Very often questions arise about how to get a visa to the U.S. for a child and whether it is needed at all. Of course every applicant, including children, must have a visa to travel to the US. The following list of documents are required for a child to get a visa:
- photo
- birth certificate
- passport
- if a child is accompanied only by one of the parents, notarized consent from the second parent/guardian for the child's trip is required. If the child is traveling with a third party, it is necessary to issue notary consent from both parents.
- a copy of the parent's U.S visa or the US visa of person with whom the child travels to the U.S.
Note that children under the age of 14 do not need to undergo the fingerprinting procedure or the interview.
Children from the age of 14 to 16 must attend an interview with a parent and be fingerprinted.
The person or persons travelling with the child must possess a valid US visa, regardless of whether that person or persons is or are is the child’s parent(s) or not.
In order to begin the visa process, you need to:
- collect the documents mentioned above
- fill out the DS-160 online form,
- pay a consular fee of $160,
- register a profile on the embassy's website and take the documents to the embassy.
It generally takes from 3 to 5 working days for the documents to be reviewed. Occasionally, there are cases when a visa officer can call the child's parents for an interview. However, it is often just a formality so there is no cause for concern.
If a child's visa is either the F1 or M1 category, the child of any age must be present at the interview.
If your child, for reason of age or visa type, must be interviewed prepare him or her for this procedure. Tell them the details of the trip, where you will stay, if you go to visit relatives, and for how many days. Usually the visa officer does not ask a child a lot of questions, nevertheless, the child should be ready for it.
