Q: I would like to renew my United States visa. What is the process, how long does it take, and how much does it cost?

A: Thank you for enquiring about the visa application process. If you have a 10-year B1/B2 visitor visa, our procedures have probably changed significantly since you were issued your visa. Much of the process is now done online, including completing the application form, paying the application fee, and scheduling an appointment.

Complete information on the application process is available on the website of our authorised service provider at

ais.usvisa-info.com/, where you will also find contact information for the service’s call centre should you have any questions. It is very rarely necessary to contact the Embassy directly with application questions; the website and call centre can address most issues.

In brief, the steps required to apply for a nonimmigrant visa are as follows:

• Determine the type of visa required to travel to the United States. Information about visa types can be found at travel.state.gov.

• Complete the online visa application form, DS-160. The DS-160 is a US government online form and can only be completed at

ceac.state.gov/CEAC. Each applicant must complete this form before paying fees or scheduling an appointment.

• Return to the service provider website at ais.usvisa-info.com/ and complete the following steps:

• Create a user account.

• Enter the DS-160 confirmation number for each applicant applying for a visa.

• Complete the courier document return process.

• Pay the visa application fees.

• Schedule a consular appointment.

• Attend the consular appointment if necessary for your situation. Applicants of a certain age group or those who are renewing a previous US visa may be eligible to apply for a visa without attending a consular interview. Eligibility for the “Interview Waived” programme will be determined as the applicant goes through the process of scheduling an appointment through the website. The determination will be made based on the answers provided to the qualifying criteria.

• After appointment, check the

ais.usvisa-info.com/ website for visa status and delivery information.

The visa application fee is based on the visa applied for; applications for business and tourism ‘B’ visas, for example, currently have a US $160 application fee, while applications for temporary worker ‘H’ visas are US$190. These fees are charged worldwide to all visa applicants, and can be found on the appointment scheduling website and on

travel.state.gov.

We hope this information is helpful to you in renewing your visa. We hope that you will be able to schedule an appointment at a time that accommodates your travel plans. Applicants are currently experiencing a lengthy wait time for B1/B2 appointments; we appreciate the public’s patience and understanding as we are prioritising appointments for time-sensitive seasonal temporary work visas.

Reminder

Your appointment time is your arrival time, NOT your interview time. Do not show up earlier than your appointment time.

You can find more information about how to travel to the US on the embassy’s website at kingston.usembassy.gov and the website of our authorised service provider at usvisa-info.com. Keep on top of embassy news on our Facebook page, facebook.com/pages/USEmbassy-Jamaica, and by following @USEmbassyJA on Twitter. We also answer general visa questions on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

You may also send your questions to: editorial@ jamaicaobserver.com to be forwarded to the embassy.