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Non-Immigrant Visas

Interview with Consular Officer

1. Entry processing    

  • Please take your place in line at your appointment time at the entrance of the U.S. Embassy.
  • All applicants must pass through security, which includes putting your personal belongings through an x-ray machine and walking through a metal detector. When planning your visit, bring only what is needed for your business with us. Reading material is permitted, but food, drinks, big luggage cannot be brought into the embassy. If you have such items with you, your entry (and the entry of those in line behind you) will be delayed.
  • All electronic devices such as cell phones, iPod, PDAs, laptops, portable game devices, etc. must be checked at the entrance. You will be given a numbered plastic tag when you check your electronics. Please remember to retrieve your checked item(s) by presenting your tag as you leave.

2. Document check

  • After passing through security, you will be given a number. Once your number has been called, please proceed to the intake window indicated so that our staff can perform an initial check on your documents.

3. Submit your documents at the Intake Window

  • Please go directly to the intake window in the Consular Section waiting room to submit your documents, once your number has been called.
  • After your documents have been submitted, we will enter your application information into the system. Application processing time varies according to visa category. Some applicants who arrive after you may be called earlier than you. We recommend that applicants bring reading material to pass the time.

4. Pay the Visa Application Fee

  • All applicants except those applying for diplomatic visas and certain visitors participating in U.S. Government-sponsored programs must pay a nonrefundable Machine Readable Visa (MRV) application fee to cover the cost of applying for a visa. The application fee of US$160 may be paid in cash or bank draft made out to the U.S.Embassy in U.S. dollars or Barbados dollars (BB$323). NO personal or company cheques, NO debit nor credit cards can be accepted. Please bring the EXACT amount to pay for your visa application. For information on fees for petition-based visas, K visas for fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens and for E visas for treaty-traders and treaty-investors, see our Non-immigrant Visa Fee webpage.

Why is there a fee?

  • The United States Congress requires American embassies and consulates to collect a Machine Readable Visa (MRV) application fee for each application processed. These fees are used to pay for security improvements to the United States visa and entry control system. 
  • The only applicants exempt from this fee are those who are applying for A (diplomatic), C-3 (diplomatic/official transit) visas, and J-1 (exchange visitor program) applicants participating in the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs or USAID sponsored programs listed as G-1, G-2, G-3, or G-7 on the DS-2019. Any programs that are not sponsored by the Department of State or USAID but have a G-1, G-2, G-3 or G-7 program code must pay the visa application fee.

5. Fingerprinting Procedures

  • When your number is called, please proceed to the window number announced.
  • Place four left-hand fingertips flat on the green square as shown below. Repeat this procedure with your right-hand fingers. Then place your thumbs together on the green square as shown.
  • Please ensure your fingers are dry before fingerprinting, as lotions, moisturizers, or other chemicals applied to your hands could result in unclear prints and the possibility that you will have to be called back to have your fingerprints retaken.

6. Interview

  • After you are fingerprinted, please wait for your name, or number, to be called again for your interview.
  • When your name/number is called, please go to the window indicated for your interview. The Consular Officer will tell you the results of your application at the end of your interview.
  • If you are found eligible, your passport with the visa inside will be delivered to you via courier service.  Unless you bring a pre-paid courier pak from a courier service of your choice to your interview, you will need to make payment for return courier service at the DHL counter, located inside the Consular waiting room, following your interview with the Consular Officer.