Who needs the visa
There are two ways to visit the United States for tourism or business. Citizens of the 42 countries in the Visa Waiver Program only need ESTA, an electronic authorisation you apply for online; see our ESTA guide. Everyone else needs a B1/B2 visitor visa, applied for at a US embassy or consulate, almost always with an interview.
In Latin America only Chile is in the program, so Mexican, Colombian, Peruvian, Argentine, Brazilian, Dominican, Ecuadorian and Central American travellers, among others, need the B1/B2 visa. Most Europeans, the British, Australians and Japanese travel on ESTA.
B1 covers business (meetings, conferences, negotiating a contract) and B2 covers tourism, family visits and medical treatment. They are usually issued together as a single B1/B2 visa. Neither allows you to work or study.
Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti: visitor visas are suspended
Since 9 June 2025 the State Department has partly suspended visa issuance to Cuban and Venezuelan nationals, and Presidential Proclamation 10998 kept that suspension in place from 1 January 2026. It covers B1/B2 visitor visas and student and exchange visas (F, M and J). For Haiti, the same proclamation suspended the issuance of all visas from 1 January 2026.
There are exceptions. One of them is holding another nationality and applying on the passport of a country that is not affected. Visas issued before those dates are not revoked by this measure. Before paying anything, check the current list of exceptions on travel.state.gov and the page for your passport: Cuba or Venezuela.
The process, step by step
- Complete the DS-160 form online at the State Department’s Consular Electronic Application Center (ceac.state.gov). At the end you get a confirmation page with a code starting with AA. Keep it, because you need it at the appointment.
- Pay the application fee. You pay before booking, and it is not refunded if the visa is refused.
- Book the appointment on your country’s appointment portal. Each country has its own: Mexico and Ecuador use ais.usvisa-info.com, Colombia uses ustraveldocs.com. The right link is on the website of the US embassy in your country.
- Attend the biometrics appointment, if your consulate holds it separately, and the interview, with your passport, the DS-160 confirmation page and the payment receipt.
You apply in the country of your nationality or the one where you live. In Quito, for example, the DS-160 you bring to the interview must carry the same confirmation number you used to book; if it does not match, there is no interview and you have to book again.
What it costs
The B1/B2 application fee is USD 185, according to the State Department’s schedule of consular fees. Depending on your nationality, a reciprocity issuance fee may be added, payable only if the visa is granted.
The US budget law of 4 July 2025 (Public Law 119-21) also created a USD 250 “visa integrity fee”, charged when the visa is issued. Collection has been uneven across consulates, so confirm the total on your embassy’s website before paying.
The interview, and when you can skip it
First-time applicants have an in-person interview as a rule. Since September 2025 the interview waiver (the so-called “dropbox”) has been cut back almost entirely to B1/B2 renewals within twelve months of the previous visa’s expiry, where that visa was issued for full validity and the holder was 18 or older. Even if you meet those conditions, the consulate can still call you in.
At the interview, the consular officer starts from a presumption set by US immigration law (section 214(b)): every visitor visa applicant is treated as an intending immigrant until they show otherwise. What you need to show is that you are travelling for a visit and will go back: a job, studies, family, property or earlier trips that support it. If you cannot, the visa is refused under that section, and there is no appeal. You can apply again, paying the fee again, once something in your situation has changed.
How long it takes
Getting the appointment is the slow part. At busy posts such as the Embassy in Bogotá, the wait for a visitor appointment is often measured in months. The State Department publishes the estimated wait for each consulate on travel.state.gov; check it before buying tickets. Mexico has the largest US consular network in the world, the Embassy plus nine consulates, and its portal lets you compare availability between them.
Once you have the visa
The visa lets you present yourself at the border, but the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer at the airport or land crossing decides whether you are admitted. The officer also sets the date by which you must leave, recorded in your I-94. The visa’s validity (the years during which you can use it to travel) is a different thing from how long each stay can last.
Frequently asked questions
Can I apply in another country to get an earlier appointment? Only if you are legally resident there. You apply in the country of your nationality or your residence.
What is the Mexican “laser visa”? It is the Border Crossing Card, a combined B1/B2 card for Mexican nationals only, valid for ten years, applied for with the same DS-160 and the same fee. Details on our Mexico to United States page.
My visa was refused. Do I lose the money? Yes. The application fee is neither refunded nor transferable to another application.
How long is the visa valid? It depends on your nationality: the State Department’s reciprocity table sets it for each country, and the officer can issue it for a shorter period.
Do I need the visa for a layover in the United States on the way to another country? Yes. The US has no visa-free transit: if you need a visa to enter, you need one for a connection too, even without leaving the airport. More in our airport transit guide.
For your own passport, each pair page has the consulate, the appointment portal and what changes for your nationality: for example Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic or Argentina.
Guide verified on 20/10/2026. Sources: US Department of State, travel.state.gov: B1/B2 visitor visa, schedule of consular fees (USD 185 MRV fee), reciprocity tables, visa appointment wait times, transit visa, September 2025 update on the interview waiver, and “Suspension of Visa Issuance to Foreign Nationals to Protect the Security of the United States” (Proclamation 10998, suspension from 01/01/2026: partial for Cuba and Venezuela, full for Haiti); Department of Homeland Security, Visa Waiver Program; Public Law 119-21 of 4 July 2025 (visa integrity fee); Immigration and Nationality Act, section 214(b); US embassies in Mexico (mx.usembassy.gov), Colombia and Ecuador (ec.usembassy.gov, checked 09/10/2026). Fees and suspensions can change: confirm the total and the exceptions on your embassy’s website before paying.