Q: I plan to travel to the United States in a few months for the holiday season. What do I need to do to prepare for my trip?

Many people travel to the United States in November and December to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays. Whether you are a Jamaican who needs to obtain a visitor visa to travel to the United States or a US citizen who will be travelling with a US passport, you should begin to prepare for your travels now.

Information for visitors

If you need to obtain a visa before travelling to or through the United States for the holidays, please schedule your visa appointment as early as possible. As the holidays approach, the number of visa applicants seeking appointments often increases. If you wait until November or December to schedule your appointment, you may face a longer wait time for your appointment, and you may find that appointments are not available before your preferred travel date.

Every year, some applicants request emergency visa appointments because they waited too late to schedule their appointments. Emergency visa appointments are only granted for medical emergencies, unforeseen urgent business meetings in the US, and family emergencies such as funerals. We do not provide emergency appointments to individuals who did not plan ahead properly for their travels. The US Embassy makes the determination as to what constitutes an emergency when granting an emergency appointment.

Similarly, individuals sometimes request expedited visa processing at the time of their visa interviews because they want to travel to or through the United States a day or two after their visa appointments. Expedited visa processing is reserved for cases that qualify for an emergency appointment and for Cayman applicants who are returning home shortly after their interviews. Non-expedited visas are typically delivered to applicants four to five business days after a visa interview, but in some cases, processing may take longer. Please avoid choosing an appointment date that is close to your planned travel date.

Due to the variability in appointment availability and visa processing time, do not make any final travel arrangements before you have received your passport containing your US visa. The US Embassy is not responsible for the cost of any plane tickets, hotel reservations, or other travel arrangements that must be cancelled because an individual has not yet received a visa.

Information for US citizens

Before making any final travel arrangements, all US citizens who plan to return home for the holidays should check now to ensure that their passports will still be valid during the planned dates of travel. Each year, many individuals apply to renew their passports in November and December. To avoid the holiday rush, please make an appointment as early as possible.

You may schedule an appointment to apply for a passport renewal at the US Embassy in Kingston or, if you reside in their districts, at the consular agencies in Montego Bay or the Cayman Islands. If your passport has already expired or will expire before you travel to the United States, please do not make any final travel plans before receiving your new passport. All US passports are printed in the United States and are usually delivered about 10 business days after the application is approved.

The US Embassy is not responsible for the cost of any plane tickets, hotel reservations, etc., that must be cancelled because the traveller does not have a valid passport to travel to the United States.

If you plan to travel to the United States with a US citizen child who has not yet obtained a passport or a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, you may choose to apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad and a US passport at the same time. You may schedule an appointment at the US Embassy in Kingston or, if appropriate, at the consular agencies in Montego Bay or the Cayman Islands. To avoid any processing delays, both parents should appear at the interview for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad.

The cost of applying for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad is US$100, and the cost of applying for a passport for a minor under age 16 is US$105. The passport application fee will not be refunded if your child is found ineligible to receive a Consular Report or Birth Abroad.

Detailed instructions and required forms are all available on the Embassy’s website.

For additional information about visa appointments and American Citizen Services, please visit the US Embassy Kingston’s website, at kingston.usembassy.gov/.

The US Embassy staff in Kingston will answer questions you may have regarding the US Mission, including consular law, regulations and/or practice. In order to respect privacy, staff will not answer questions about specific visa applications. The embassy employs a visa appointment system, so it is only necessary for visa applicants to arrive 15 minutes before their scheduled appointment.

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