Are you planning to travel to the USA?

How to obtain a J1 VISA Status

O estudante Bruno Lima dá algumas dicas sobre uma viagem aos Estados Unidos. Bruno está situado na cidade de Bozeman, cidade localizada no estado americano de Montana.

Are you planning to travel to the USA? Well, if you are interested in travel in some kind of exchange program or to work, this post can help you with all the procedures necessary in order to obtain your J1 visa in the embassy or consulate.


Well, I don’t like to write too much, but it’s impossible to say all I’ve done to get my own visa in just a couple of lines and I’m sure that if you are going to the USA, you’ll not mind in read all this text.

So, I’m going to explain everything now and later on you’ll find a summary about these procedures and DO NOT CONSIDER TRUE EVERYTHING THAT IS WRITTEN HERE BECAUSE THE EMBASSY OFTEN CHANGES THE PROCEDURE. So you MUST read carefully all the text in the USA government web site and all the forms and documents that you are about to receive.


What is the visa?! The visa is the document that proof you are in another country with the consent of the government.


Ok, first of all you need a Passport with a six months expiration date at least. It is an international I.D. document that is recognized in every place in the world, so, you need it. For Brazilians, the passport can be obtained in the Polícia Federal’s Office.


In order to obtain the visa, the second step is to have an employer or professor that are able to apply for an DS-2019 or I-20 form in the company or university and then he/she has to send it for you and a invitation letter as well.

When you get the DS-2019 (exchange) or I-20 (work) form pay attention in the title of the document. I don’t know anything about the I-20 because I attended in an exchange program, but you can get a little confused because the DS-2019 doesn’t have “DS-2019” written anywhere. The title of this form is Certificate of Eligibility. You have to fulfill the blank spaces that are for the APPLICANT (I think it means requerente in Portuguese).


With the, passport, DS-2019 or I-20 and invitation letter, you are probably able to start to think about to set up an appointment in the embassy. But first, you have to pay the SEVIS fee, you can pay that here [https://www.fmjfee.com/i901fee/students/formSelection.htm] and to avoid problems, pay it with a credit card, print the receipt and take care of it.


Now, you have to pay the visa tax, this you pay online After that you need to pay the visa apply tax. You can pay this in a Citibank agency. This will make you able to set the appointment up. To set it up, you have to fill the online form DS-160 though. When you finish it, print it. You have to have a 5 cm x 5 cm photograph to upload in this form and later on the interview you are going to need it to. So, don’t forget it!


With all of this taxes and fees paid, and with all these forms in your hand, you can now set a date for you appointment. But, pay attention, the WAIT TIME that you see in the first page of the site www.visto-eua.com.br is just for who are going to US as tourist. So, probably, the wait time for you that are going as a student or for work should be much smaller.


Is good to remember too, you are the one who choose the embassy!


After that, for your interview, you have to take with you all the receipt of these forms, taxes. The DS-2019 or I-20.

Other things you might need are documents that prove that you are coming back to brazil after your job. In my case, I took with me lots of documents of my university, those documents proved that I’m an undergraduate student that didn’t finish the course yet. You have to prove your financial support for the period that you’ll be in the US. Everything you can take with you about that is always a good idea.


About the interview, if it will be in Portuguese or English, it depends on the guy you pick up. In my case, it was in English, but I’ve seen another several people talking in Portuguese in the same day. So, it’s good to be prepared for the English!


After the interview, prepare yourself for the departure! And I hope you have a wonderful international experience! And remember, as long as you read everything in the US government and embassy web site you shouldn’t have any problems.

Summary
Documents you need for the enterview:
- Passport
- DS-2019 or I-20
- Invitation letter
- Photograph 5x5 cm or 5x7 cm
- Pay the SEVIS fee
- Pay the visa tax online
- Pay the visa apply tax in a Citibank agency
- Fill the DS-160 and print it
- Take money with you for the interview. You have to pay for the consulate send you your passport.


Bruno Lima
delima.bs@gmail.com

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