Getting a US Visa from Kenya has become quite an easy task these days. US government has made it an easier task by making the process faster and stress-free for those people in Kenya who are looking forward to visiting or travelling to the US. Hence, the need to curate all procedures and processes which the interested person has to go through. Listed below are the procedures on how to get a US visa from Kenya.
See Also: How To Get A UK Visa From Kenya
What is A Travel Visa?
A travel visa is an approval placed within a foreigner’s passport which gives the holder an official permission to enter, leave or live in a particular country for a stated period of time. Visa shows that the holder’s documents have been verified and that the holder has been given the permission to make a trip to a country either to visit, live or other purposes for a specified period of time. It is not the same with a passport which is usually given to a country’s citizen for identification and international travel.
The US visa comes in two forms; non-immigrant visas and immigrant visas. The former is mostly granted to people who wish to explore the country for a specified period of time or on a temporary basis while the latter is for staying permanently in the country.
However, note that no matter the reason for your travel be it for employment, for permanent immigration to the US or even for temporary visits such as tourism, business, work for a limited time, studying and visiting a family, US visa only allows you to enter into the country. It doesn’t guarantee or permit you to live in the country permanently. There are further measures you need to go through if what you want is to live permanently in the US even after being granted a visa. Also, a visa doesn’t guarantee you will enter the U.S, it only shows you are eligible to arrive at the port of entry where further screening will determine whether or not you are to be allowed into the country.
How To Get a US Visa From Kenya – Procedures
1. The applicant has to apply for the visa by scheduling a non-immigrant visa appointment. This can be done by calling the call centre number where the officials would assist one in getting the further details. There is this rule of paying the appointment fee which could be done by paying the money via any of the designated banks.
2. The various queries about the visa categories and every other doubt about the procedure are properly cleared over the phone. All one needs to do is to call the customer care number and they would certainly suggest and give the necessary details.
3. Once you are clear on the purpose of your planned travel, you will be sure of the type of visa that you prefer which complies with U.S immigration law. Furthermore, you will be sure to comply with all the specified requirements in order to enable obtain a visa based on the category you are applying.
4. The next step will be applying for the visa. Here applicants are supposed to fill an online form for the visa before commencing payment.
5. A worthy point to keep in mind about paying the fees is that the money cannot be transferred. This means people have to pay their respective fees and get the details of submission attached to their respective passport ID which cannot be changed under any circumstances.
6. After a successful payment, you will have to book an appointment with the U.S embassy for your visa interview. This would be finalized by the officials of the visa centre. After the interview, your visa status will be revealed to you.
Laid Down Rules
There are several rules which are to be kept in mind while going to the appointments. Some of these rules are as follows.
1. If a child under 18 is to be taken by the parents, then the parents are supposed to be present in the appointment with their respective visas. In cases where the parent is a single parent then the parent is supposed to bring court orders which would ensure the 100 percent approval of the parent having the full custody of the child in concern.
2. The appointment might take some time. There are several other applicants as well so the entire episode is quite time-consuming.
3. If there are applicants who are disabled, they would require family members to accompany them to make the procedure easier and safe. This is because it is compulsory that all applicants, including children, appear in person for the interview at the scheduled time.
4. Only the visa would be provided by the visa agencies. The entry confirmation would be done by the immigration officer who would be present in the port to confirm the visa that one would be provided with beforehand.
With the information above, we have answered the frequently asked question “how to get a US visa from Kenya?”. Yes, it is that simple. Any kind of documentation procedure is something that requires a lot of patience and hard work. But the visa procedures provided by the Kenya government is comparatively easier and following the above steps would ensure a positive outcome.
Anything more you need to do outside these ones would again be said by the officers who would be present at the visa office. If things are done accordingly, then the entire episode is quite an easy task to get over with.
