The form is on the State Department site ceac.state.gov/genniv. It is free: the $185 application fee is paid separately, when you book the interview. Each traveller needs a form of their own, babies included.
What to prepare before you start
- Your passport, and the old one if it holds earlier US visas.
- The dates of your last five trips to the United States and your travel abroad over the past five years.
- Work and study: your current job and the two before it, with addresses and dates.
- Every username you have used in the past five years on the social networks listed in the form, and your phone numbers and email addresses for the same period.
- A digital photo that meets the rules.
Starting: consulate, application number, saving
First you choose the consulate where you will have the interview. Then the form shows your Application ID in the top right corner: write it down together with your answer to the security question. With these, the first five letters of your surname and your year of birth you can come back to the form.
- Answers are in English, in Latin letters; only your full name is also written in your native alphabet. A form in another language is rejected. The questions can be read in translation: the language list is at the top right.
- After 20 minutes without activity the session ends and the page you were on is lost. What is saved is every page where you pressed Next or Save.
- An unfinished form is kept for 30 days.
- Use Chrome, Edge or Firefox on a computer.
The sections in order
| Section | What it asks | Where people slip |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | Name, date and place of birth, nationalities | The name is written exactly as in the passport; every nationality is listed, past ones too |
| Travel | Purpose, dates, address in the US, who pays | Tickets are not needed: approximate dates are enough |
| Previous U.S. Travel | Trips, visas, refusals | Every US visa refusal is declared |
| Address and Phone | Contacts and social media | All usernames for five years, abandoned accounts included |
| U.S. Point of Contact, Family | A person or organisation in the US; parents, spouse, relatives in the US | A tourist names the hotel; relatives in the US are not hidden |
| Work, Education, Training | The current job and the two before it, studies | Dates and job titles match your documents and what you say at the interview |
| Security and Background | Yes-or-no questions about violations, convictions, deportations | Each one is read to the end and answered truthfully |
Social media: what is asked and what is not
Since 2019 the form has asked for every username you have used in the past five years on the platforms it lists, active and abandoned. Passwords are never asked for. If you use none, the answer is None: a visa is not refused for having no social media, but it can be for an untrue answer. The requirement to make profiles public applies to student, exchange and some work visas; visitor visas B1/B2 are not on that list.
Security questions: why Yes is better than a lie
The consular officer has your earlier forms, and on the day of the interview you confirm your answers with a fingerprint. A false or misleading answer can mean a permanent refusal. An honest Yes — an old refusal, an overstay, a conviction — with a short explanation leads to questions at the interview; a hidden one leads to a ban.
Photo, signature, confirmation page
- The photo is uploaded before you submit. If the confirmation page shows an X in its place, bring a printed 51×51 mm photo to the interview.
- You press Sign Application yourself, even if someone helped you with the form; the helper is named on the same page. A parent signs for a child under 16.
- Print only the confirmation page with the barcode: its number is needed to pay the fee and book the interview, and you bring the page with you.
- A submitted form cannot be edited. To correct something you fill in a new one — the old answers can be pulled in by its number — and replace the number in your appointment profile.
After the form: fee, country, interview
The application fee for a B1/B2 visa is $185. It is not refunded after a refusal and cannot be moved to another country; the receipt is valid for 365 days, and within that time you book the interview. A 2025 law added one more fee, $250, due when a visa is issued. It is not in the State Department's fee table, and no single way of paying it has been announced: follow the instructions of your consulate.
Since 6 September 2025 the interview is booked in the country of your nationality or residence. Where the United States does not issue visas, there are designated consulates: Astana and Warsaw for Russians, Vilnius and Warsaw for Belarusians, Krakow and Warsaw for Ukrainians. Anywhere else a visa is harder to get and the wait is longer.
Almost everyone comes to the interview in person, including children under 14 and people over 79. The exception is a renewal of a B1/B2 visa within 12 months of its expiry, if it was issued for the full term when you were at least 18, you apply in your country of nationality or residence and have never been refused a visa. What the officer asks and what a refusal means is in the guide to the interview and section 214(b).
Before you pay, check two lists: citizens of 38 countries are not issued visitor visas at all, and citizens of 50 countries can be asked for a visa bond. A few consulates sell a fast-track interview slot for $750.
At Vizir the specialist prepares your answers and checks them against your documents and earlier applications. You press the Sign button yourself, as the rules require.