A brazilian friend of mine is travelling back to Brazil via the US. They therefore need to get a visa even though they are only in transit.  Believe it or not you have to phone a premium rate number to get through to them! its £1.50 a  minute. What a rip off Sooooooooo, does anyone have an alternative for 09055-444-546 to ring the visa department of the US embassy

Because of the new regs anyone who'se thinking of  visiting the states in the near future is liable to get a nasty phone bill. Tthe site states:

a visa will be needed for "Anyone who is not eligible to enter the United States visa free under the Visa Waiver Program, or is not exempt from the visa requirement."

Is this how they are financing their little excursion into Iraq?

Heeeeellllpppp!

Hi dekrowrevo.  When I renew my US passport I call the switchboard at  020 7894 0525. That was good as of March 2003, I also have the first no. given to you by the Forum Admin. However, I think that was their original no. although I haven't deleted it from my telephone reference book so it might still be ok.

The number on 192.com for the American Embassy is 020 74999000.  They may be able to put you through to the relevant department.

Look at the links in the reply and you'll see that although the consular offices for England, Scotland, and Wales effectively say "no visa enquiries on this number", the Northern Ireland one (028 9038 6100) simply says "no walk-in enquiries".  The USA has a long history of preferential treatment to the Irish, based I believe on a census taken in the early part of the 20th Century when a very high proportion of the US population was of Irish stock (the other big minority were Italian).  May be worth a try, but the ROI embassy has the same old runaround as the rest of the EU.

Quote:


I don't think you are going to get very far with this. The US uses premium (as in real premium) numbers for its visa services everywhere outside the USA, it appears.

I guess this is an attempt to at least control the millions of calls they would otherwise get, especially in poorer countries, requesting information on US visa policies. Despite the rhetoric, there are an awful lot of people who would like to live here! 

(and if you don't believe me, just look at the figures for illegal immigration into the US.......)

I think if you want to enquire about a visa, you are going to have to bite the bullet and pay the charge. Oh, and by the way - don't be tempted to take the train and turn up at the Embassy, because I can assure you that - unless you are a US citizen - they will NOT see you.....

(In fact, if you do get an appointment, do not be late because you will NOT be allowed through the extensive security. They give you about a 20 minute appointment window during which you must arrive - and be prepared to be searched, and to wait for two to three hours to be seen.......!)

this may be of interest:

VISA WEBCHAT 13 August 2009
U.S. Visas's and You: Your questions Answered
A Consular Officer from our Visa section will be on hand to answer your visa questions at 14:00 BST on Thursday, 13 August 2009. This is your chance to get plain-English answers on those visa issues on which you are unsure.
Please note that for privacy reasons we cannot accept case-specific questions but you are welcome to provide a generic question.
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