VisaProAdviserVisas, migration and life abroad
Visitor visa rules for America, the UK, Canada, Spain and Australia: B1/B2 interviews, proving ties to home, sponsor letters and document checklists.
8 articles tagged Visitor Visa
Since September 2025, interviews happen only in your home country, and waits now stretch for months. Here's when to start for B1/B2, H-1B, F and J visas.
Standard applicant packet plus a sponsor's invitation letter, proof of income, and 6-month bank statements — full checklist for both sides.
Sponsoring a UK Standard Visitor visa? You need proof of relationship, immigration status, 6 months of payslips, bank statements, and a CRB check.
Why a Canada visitor visa is no longer a path to immigration. New requirements and actual processing times in 2026.
Australia bars student visa holders from bringing partners and kids, sets 5 priorities for the 482 visa, and cuts tourist visas to 6 months.
The officer decides in 2 minutes. Show concrete commitments — a job, a signed contract, a dated event after your return — not just family ties.
A visitor visa allows a short stay for tourism, family visits or limited business activity. It does not permit employment or a change of residence. In the United States this is the B1/B2 visa: the applicant files Form DS-160 and is interviewed by a consular officer at a US embassy or consulate.
US law presumes every B1/B2 applicant intends to immigrate until they prove otherwise, so most refusals are issued under section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Such a refusal cannot be appealed, but the applicant may reapply once their circumstances or evidence have changed. Application status can be tracked through the State Department's Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC).
Other countries follow similar logic under their own rules. The UK Standard Visitor visa is decided by UK Visas and Immigration under Appendix Visitor of the Immigration Rules, which requires the applicant to be a genuine visitor. Canada issues temporary resident visas through IRCC, and Schengen states such as Spain grant short-stay visas valid for no more than 90 days in any 180-day period.