Nonimmigrant visas are intended for people with permanent residence outside the United States who wish to go to the United States temporarily for tourism, business, medical treatment, work, or study. Visa Categories depend on the applicant’s purpose of travel.
The chart below contains many different purposes of temporary travel and the related nonimmigrant visa categories available at Travel.State.gov. Select a visa category below to learn more:
Business visitor B-1
Specialty occupations in fields requiring highly specialized knowledge H-1B
Tourism, vacation, pleasure visitor B-2
Some travel is permissible without a visa under the Visa Waiver Program.
If you are travelling on business, please also check our website on visa for temporary employment.
The “B” Visitor Visa is a nonimmigrant visa for persons desiring to enter the United States temporarily for business (B-1), or temporarily for pleasure (B-2).
B1 Business Visitor Visa
Travel appropriate for a business (B-1) visitor visa includes travel to:
- Consult with business associates;
- Attend a scientific, educational, professional or business convention, or a conference on specific dates;
- Settle an estate;
- Negotiate a contract;
- Participate in short-term training.
B2 Visitor Visa
Travel appropriate for a (B-2) visitor visa includes travel to:
- Tourism or Family Visits
- Medical Reasons
- Participation in Social Events
- Armed Forces Dependents
- Dependents of Crew Members
- Short, part-time Course of Study
- Amateur Entertainers and Athletes
B-1/B-2 Business & Pleasure Visa
We understand that business and pleasure are often mixed when traveling to the U.S. and therefore the B-1 and B-2 are often issued as a combined “B-1/B-2” Visa.
For more information on how to apply for a nonimmigrant visa and for scheduling your visa appointment please contact our Visa Service Provider, CGI Federal. CGI Federal is the only private company that the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Consulates in Germany authorize to provide visa information and visa application services.
Visa Service Provider: http://ustraveldocs.com/de/
or call:
-
Callers in Germany: +49 (0)322-2109-3243 or (0)62047050390 (cost for call: telephone company charges apply, no additional fee)
-
Callers in the United States: +1 (703) 520-2560 (7 am to 3 pm eastern standard time)
English- and German speaking customer service agents are ready to assist you 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. The call center is closed Saturdays, Sundays, German and American Holidays.
We cannot guarantee that you will be issued a visa. Do not make final travel plans or buy tickets until you have a visa.
All applicants must submit the following items at the time of the visa interview
- Current valid passport
- DS-160 application form – confirmation page
- Photo
- Appointment confirmation
The consular officer will only consider documents brought along to the interview. Documents faxed or mailed to the Consulate General in advance of the application will not be considered.
Interview and application forms are designed to elicit all necessary information. Applicants may want to consider bringing along documents that they feel are useful, but the consular officer may not choose to look at them if it appears that additional documents won’t make a difference in the adjudication.
ALL visa applicants are required to fill in the Online application form (DS-160)
No appointment is scheduled for you when you complete your DS-160, you must still manually schedule an appointment. Please check “Required Documents” to determine if your visa category requires additional forms.
Please clarify which visa category is the correct one for your proposed travel. This information is required to complete the DS-160 Application Form.
Some categories, such as temporary workers and foreign media (H1B, L, P, O, and I visas), are actually a subcategory of the choice “other” in the drop-down menu. Note: If you select the wrong visa class, you may be required to fill out a new application form.
- Click on the “Save” button. This will temporarily save your data to your computer. As soon as your application session is over or your browser closes, your data will be lost.
- Click on the “Save Application to File” button. This will save your application data to your computer in a “.dat” file. This data cannot be opened by any other application other than the online DS-160 Application Form and may be displayed by some computers as having an error. To open this data, choose the option “Upload a Previous Application” at the beginning of the application form and choose your saved “.dat” file.
- To verify this data is yours, you will be asked to submit your last name and year of birth to complete the upload
- Choose the location where you will be making your visa appointment, Berlin, Frankfurt or Munich, and then click “Start a New Application” or “Upload a Previous Application.”
- Complete the Personal Data
- Under the “Travel Information” section, you have to choose your “purpose of trip to U.S.” This will be your visa class (some visa classes are found under “other” , e.g. H, L, O and I visas)
- View the visa categories to find out which category you should submit here
- Visa classes are listed in a general manner: H1 would be H, O1 would be O, etc.
- Complete the rest of the application, at the end you will be asked to upload a photo.
- Upload a Photo (This is required; if you do not upload a photo you will not be able to continue and submit your application!)
- After confirming your photo, you are given an opportunity to review your application. You do not need to print this information!
- Next digitally sign your application with your passport number and the code displayed on the screen and submit your application.
- Your confirmation screen will now be displayed, please click on the “Print Confirmation” button to print your confirmation sheet with your personal barcode on it.
Print ONLY the confirmation sheet.
More Information: DS-160 FAQs
Nonimmigrant visas are processed at the following consulates:
- Berlin – All visa classes except K(fiancé/fiancée), E-1 (treaty trader), and E-2 (investor) visas.
- Frankfurt – All visa classes except A, G, and NATO Visas.
