Visa & More: Frequently Asked Questions

Below, you will find a selection of visa questions we have been asked by our customers over the last few days. Please note that none of the answers below is an actual substitute for individual consulting and can only touch on the real issues. We would like to point out that we do not take responsibility for the correctness of this information.

If you need fast and individual information, our service team is there for you on the phones from Tuesday to Friday between 11am and 7pm. Find the phone number on our homepage and get our experts' advice on everything visa as quickly and as conveniently as possible.

And as usual, for all questions concerning the green card lottery just call our service team.

YOUR QUESTION: I would like to accompany my girlfriend to the US where she will do an internship for Siemens for 6 months. Can I travel with the B-1 or B-2 Visa? I would like to attend a language school during that time.

OUR ANSWER: Your girlfriend may apply for the so-called B-2 Visa for accompanying partners. For her short stay on the J-1 visa, this should not present a problem. It is important that your girlfriend has the financial means to pay for her stay and that she can prove her intention to return to Germany after that. She may ask the border official for a six months stay at the border. However, it is possible that only 3 will be granted, even with a B-2 visa.

YOUR QUESTION: I would like to go to the US after I have completed my training in January 2007. I would like to live with a host family. Since I am planning to work in the US, I would probably need the H-1B Visa, correct? When should I apply for the visa? Can I already apply for it now so that I have it in January 2007, or will it have expired until then?

OUR ANSWER: It could be the H-1B Visa, or maybe a different one. That depends on the job description of your offer from the US and on your own qualifications. You should maybe have that checked before in order to determine your visa options. Not every job offer qualifies for a visa. Only a US company can submit a visa petition for you. H-1B Visa applications cannot be submitted before April 1, 2006 anymore at present, earliest employment start date would be October 1, 2006.

YOUR QUESTION: My wife and I are planning to go from Bremerhaven to Boston by cargo ship in the middle of March 2006, and then take the train via Chicago to Seattle to visit her sister who lives in Port Angeles. After ca. 4 weeks we will fly back home from Seattle to Hamburg. What do we have to do to get a visa?

OUR ANSWER: You will need the so-called B-2 Visa. Call the US embassy to schedule your interview, which will take place sometime in February in the US consulate in Berlin. For the interview, you should bring documentation about the shipping company (the company, length of the trip and booking confirmation) as well as documentation about the financing of your trip. Ask at the counter in the consulate whether you may still receive your visa the same day so that you can take it with you immediately.

YOUR QUESTION: My daughter would like to attend a US high school from July 2006 until sometime around February 2007 (she will be 16 by then). She could live with some close relatives. We would like to do this without an organization involved. Is that possible? And what do we have to know?

OUR ASNWER: We get that question a lot. Unfortunately, we always have to give the same answer - you can't do anything without an exchange organization. US schools may only take in foreign students with certain types of visas: that would be the J-1, which can only be sponsored by an exchange organization. Or the F-1, in case the school is registered with DHS/USCIS. In case this is a public school, it has to provide evidence of the (higher) tuition for foreign students as well as the registration.
After your daughter has received the DS-2019 from the organization or the I-20 from the school, she may schedule her visa interview.