Getting a US B1/B2 Visa

Flying to the US in a private plane comes with some specific preparation work that require some lead time – and that people tend to forget about. While citiziens of the EU incl. Switzerland usually do not require a Visa in order to visit the US (at least as long as the trips purpose isn`t “work” but just business meetings or vacation) but only need to apply for the so called “Visa Waiver Program”, thats not sufficient if you plan to enter the US with any other vehicle other than a regular commercial flight, cruise ship or car.  So what you need is a so called “B1/B2 non-immigrant Visa” which you can only get from the US embassy in your country of residence. The process is rather complicated and takes – besides some money – time. And here is how it works:

• Step1: You need to register on www.ustraveldocs.com and create a profile
• Step2: Fill in the online application form for the desired visa type. This might take some time and some preparation as you will have to provide your full CV incl. your full education plus all the countries you visited the past 5 years and plenty of other information. The form does NOT automatically save your entries and if it takes you longer than a few minutes too look up in your passport when you have visited which country the last time the session expires and you have to start over again – so best save after each page or this will take you a whole sunday.
• Step3: Pay. Entering the US of course does not come for free so you will have to pay 160 USD (yes, USD – not local currency). You would expect being able to settle the bill via Credit Card considering you are applying to enter the country where everybody pays everything by CC. Guess what – you can`t. They only accept payments via bank transfer or through some other portals.
• Step4: Make an appointment. Once you paid the bill you will be able to schedule an appointment at the US embassy in the country you life in. Note that you will not just be able to walk up at the embassy and make an appointment. You have to do it on-line. Also note that dependent on your country the lead times for getting an appointment might be several months (I heard so from Germany). In Switzerland however things are a bit more relaxed and I was able to schedule an appointment 6 weeks into the future.
• Step5: Go to the “interview”. The US embassy for Switzerland is in Bern and thats also the only place you can go for the so called interview. I had an appointment early in the morning and when I arrived there was despite the fact that they tell you on every single document to be on time already a considerable queue. The process here is comparable to US immigrations at one of their airports: A combination of long queues and security checks. After “checking in” (queue 1) where you present your appointment confirmation you have to join the second queue for the security check (you are not even allowed to bring any electronic device (also not smart phone) with you and you can also not store any bags there so you need to go to a bakery around the corner that specialized on storing bags for people who do not read the instructions and I would guess the bakery owner drives a Mercedes considering how many people were sent there). Once passed the security check there is queue number 3 where agent number 1 checks the documents and asks some questions. Next is queue number 4 with agent number 2 taking your fingerprints and last is queue number 5 with agend number 3 doing the “actual interview”. Interestingly the interview happens at a sort of counter as you know it from a bank (or knew it from a bank as nobody goes to bank counters anymore nowadays) infront of all the waiting people in open space. So everybody will be able to hear why you want to go to the US (a lot of students wanting to study there, some medical treatments, some travelling around – only one wanting to fly to the US with a private plane – and that was me). The “interview” takes no longer than 3-5 minutes and you will have to answer the typical questions as you know them from normal US immigration (why do you want to go to the US, how long will you stay, etc.).  They will tell you right away if your Visa is approved and after that you can leave while they keep your passport and send it to you via mail which took 2 days in my case.

With the Visa checked off we are legally fine to start the trip and can now focus on the real flight preparation.