standard is for 90 days, how tricky is it to get a visa for say 6 months?

Very least your going to need to show you can support yourself for that long

Tick the war criminal or terrorist box, that way you get an all expenses paid trip and a private jet to a pretty bay a few miles off the coast of Florida.

90 days?  Mine is valid for a year but I don’t know if there’s any limit on the length of the stay.

It’s easy to get as long as you haven’t travelled anywhere like Sudan and if you have, the new US embassy is superb and worth a visit if only for the architecture and the friendly, efficient service.

Surely it depends on which type of visa you’re applying for. I’ve just got an I-visa (working journalist) which is valid for five years.

. I’ve just got an I-visa (working journalist) which is valid for five years.

Does it come with a un issue helmet and kevlar vest these days?

and the friendly, efficient service.

Ahahahahaha.

First, you have to use the world’s worst online form, which needs completing with every single destination you’ve ever visited. At some point it’ll freeze or crash, and you’ll have to start again.

Then you need to pick an interview date, of which there are few and all of which require you to be in London inconveniently early. You will queue in the rain. Someone will be rude to you.

You will then be interviewed by a series of bored employees locked behind glass windows, despite the fact that everyone has been through the full rubber glove security check at the entrance. They won’t actually tell you anything, you just get shuttled between desks. Eventually they confiscate your passport, make you retake the photo you paid some oik in Jessops a fortune for, and invite you to sit at home for a fortnight while they put a sticker in your passport.

Oh, and they won’t deliver it back, you have to drive to a DX Direct depot to pick it up.

The only thing I can say is that it’s marginally better than the old embassy because you can take your phone/wallet/keys in with you.

^^  In fairness you did tick the “returning ISIS fighter” box.

It depends substantially on the type of visa you are applying for, and that is determined by the type of work you are doing, and for whom you are doing it.
I worked in the States for 3 years on an H1-B visa which was tricky to get back then, and has only become harder to get because of caps of the total number allowed.

<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>I think a good assumption with US visas is to assume it will be non-trivial, and seek advice from someone familiar with immigration law. USCIS is not to be trifled with.</span>

Can you just do two 90 day trips instead? Would make life easier if so.

isn’t it generally easier just to nip home for a week or so once in the middle of your 6 month stay? Then you should be ok on just an esta

isn’t it generally easier just to nip home for a week or so once in the middle of your 6 month stay? Then you should be ok on just an esta

Or Canadia?

Good luck getting past the American border people if you don’t have your plans sorted.

I used to do 90 days on and 90 days off swapping with another guy and they soon got wise to this so two 90 trips back to back probably won’t wash.

It’s easier to just get a relevant visa for what you are doing and not worry about it.