Visas

Written by Pete!

Well, where do we start on Visas? There are probably numerous ways to do this, however ill tell you how we did it, then its up to you!
We employed the services of an excellent company, and may i say, very reasonably priced, called North 1 Visas, http://www.north1visas.co.uk/ in London to arrange ALL our application documents with the American Embassy. You may enter The U.S on the visa waiver programme, however, this visa only lasts for 90 days and, Basically, you just turn up at the airport and the airline will give you the relevant forms to complete, and then you present yourself to immigration at your airport of destination, and go through the normal questioning, this type of visa entry is the normal 'holiday' procedure.
May i stress here that a visa, of any kind, DOES NOT allow you entry into the U.S. All it allows you is the 'opportunity' to apply at immigration when you land. Entry is NOT gauranteed!!

The amount of time we wanted to stay forced us to opt for the full U.S visa (180 days) and this one is a little more hassle to obtain and obviously, more expensive.
North 1 visas arrange an interview date at the American Embassy and send you all the pre filled documents and pay all neccessary fees to the Embassy on your behalf, we found this invaluable as there was countless people at the Embassy, who had errors on their application forms and they were there most of the day trying to sort it out, we were there for around 4 hours!!
You will need several letters from either employers,bank managers or accountants, depending on your circumstances, and a letter from you personally, declaring your intention to return to the UK. You will also need to prove that you are able to support yourselves during your stay and a healthy bank balance will suffice. If you are travelling to America to buy an RV then you will probably have funds in your account to purchase it, and this should be fine.
You will need to attend the American Embassy in Central London and have an interview with an official, this probably all sounds a little complicated but the staff at North 1 Visas will explain it fully, it's actually quite straight forward, if a little nerve racking.
You will be told there and then whether you have been successful with your application and if so, the Embassy will retain your Passport(s) while they process and insert your visa. Your Passport(s) will be returned to your home address in around 3-5 working days by a secure courier company that works direct with the Embassy.
Once you are here in America, and you decide you want to stay longer than the initial 180 days, it is possible to apply to have your stay extended, by completeing an ' i-539' form and submitting this to the Department of Homeland Security, i've yet to do this as we have only been here for 3 weeks or so. I'll keep you posted!