How to visit the USA

The Visa Waiver Program allows citizens of participating countries to visit the United States for tourism or business for up to 90 days without a visa. Participation is by country and changes over time — countries are added and occasionally suspended — so check the current list rather than relying on what was true previously.

To use it you must hold a passport from a participating country, have an approved travel authorisation, and be travelling for a permitted purpose. You also need an electronic passport meeting the required standard, which most modern passports are.

The 90 days cannot be extended, and you generally cannot change to another status while in the country. This is the significant trade-off: the process is easier, but the flexibility is much lower than with a visa.

There are also eligibility exclusions that catch people out. Travellers who have visited certain countries after specific dates, or who hold dual nationality with certain countries, are excluded from the programme and must apply for a visa instead even if they hold an otherwise qualifying passport. Some prior visa refusals or immigration issues also make you ineligible.

If you are not eligible, or your nationality is not covered, the visitor visa route applies. The common categories cover tourism, visiting family and medical treatment on one hand, and business meetings, conferences and negotiations on the other — often issued as a combined visa.

Different purposes need different visas entirely. Study requires a student visa, temporary work requires an employment-based visa, and journalists working in a professional capacity need a specific media visa even for short assignments. Entering as a visitor and then doing something a visitor may not do is a straightforward way to create serious problems.

Canadian citizens are treated differently again and generally do not require a visa or an ESTA for short visits, though other requirements still apply.

The application is completed online and asks for passport details, contact and employment information, travel plans, and a set of eligibility questions covering health, criminal history, prior immigration violations and certain travel.

Apply well before travelling. Most applications are approved quickly, but some are referred for further review and can take considerably longer, and there is no way to accelerate one. Applying at the airport is not a plan.

There is an official fee, and applying through the official government site is the only sensible route. Numerous third-party sites charge substantial markups for submitting the same form, and some are outright fraudulent — they collect passport details and payment card data as well as a fee. The official application is on a government domain.

An approved authorisation is generally valid for a period of years or until your passport expires, whichever comes first, and covers multiple trips. It is tied to the passport, so a new passport requires a new application.

Answer the eligibility questions honestly. Misrepresentation is treated far more seriously than the underlying issue in most cases, and a false answer discovered later can result in a permanent bar. If a question is genuinely ambiguous in your case, that is a reason to apply for a visa and explain the circumstances rather than to guess.

A denied authorisation is not the end. It means you need to apply for a visitor visa through an embassy or consulate, where your circumstances can be assessed properly, and a prior ESTA denial does not automatically mean a visa refusal.

Check the authorisation status before each trip. Approval can be revoked, and circumstances that changed since you applied — a new criminal matter, a change of citizenship — may need a fresh application.

The process runs through a US embassy or consulate and generally involves completing an online application, paying a fee, and attending an interview. Requirements vary by post and the embassy's own instructions take precedence over general guidance.

Wait times for interview appointments vary enormously by location — from days at some posts to many months at others — and this is the single biggest practical constraint. Anyone planning travel that depends on a visa should check the current wait at their intended post before booking anything.

The core of a visitor visa assessment is whether you intend to return home. Applicants are generally presumed to intend to immigrate, and the burden is on you to demonstrate otherwise through ties to your home country: employment, family, property, studies or business commitments.

That framing explains most refusals. A refusal on those grounds is not an accusation of dishonesty — it is a finding that the evidence of ties was insufficient. Reapplying without any change in circumstances usually produces the same result.

Bring documentation supporting your purpose and your ties, but do not fabricate anything. Consular officers see enormous volumes of applications and manufactured documentation is both detectable and disqualifying in a way the original weakness would not have been.

Fees are generally not refundable if the application is refused, and are usually paid before the interview.

Visa validity and the number of permitted entries depend on reciprocity arrangements with your country, which is why two applicants with identical circumstances but different nationalities can receive different visas.

If refused, ask for and keep the written explanation. Some refusals can be overcome by addressing the specific deficiency; some reflect a legal ineligibility that requires a waiver, which is a separate and much longer process.

You will be inspected by a Customs and Border Protection officer, who decides whether to admit you and for how long. Having a valid visa or authorisation means you may make the request; it does not oblige anyone to grant it.

Expect questions about the purpose of your trip, where you are staying, how long you intend to remain, and how you are funding it. Answer directly and consistently. Inconsistencies between what you say and what you wrote on your application are the most common trigger for secondary inspection.

Biometrics — fingerprints and a photograph — are generally collected on arrival for most non-citizen travellers.

Officers may inspect your belongings and electronic devices. This authority is broader at the border than elsewhere, and refusal can result in denial of entry for a non-citizen. Travellers who handle confidential material should think about this in advance rather than at the counter.

Your admitted-until date is recorded electronically rather than stamped in every case, and it is your responsibility to know it. Checking your admission record online shortly after arrival is the reliable way to confirm the date you must leave by.

Declare what you are required to declare. Currency above the reporting threshold must be declared — it is not illegal to carry it, only to fail to report it. Food, plant and animal products are heavily restricted and undeclared items result in penalties even when the item would have been permitted.

Overstaying has serious and lasting consequences. Beyond the immediate issue, unlawful presence beyond certain durations triggers bars on returning that last for years, and even a short overstay generally voids a visa and ends eligibility for the Visa Waiver Program permanently.

If you are denied entry, you may be permitted to withdraw your application for admission rather than being formally removed. The difference matters considerably for future travel, so it is worth understanding what is being proposed.

Working is not permitted on a visitor visa or under the Visa Waiver Program. Attending meetings, negotiating contracts and going to conferences are permitted business activities; performing productive work for a US employer or being paid by a US source generally is not, and the line matters.

Studying is likewise restricted. Short recreational courses are usually fine; enrolling in a programme of study requires the appropriate student visa.

Travel insurance is strongly advisable. The United States has no national health service available to visitors, medical costs are extremely high, and an unexpected hospital admission without cover can produce a bill large enough to be life-altering. This is the single most consequential piece of practical advice for visitors.

Domestic air travel requires identification, and security screening rules on liquids, electronics and prohibited items are strictly applied. Arriving with time to spare is more necessary than in many countries.

Air passenger rights differ from those in Europe. There is no general entitlement to compensation for delayed or cancelled flights, though rules do exist covering denied boarding on oversold flights and mishandled baggage.

Distances are larger than maps suggest. Domestic flights between regions are often several hours, and driving between well-known destinations frequently takes far longer than visitors expect when planning.

Keep your passport and admission record secure and keep copies separately. Replacing a lost passport abroad requires contacting your own country's embassy and takes time.

If your plans change and you need longer, apply to extend before your admitted-until date rather than after — and note that this is not available under the Visa Waiver Program, where the 90 days is genuinely fixed.