel arrangements or purchase plane tickets for trips to — or transiting through — the United States before they have received their passports containing their US visas. The US Embassy is not responsible for any money lost due to cancelled airline tickets, hotel reservations, etc, that results from a visa not being issued in time for travel.

In rare cases, if an applicant urgently needs to travel abroad immediately after a visa interview to a country other than the United States, he can take his passport home and return it to the US embassy by mail or in person after completing his travel. The consular section will put the visa application on hold until it receives the passport for final processing and printing.

For applicants residing in the Cayman Islands, the consular section has slightly different procedures. Since applicants from the Cayman Islands must fly to Kingston for their interviews, Cayman Islands applicants may be able to pick up their visas at the Embassy two business days after their interviews at 2:30 pm or they may return to the Cayman Islands and then mail their passports back to the Embassy by DHL. Once the visa has been issued, the passport will be returned to the applicant by DHL.

Q: I really want to apply for a US visa, but I fear that if I go to the embassy, I will only go there in vain. I have heard that you must have "something to hold you back in Jamaica" like a house, a "big" bank account, land, etc. I have none of that! I have a good job, and I only get two weeks of vacation each year. I only have my aunt and my two cousins in the US. Do you think they will give me a visa?

According to US law, applicants must convince the consular officer that they intend to return to Jamaica after travelling to the United States. There are many ways for applicants to overcome the legal presumption that they intend to immigrate to the United States. Each case is considered individually at the time of the visa interview.

Many applicants who receive visas do not show proof that they own property or have large sums of money in the bank. Meanwhile, applicants who own property or have large bank accounts do not automatically qualify for a visa. Applicants can demonstrate their ties to Jamaica not only through money and property, but in other ways, such as through steady employment, ongoing studies, good previous travel or family relationships.

For further information on any visa-related questions and instructions on making an appointment for a nonimmigrant visa interview, please visit the US Embassy Kingston's website at http://kingston.usembassy.gov/. For safety and security measures, the US Embassy asks that all applicants arrive at the embassy no more than fifteen minutes prior to the designated appointment time given for the visitor's visa interview.

The American Embassy staff in Kingston will answer any questions you may have regarding US consular law, regulations and/or practice. In order to respect the privacy of applicants, the embassy will not answer questions on specific personal applications.

Send your questions to: editorial@jamaicaobserver.com and we will send them to the embassy.

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Ask the US Embassy: Visa processing and qualifications