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What is a nonimmigrant visa (NIV)?
NIVs are for persons who wish to travel to the U.S. temporarily, such
as tourists, students, exchange visitors and temporary workers. Click
here for a chart of visa classifications based
on purpose of travel. For immigrant visa (IV) information, please click
here.
A visa does not grant the bearer the right to enter the United States.
A visa allows the bearer to apply for entry to the U.S. in a certain classification
(e.g. student (F), visitor (B), temporary worker (H)). The Department
of State (DOS) is responsible for visa adjudication at U.S. Embassies
and Consulates outside of the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) immigration inspectors determine admission into, length of stay
and conditions of stay in, the U.S. at a port of entry. The information
on a nonimmigrant visa only relates to when the traveler may apply for
entry into the U.S. DHS immigration inspectors will record the terms of
the traveler's admission on the Arrival/Departure Record (I-94 white or
I-94W green) and in the traveler's passport.
Other helpful websites:
DHS: www.immigration.gov
DOS: travel.state.gov
or www.unitedstatesvisas.gov
Can I write a letter of support for an NIV application?
Due to our large volume of visa work, we cannot begin work on any case
until an application has actually been submitted. Providing advance notice
to us of an upcoming application does not expedite issuance of a visa.
In addition, please note that we do not request nor require letters of
invitation, offers of sponsorship and the like in order to make a visa
application. U.S. immigration law makes no provisions for offers of guarantee
or sponsorship. Each applicant must qualify on his/her own merits. If
you have information in support of an application (or re-application),
please send it directly to the applicant, who can share it with us during
his/her interview, or who can include it with a mail-in submission. Due
to our volume of mail and applications, we cannot store your letter and
retrieve it at the time of application.
We cannot guarantee issuance in any case, and cannot guarantee a visa
will be ready on a specific day even if the applicant is fully qualified.
Note that re-applications, made after a person has been found ineligible
for a visa, can take additional processing time. Therefore, no one should
make unchangeable travel plans in anticipation that a visa will be available
on a certain day. Like any of the other planning that goes into an important
trip, applicants should apply for their visas well in advance of any intended
travel.
Why are applicants found ineligible for NIVs?
We adjudicate each visa case individually in accordance with U.S. law
to determine each applicant's eligibility. Because of this case-by-case
method, the reason why an applicant is ineligible for a visa is quite
specific to that applicant's individual circumstances. Applicants receive
a written explanation concerning their visa ineligibility and what they
may do, if anything, to overcome that ineligibility.
There are two main categories of refusals:
Section 221(g) : applicants are ineligible under
Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended,
because the applicant failed to bring some information or document, or
some further procedure or review by us or another U.S. government agency
must be completed.
Section 214(b) : applicants are ineligible under
Section 214(b) of the INA, because the applicant has failed to overcome
the presumption of U.S. law that he or she is in truth an intending immigrant
and is not a qualified nonimmigrant.
How can I contact the Embassy concerning an NIV application?
If you write us with a case-specific inquiry, please include the spelling
of the applicant's name (as it appears in the passport), date of birth,
Korean identification number (KID), if applicable, and date of application.
If the person is a married woman, please also include her maiden name.
Be sure to include your contact information (e-mail address and/or fax
number).
Here is an example:
Please note that because an inquiry may ask for information we are prohibited
from releasing by privacy laws, in some cases, our reply can only be general
in nature.
Our Korean mailing address is:
U.S. Embassy Seoul
Consular Section
32 Sejongno, Jongno-gu
Seoul 110-710 Korea
Our U.S. mailing address is:
U.S. Embassy Seoul
Consular Section
APO AP 96205-5550 USA
Fax & Email:
Fax (all inquiries except E, H, L, O, P, Q cases): 82-2-725-6843
Email: seoulniv@state.gov
Fax (E, H, L, O, P, Q visa inquiries only): 82-2-736-6839
Email: seoulgoldteam@state.gov
Updated September 24, 2003
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