- Munich – All visa classes except K (fiancé/fiancée), E-1 (treaty trader), E-2 (investor), A, G, and NATO Visas.
Non-Immigrant Visa Unit Gießener Str. 30 60435 Frankfurt am Main
Directions:
Public Transport: From the main train station (Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof) take the U5 going to Preungesheim, exit at the Gießener Straße stop. Driving Directions: Directions for visa applicants/consular services (PDF, 382kb) Parking: Parking at Gießener Str. and Wetzlarer Str. is limited. A park-and- ride parking garage with 110 slots is located in Frankfurt-Preungesheim next to the exit from A 661 and the subway stop Preungesheim.
Applicants seeking a visa from the U.S. Mission in Germany are welcome to apply at any of the visa-processing posts: U.S. Embassy Berlin, U.S. Consulate General Frankfurt, or U.S. Consulate General Munich. Please choose whichever location is most convenient for you, whether deciding based upon proximity or appointment availability. If you already filled out your DS 160 application form for a particular Embassy/Consulate and subsequently decide to schedule an appointment at a different location, we strongly suggest that you fill out a new DS 160 form for the appropriate Consulate in order to avoid technical problems and processing delays.
If you use a wheelchair or motorized chair and need assistance, please have someone accompany you to your appointment.
Applicants must schedule their appointments either online using the Visa Service Provider website or through the Visa Service Provider website call center.
Wait times for interview appointments can be found here.
Our Visa Service Provider, CGI Federal, is the only private company that the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Consulates in Germany authorize to provide visa information and visa application services. Visa Service Provider website: http://ustraveldocs.com/de/ or call:
- Callers in Germany: +49 (0)322-2109-3243 or (0)62047050390 (cost for call: telephone company charges apply, no additional fee)
- Callers in the United States: +1 (703)520-2560.
English- and German-speaking customer service agents are ready to assist you 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. The call center is closed Saturdays, Sundays, German and American Holidays.
We cannot guarantee that you will be issued a visa. Do not make final travel plans or buy tickets until you have a visa.
Most visa applicants, independent of age, are required to pay a non-refundable, non-transferable visa application fee, sometimes referred to as the MRV fee (Machine Readable Visa fee), before applying for a nonimmigrant visa. The type of visa for which you apply determines the fee amount.
Before you can pay the fee, you must register on the Visa Service Provider website and create a profile.
- Online Banking Transfer: Use your online bank account. Your bank may apply charges to your account for EFT transactions.
- Online Payment with a Debit Card: The most convenient payment method for your nonimmigrant visa application (NIV) fee is online with a Debit card
- Sofort (Electronic Transfer): Use your online bank account and the Sofort service (Direct Bank Transfer). This payment process can be administered online.
- Cash: Pay the application fee in cash at any bank in cash. If you choose a third-party bank to where you hold your account, you may incur extra charges.
For more information on how to apply for a nonimmigrant visa and for scheduling your visa appointment please contact our Visa Service Provider, CGI Federal. CGI Federal is the only private company that the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Consulates in Germany authorize to provide visa information and visa application services:
Visa Service Provider: http://ustraveldocs.com/de/
or call:
- Callers in Germany: +49 (0)322-2109-3243 or (0)62047050390 (cost for call: telephone company charges apply, no additional fee)
- Callers in the United States: +1 (703) 520-2560 (7 am to 3 pm eastern standard time)
English- and German speaking customer service agents are ready to assist you 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. The call center is closed Saturdays, Sundays, German and American Holidays.
Applicants for nonimmigrant visas (visitor, business, student, temporary worker etc.) can view the status of their visa cases from the CEAC launch page. All NIV cases created within the past year are available in CEAC Status Check.
In order to use the CEAC Status Check, you will need to enter the CEAC Barcode and the interview location. The CEAC Barcode is given on the DS-160 confirmation page (AA00….) The U.S. Embassy/Consulates cannot provide the barcode.
The check will return one of the following statuses.
- No Status / Application Receipt Pending: If you have submitted your online nonimmigrant visa application (DS-160), it has not yet been processed into the visa system. At some locations, your application will remain in this status until you appear for an interview or until your application is ready for review. Information on scheduling an appointment is available at http://ustraveldocs.com/de.
- Ready: Your case is open and ready for your interview, fingerprints, and required documents. If you have already had your interview, please check your status after two business days. If no interview was required, please check back in two business days for the status of your application. E1/E2 Companies submitting application packets to register for first time or renew status will be contacted directly by the E-Visa Unit to schedule appointments. In both cases please do not schedule appointments on your own initiative.
- Administrative Processing: Your visa case is currently undergoing necessary administrative processing. This processing can take several weeks. Please follow any instructions provided by the Consular Officer at the time of your interview. If further information is needed, you will be contacted. If your visa application is approved, it will be processed and mailed/available within two business days.
- Issued: Your visa is in final processing. If you have not received it in more than 10 working days, please see the webpage for contact information of the embassy or consulate where you submitted your application.
- Refused: Your application was refused. Please see the letter or other instructions you received at the interview.