U.S. Embassy Israel


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עברית English

Nonimmigrant Visas

General Information

Opening Hours

Arrival-Departure Record (I-94)

Our Service Commitment

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Voluntary Departure/ Bond Returns

How to Read Your Visa

Application Process

Renewal of Lost, Expired, or Mutilated Visas

What to Expect

Additional processing

Visa Refusals

Visa Types

Business/Tourist

Student/Exchange

Work

Diplomatic/Official(A/C3/G)

Petition-based (H/L/O/P/Q)

Specialty Position E-3

Immigrant Visas

American Citizen Services

what to expect

After you have filled out the required forms and scheduled an interview, you should begin to collect the necessary supporting documents to bring to your interview, such as letters from your employer, etc. (See the page for the type of visa you are applying for to determine which supporting documents you should bring with you.) You should also pay the processing fee and get your photos taken.

Arriving at the Embassy

Plan to arrive at the Embassy no earlier than 15 minutes before your interview is scheduled.

The Embassy is located at 71 Hayarkon in Tel Aviv. When you first arrive at the Embassy, you will be required to go through security before you can enter the consular section. Only the person applying for the visa will be admitted to the Embassy. Under no circumstances will family members (including infants and children 14 and under) and friends who accompany the applicant be admitted to the Embassy, unless you are a parent accompanying a child under age 18. Children under 14 do not need to come to the Embassy for the visa interview. Only children over 14 must appear in person to apply for a visa.

You may not bring backpacks, luggage, strollers, or electronic equipment, including cellular phones to the interview.

Once you pass the security checks and enter the Embassy compound, our facilitators will ask you to present your DS-160 and appointment confirmation pages. After verifying your details, the facilitators will escort you to the Consular Section.

In-take

After entering the Consular Section, you will need to wait in line for the first step of the process, during which we will prepare your application for your interview. According to U.S. law, visa applicants between ages 14 and 80 need to provide 10 fingerprints. Therefore, we will also take your fingerprints.

Please make sure you fill out the DS-160 form completely and accurately. Otherwise, we will not be able to complete the initial processing of your visa application and will need to fill out a new form and to return to us later.

We will return your documents and passport to you, and you will need to join the line for verification of your fingerprints.

Fingerprint verification

During this stage, we will verify the fingerprints you provided previously. Once the verification is complete, you will be able to join the line for the interview appointment.

The Interview

The next stage of the process is the actual interview with an American consular officer. Most consular officers speak Hebrew, as well as some other languages such as Russian, Arabic, Spanish, and of course English. When you reach the head of the line, you should go to the next available window for your interview. The interview usually lasts just a few minutes.

The consular officer will ask you questions to determine your reasons for traveling to the United States. You should answer these questions truthfully and thoroughly. In most cases, the consular officer will tell you at this time if your visa application is approved. If your visa application is approved, the consular officer will keep your application and passport so that we can issue the visa.

Consular officer may require that you provide more documents in order to make a decision about your qualifications for a visa. The officer will tell what documents you need to collect and, if necessary, when to return for a follow up appointment. In this case, the officer will return your passport to you until we are able to issue the visa. Some applicants, including those with scientific or technical background and those with previous visa refusals or arrests in Israel or the United States, may require additional administrative processing before they are able to receive their visas. The consular officer will inform you of the procedures in these cases.

Processing Times

The processing times quoted below are approximate and cannot be guaranteed.

If your visa application is approved, you will need to leave your passport at the Embassy in order to process your visa. Please plan your international travel accordingly. Passports with visas are normally returned to applicants via the postal courier service within 3-5 business days after the interview appointment.

Applicants whose visa applications require additional processing should allow at least 30-45 days to process their visas.

The Embassy strongly encourages intending travelers to apply for visas well in advance of their proposed journey, and to always refrain from buying tickets until the visa has been issued and they have received the passport with the visa.

Refusals

In some cases your visa application may be refused. See the page on Refusals for more information on types of refusals and when you can reapply. If your application is denied, the officer will return your passport to you with a stamp in the back showing that you applied for a visa but will keep the application.

If your application is refused, the MRV processing fee WILL NOT BE REFUNDED.