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Getting Started with Your U.S. Visa Application

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A citizen of a foreign country who seeks to enter the United States must often first obtain a U.S. visa.  Visas are issued by U.S. consulates or embassies outside the U.S. Generally, the visa is provided in the form of a stamp in the traveler’s passport.

U.S. customs officials check your visa before granting entry at any port of entry, airport, and land border crossing. Your visa indicates that you are eligible for entry to the U.S. in a specific immigration category (e.g., F-1, J-1, H-1B, O-1).

Most (but not all) visas allow for multiple entries. The valid length of a visa varies based on the reciprocal agreement between the U.S. and the traveler's home country.

For more details, see What is a U.S. Visa? on the Department of State website.

Stanford-sponsored Visas

Bechtel International Center serves as a hub for processing Stanford-sponsored visas. The pages in this section detail the information your sponsoring department needs to provide to get sponsorship approval for you and the documentation you’ll need to have when you apply for your visa at a U.S. consulate or embassy.

These pages provide more details to help get you started:

Applying for and Renewing a Stanford-Sponsored Visa