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 fats and individual information, our service team is there for you on the phones from Tuesday to Friday between 10am and 5pm. Find the phone number on our homepage and get our experts' advice on everything visa as quickly and as conveniently as possible. Please note that our phone number has changed due to legal requirements!

Any questions can also be submitted via our homepage at any time.

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

YOUR QUESTION: We need a visa allowing our 16-year old son to stay in the US for 12 months. He wants to attend high school in the US in 2008/2009 and live with a host family. All we need is a visa.

OUR ANSWER: Your son will either have to apply at an authorized exchange organization that will issue form DS-2019 necessary for the J-1 visa. Or you enroll him at a high school yourself, but in that case make sure the high school is SEVIS approved by US Citizenship and Immigration Services. That school will then provide him with form I-20 that he can use to apply for the F-1 visa. Only under these conditions may he attend a private or public high school. Any other kind of visa is not acceptable for attending high school in the US and may lead to significant trouble, even deportation from the US.

YOUR QUESTION: I am from Ghana. I have an unlimited residence permit for Germany would like to spend my vacation with relatives in the US.

OUR ANSWER: You need a B-2 visa. You may obtain this by applying at one of the US consulates in either Frankfurt, Berlin or Munich. You should provide evidence for close ties to Germany with an unlimited residence permit (settlement permit); according to experience, any stay of less than 5-8 years (excluding, for example, time at university) does not qualify. You should especially provide evidence for a long-term employment with an average good income (no 400-Euro job). Family ties to Germany can be an advantage, but will not be the one decisive factor for approval.

YOUR QUESTION: I have been living in Germany for 7 years now. I am from Croatia and currently in training. I wanted to visit someone in the US who's been a friend of my family for many years over the summer, her husband and her son invited me. I wanted to stay 2-3 weeks. My application was denied because they said I have no close ties to Germany. The American family has sent me a letter guaranteeing to carry all costs for my stay (the letter was signed by a notary public in the US).

OUR ANSWER: That decision is understandably very hard for you, but in this case, unfortunately, completely legitimate. You must never apply for a tourist visa on the basis of an invitation from an American, especially if that invitation contains the promise of financial support. In addition, your ties to Germany are still too weak due to your job training and your age to make you qualify for a tourist visa for the US. Since you have been rejected on the basis of an immigration law paragraph that cannot really be circumvented be re-applying, we cannot get your hopes up for obtaining a US visa for at least as long as your training still lasts. The information the consulate now has on you will, unfortunately, be used against you in the future. So we cannot recommend a new application, it would have to be denied again.

YOUR QUESTION: Just out of interest: I am retired (63) and my son is living in Texas. I'm thinking about visiting my son for 6-9 months. I do not want to immigrate into the US. How is that possible?

OUR ANSWER: You may apply for the B-2 visa, and since you are retired you should not have any problems with approval, as along as your retirement pay is enough for an extended stay in the US or you have other savings. At the border, you will be granted a stay of up to 180 days. St least 45 days before your stay expires, you will then have to apply for extension at US Citizenship and Immigration Services. You should not leave the US during that time.

YOUR QUESTION: My aunt, who is an Iranian citizen and currently in Germany as a tourist, would like to visit her daughter in the US. Can she apply for a US visa in Germany?

OUR ANSWER: Yes, that is possible. Responsible for that in Germany is the consulate general in Frankfurt. She has to present documentation about close ties to the Iran (e.g. employment, confirmation of registration, family ties, own income), translated from Farsi into English. In case that, contrary to expectations, a routine security check will be decided upon during the interview, this may take up to six months. No visa can be issued during that time.