What is a U.S. Visa exactly -
- A visa is not a license to enter the US. It is permission to travel to a US port of entry and apply to an immigration officer for admission. For the application to succeed, you need to meet the criteria for the status you seek.
- A visa simply indicates that a "U.S. consular officer" has determined that you are eligible to apply for entry to the United States for a specific purpose.
- Generally, a citizen of a foreign country who wishes to enter the United States must first obtain a visa, which is placed in the traveler’s passport, a travel document issued by the traveler’s country of citizenship.
- VISA is either a nonimmigrant visa for temporary stay or an immigrant visa for permanent residence.
- Having a U.S. visa allows you to travel to a port of entry, airport or land border crossing, and request permission of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspector to enter the United States.
- While having a visa does not guarantee entry to the United States, it does indicate a consular officer at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad has determined you are eligible to seek entry for that specific purpose.
- DHS/CBP inspectors, guardians of the nation’s borders, are responsible for admission of travelers to the United States, for a specified status and period of time. DHS also has responsibility for immigration matters while you are present in the United States.
- How to Read a U.S. Visa?
- Additional Information
- Contact the US embassy or consulate for information about visas to the US. Every embassy and consulate has a small library of information about studying in the US. They can advise you as to the procedures required for a student visa.
- Key contacts for US embassies and consulates are listed in the US State Department publication, Key Officers of Foreign Service Posts. It provides information about US embassies and consulates worldwide. See also the Consular Information Sheets, which provide key information such as the location of the US embassy or consulate in each country.
- A good source of information about visas is the US State Department's Visa Services web page.
- EducationUSA is another source of information about studying in the US, including information about the Fulbright program.
- There are also two Usenet newsgroups devoted to discussions of US visas: alt.visa.us and misc.immigration.usa.
- Questions about visas may be sent by email to usvisa@state.gov. You will get a quicker response, however, if you contact your local US consulate or embassy.
- Information about entrance requirements may be obtained from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). INS Forms may be obtained by calling 1-800-870-FORM (1-800-870-3676).
- If you already hold a valid visa for your intended purpose of travel, you may not need a visa If you are a citizen of Canada or Bermuda (but not applying for an A, E, G, K or V visa category), or are a national of a Visa Waiver Program participating country.
- Surname : Family name or Last name of the visa holder
- Given Name : First name or the Given Name of the Visa holder.
- Passport Number : Passport Number of the Applicant
- Issuing Post Name : The US Consulate where the Visa was issued
- Control Number : US Visa control number is DHS internal number used to track visas
- Sex : Visa holder gender
- Entries : M meaning multiple entry, S meaning Single entry
- Issue Date : Date when Visa was issued
- Expiration Date : Date when the visa will be expiring
- Visa Type / Class : The letter ‘R’ stands for Regular passport. Class is the Visa Class
- Red Color Number : This is the Visa Number
- Annotation : This is the place, where you will have additional information of petition like spouse info, employer info, ending date, etc.
- PA : It stands for Principal Applicant. You will see the name of the spouse after the letters PA on visa.
- PN : It stands for Petitioner Name. You will see the employer or company name that sponsored the Visa Applicant next to PN on an Visa.
- P# : It is the Petition Number of the Visa. You will see USCIS Case number next to it, that is tied to the visa petition.
- PED : It stands for the Petition Ending Date that is tied to the visa Petition.
- Two Lines with << : The text in these ‘<<’ character is computer generated for machine reading of the passport details.
References -
http://www.edupass.org/immigration/info.phtml
https://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/en/step-1
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/frequently-asked-questions/what-is-us-visa.html
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/frequently-asked-questions/about-basics.html
travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/a-z-index.html
https://redbus2us.com/visas/usa/h4-visa/samples/h4-visa-in-passport