A guide to Camp America: Visa Appointment

 

In order to work in the states you are required to get a J1 Visa, this has a small cost and will enable you to work and then travel for up to 30 days after your contract ends. In order to obtain this you have to go to the embassy in either Belfast or London (if you are UK based), this could be a day trip or you could make a weekend out of it which was what I did and I would recommend this to anyone as it ended up being one of the best trips.

To apply for your visa you firstly have to fill out an online application and Camp America will provide you with step by step instructions which are super useful. Once this is completed you will pick your appointment, I would recommend going for one a couple of months before your arrival date incase there is a delay.

Before you go to the embassy you will have access to a checklist to ensure that you have all the documents needed for the appointment, i would recommend using this and getting a small folder to store them. This will allow you to access everything with ease and if you are an organised freak like myself I would also label them to help you even more. Lastly before you go it is so important that your passport is in date and also in date 6 months after you enter the US.

On the day of your appointment you should be there at least 15 minutes before and excpect queues, dress appropriately and most importantly don't forget the documents!!! Once you are in you will have two small interviews, this is just the case of handing over some documents and getting asked a few questions. The whole experience sounds a lot more stressful than it actually is and if you are organised it will be absolutely fine.

Once this is done your visa application is sent away alongside your passport and when filling out the application you select where you would like to collect it, so i chose my nearest location which was Livingston. Once this is sorted you are all set to go!!!!