{"id":920,"date":"2025-09-13T11:57:34","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T11:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/going-to-the-us-embassy-for-a-visa\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T11:57:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T11:57:39","slug":"going-to-the-us-embassy-for-a-visa","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/going-to-the-us-embassy-for-a-visa\/","title":{"rendered":"Going to the US embassy for a visa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Going to the US embassy for a visa  <\/h1>\n\n<p>Are you planning to move to the United States? If so, you&#8217;ll need to go to the American embassy in Paris &#8211; and with good reason: you&#8217;ll need an American visa to do so! In this article, our experts explain how to make this appointment.  <\/p>\n\n<p>If, on the other hand, you wish to visit the USA for less than 90 days, you will need to obtain an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/\">ESTA<\/a>. We&#8217;ll explain what this travel authorization consists of in a second section. <\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The appointment at the US embassy<\/h2>\n\n<p>To stay in the USA for more than 90 days, \nyou will need a visa. To obtain an American visa, \ncontact the American embassy in your country. In \nFrance, the U.S. embassy is located in Paris. You can also \ncontact one of the 6 \nconsulates in Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Rennes, Strasbourg or \nToulouse. These are \nembassy branches, run by a consul. These two bodies are a \nrepresentation of the American government in France. The role of the \nembassy is to manage visa applications for \nFrench nationals wishing to visit the United States. There are \ntwo main types of visa: non-immigrant visas issued for temporary \nstays, and immigrant visas for individuals \nwishing to become permanent residents in Uncle Sam&#8217;s country \n(e.g. the green card).       <\/p>\n\n<p>Here are some examples of visas:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>B1 visa for business trips to the USA<\/li><li>B2 visa for tourist travel to the USA<\/li><li>the J1 visa, which is essential if you wish to do an internship in the United States<\/li><li>the F1 visa for people wishing to study in the United States of America<\/li><\/ul>\n\n<p>In order to obtain a visa to visit the USA, an\n appointment at the US embassy is mandatory. The purpose of this \nappointment is to assess your motivation to travel to the USA. \nAppointments at the embassy to obtain a visa are usually \nwithin 4 to 5 days. You need to be prepared before\n going there, as the American authorities are very vigilant, so \nvisas are only issued to people who present no risk. \nPlease be at the embassy 15 to 30 minutes before \nyour appointment time.  <\/p>\n\n<p>It then proceeds as follows:<\/p>\n\n<p>Step 1: On entering the embassy, a security officer \nwill ask you about your identity and the time of your appointment. He \nwill then take you through a security scanner, and you will be \nsubjected to a search just like at an airport (liquids are prohibited at\n ). It&#8217;s important to understand that at\n the American embassy, you are no longer in France, but on American soil \n.  <\/p>\n\n<p>Step 2: Once you are in the USA, a \nrepresentative will give you a number. You&#8217;ll have to \nwait until your number appears on a screen. When \nyour turn arrives, you are again subjected to a \nsecurity check, this time in the form of fingerprinting.  <\/p>\n\n<p>Step 3: You are taken to an interview room, where you are \nasked about your motivations for going to the United States \n. Questions typically include: <\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>why do you want to go to the USA? You need to explain why you want to go to Uncle Sam&#8217;s country. <\/li><li>what financial means do you have to pay for your stay in the \nUnited States? You will need to provide proof of your \nfinancing (employment contract). <\/li><li>if your goal is to work in the U.S., you \nwill need to present a U.S. job offer to which you are \nlikely to apply.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n<p>At the end of the interview, you&#8217;ll know immediately whether your visa application has been accepted or rejected. If your application is accepted, U.S. embassy officials will keep your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/fr\/quel-type-de-passeport-pour-les-usa\/\">passport <\/a>and return it to you, stamped with the visa you have obtained. Your passport may be returned to you after a week, so be sure to bring a second piece of identification if you&#8217;re traveling to the U.S. embassy by plane, for example.  <\/p>\n\n<p>Are you planning a vacation in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/fr\/decouvrir-la-ville-de-new-york-city\/\">New York<\/a>, Miami or Florida? Are you visiting the USA on business or in transit? You can enter the USA without a visa!   How? Thanks to ESTA!<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">ESTA: explanations<\/h2>\n\n<p>Unlike a visa, you don&#8217;t have to go to the U.S. embassy for ESTA. ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) was created as part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/fr\/a-propos-du-visa-waiver-program\/\">Visa Waiver Program (VWP<\/a> ). This program is designed to facilitate travel between 38 &#8220;high-security&#8221; countries and the United States. It applies to nationals of the following countries:   <\/p>\n\n<p>\nAndorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Chile, \nCzech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, \nHungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Latvia, \nLiechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Norway, \nNew Zealand, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Taiwan.<\/p>\n\n<p>Watch out! Please answer the questions on the form with \nattention and concentration. A small careless error is not \nimpossible, but can cost you your ESTA. If\n you wish to avoid making mistakes, you can \nturn to our partner. They can help you fill in the ESTA form at \n. If an error is found, our expert \ncustomer service team can correct it, before submitting the\n form to the American authorities.To obtain an ESTA, you have the \noption of going directly to the American government website \n. The ESTA application form is available at \n. This travel authorization is required if you\n wish to transit, travel for tourism or business \nfor up to 90 days in the USA. Beyond 90 days, however, you \nwill need to apply for a visa from the\n US embassy.      <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Going to the US embassy for a visa Are you planning to move to the United States? If so, you&#8217;ll need to go to the American embassy in Paris &#8211; and with good reason: you&#8217;ll need an American visa to do so! In this article, our experts explain how to make this appointment. If, on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-920","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Going to the US embassy for a visa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this article, our experts explain how to make the appointment at the U.S. embassy to obtain your coveted U.S. visa!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/going-to-the-us-embassy-for-a-visa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Going to the US embassy for a visa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this article, our experts explain how to make the appointment at the U.S. embassy to obtain your coveted U.S. visa!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/going-to-the-us-embassy-for-a-visa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ESTA - United States\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-13T11:57:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/going-to-the-us-embassy-for-a-visa\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/going-to-the-us-embassy-for-a-visa\/\",\"name\":\"Going to the US embassy for a visa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-13T11:57:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-13T11:57:39+00:00\",\"description\":\"In this article, our experts explain how to make the appointment at the U.S. embassy to obtain your coveted U.S. visa!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/going-to-the-us-embassy-for-a-visa\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/going-to-the-us-embassy-for-a-visa\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/going-to-the-us-embassy-for-a-visa\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Going to the US embassy for a visa\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"ESTA - United States\",\"description\":\"ESTA application form\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Going to the US embassy for a visa","description":"In this article, our experts explain how to make the appointment at the U.S. embassy to obtain your coveted U.S. visa!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/going-to-the-us-embassy-for-a-visa\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Going to the US embassy for a visa","og_description":"In this article, our experts explain how to make the appointment at the U.S. embassy to obtain your coveted U.S. visa!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/going-to-the-us-embassy-for-a-visa\/","og_site_name":"ESTA - United States","article_modified_time":"2025-09-13T11:57:39+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/going-to-the-us-embassy-for-a-visa\/","url":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/going-to-the-us-embassy-for-a-visa\/","name":"Going to the US embassy for a visa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-09-13T11:57:34+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-13T11:57:39+00:00","description":"In this article, our experts explain how to make the appointment at the U.S. embassy to obtain your coveted U.S. visa!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/going-to-the-us-embassy-for-a-visa\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/going-to-the-us-embassy-for-a-visa\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/going-to-the-us-embassy-for-a-visa\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Going to the US embassy for a visa"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/","name":"ESTA - United States","description":"ESTA application form","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=920"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":928,"href":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/920\/revisions\/928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esta-officiel-usa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}