United States
Tourism, family visits, medical treatment, and business trips
The B-1/B-2 covers short temporary visits: tourism, visiting family, medical treatment, conferences, and business meetings. It is the category where refusals are most common, because U.S. law starts from the assumption that every applicant intends to immigrate. Your job in the interview is to overcome that assumption with a clear purpose, an affordable trip, and reasons you return.
Form to file
DS-160 (online)
One per applicant, including infants.
The legal test
Section 214(b)
You are presumed to be an intending immigrant until you show otherwise.
What you may not do
Work, or study full time
Short recreational courses are fine; a degree program is not.
Length of stay
Decided at the border, not by the visa
CBP usually admits visitors for up to 6 months. Check your I-94.
Visa validity
Set by reciprocity for your nationality
Validity is how long you may keep asking to enter — not how long you may stay.
A vague trip is the most common cause of refusal. Decide why you are going, when, for how long, where you will stay, and who pays — before you touch the DS-160. You do not need to buy tickets, and booking non-refundable travel before you have a visa is a bad idea.
Fill the DS-160 yourself, honestly and completely. It covers travel history, work, family in the U.S., and five years of social media handles. Everything you write is on the officer's screen during the interview.
Register on the USTravelDocs site for Ethiopia, pay the MRV fee, and book an interview once the payment posts. Visitor-visa waits are usually the longest of any category, so plan around the appointment rather than around your intended travel dates.
Nearly every visitor refusal is under section 214(b): the officer was not convinced you would return. You overcome that with concrete, verifiable ties and a trip that makes sense for your circumstances. Practise saying these things in short, natural sentences.
Expect a queue, biometrics, and a short conversation at a window. Most visitor interviews last two to three minutes. Dress neatly, stay calm, and answer directly.
If approved, your passport is kept for printing and returned by your chosen delivery method. If refused under 214(b), no appeal exists — you may reapply, but only a real change in your circumstances is likely to change the outcome. A 221(g) slip means the case is pending further documents or processing.
| # | Item | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Visa application fee (MRV) | USD 185 (indicative) | Before booking the interviewNon-refundable. Confirm the current amount on the official fee page. |
| 2 | Additional statutory fees | Varies | As instructed at payment or issuanceRecent U.S. legislation added nonimmigrant visa surcharges. Only the official fee page is current. |
| 3 | Issuance (reciprocity) fee | Depends on nationality | After approval, if it appliesMany nationalities pay nothing. Check the reciprocity table. |
| 4 | Photos, travel, documents | Small local costs | ThroughoutPhotos, printing, and travel to the embassy. |
Amounts are indicative and change. Confirm every fee on the official page before paying.
The officer approved your visa and kept your passport to print it. The status on CEAC moves to 'Issued' once printing is done.
What to do
The most common refusal. U.S. law presumes every nonimmigrant applicant intends to immigrate, and you did not overcome that presumption — the officer was not convinced of your purpose, your funding, or your reasons to return. It is not a permanent bar and there is no appeal.
What to do
A temporary refusal. Either the consulate needs more documents from you, or your case has gone into administrative processing for additional review. You usually receive a coloured slip explaining which.
What to do
Additional review after the interview. It can be a security or technology review, name-check clarification, or verification of documents. Most cases resolve within weeks, but some take considerably longer, and the consulate cannot usually give a date.
What to do
There is no waiting period — you can reapply as soon as you can pay the fee and get an appointment. But the officer sees your history, and an identical application usually gets an identical answer. Reapply when something material has changed: a new job, completed studies, a documented change in funding, a firmer and better-explained plan.
After a refusal
No. A 214(b) refusal is a decision about your circumstances on that day, not a permanent mark against you. Many people are approved after earlier refusals. What does cause lasting damage is misrepresentation — a false document or a false answer can create a permanent ineligibility.
After a refusal
No. Nobody outside the consulate can influence a decision, and anyone promising approval for a fee is either lying or planning to submit false documents in your name. You carry the consequences of anything filed under your name, including a permanent fraud finding. Legitimate help looks like coaching and document review, not guarantees.
Warnings
There is no magic number. What matters is that the amount covers your stated plan and that its history makes sense. A steady balance built over months is far stronger than a large deposit that appeared a week before the interview — the second pattern is well known to officers and actively hurts you.
Money
Yes, and it is common. Be ready to say who they are, what they do, what they earn, and why they are paying for you. A sponsor you cannot describe is worse than no sponsor. For students, the funding on the I-20 should match what your sponsor can actually demonstrate.
Money
Never. The DS-160 asks directly, the information is already in government systems, and concealing it turns a manageable question into a misrepresentation finding. Having relatives there is not disqualifying — plenty of people with family in the U.S. get visas. Declare it and be ready to explain your own reasons to return.
Family
Usually two to four minutes at the window, after a much longer wait in queues and biometrics. That short window is the entire decision, which is why your first two or three answers matter more than the documents in your folder.
Interview day
For most categories the interview is in English, and for student visas your English is part of what is being assessed. If you genuinely cannot follow a question, ask the officer to repeat it — that is normal and not held against you. Some posts can accommodate other languages for visitor applicants.
Interview day
Because your answers already told them what they needed. Officers ask for a document when something needs verifying. Bring your folder, organised, and offer a specific document only when it answers the question you were just asked.
Interview day
Clean, neat, and comfortable — business casual is a safe choice. Officers are not scoring your outfit, and an expensive suit does not help. Being visibly uncomfortable does not help either.
Interview day
No — these are two different things. Visa validity is the window in which you may travel to a U.S. port of entry and ask to be admitted. How long you may stay is decided by the CBP officer at the border and recorded on your I-94. Always check your I-94 after arrival.
After approval
No. A visa allows you to travel to the border and request admission. The officer there makes the final decision and can refuse entry. Carry your supporting documents — I-20, DS-2019, invitation, return ticket — in your hand luggage, not in a checked bag.
After approval
Minor errors can often be corrected verbally at the interview — bring the correct information and raise it. For a significant error, such as the wrong passport number or wrong visa class, complete a new DS-160 and bring the new confirmation page; you may need to update your appointment record with the new barcode number.
Forms
Sometimes. Students whose program start date is close, and applicants with genuine emergencies such as medical treatment or a death in the family, can request an expedited appointment with evidence. Book the regular slot first — an expedite request does not replace it, and you keep the later date if the request is declined.
Appointments
You can apply outside your country of residence, but it is generally harder. Posts prioritise their own residents, they know less about your local circumstances, and a refusal there still follows you. Applying at home is usually the stronger choice.
Appointments
Only short recreational courses. A degree program or full-time academic study requires an F-1 or M-1. Enrolling in a full course of study on a B visa violates your status.
Visitors
It is one of the most damaging things you can do. In the U.S., an overstay generally voids your visa automatically and, past certain thresholds, triggers multi-year bars on returning. In the Schengen Area it can produce an entry ban across all member states. Leave before the date on your I-94 or visa sticker.
Warnings
Explain the treatment plainly and bring evidence: a diagnosis letter from your doctor at home, correspondence from the U.S. hospital, an estimate of costs, and proof of how the treatment will be paid for. The officer needs to see a genuine medical purpose and that the cost is covered.
Visitors
Content reviewed 2026-08
