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Applying for a UK visa in the USA

This page explains how you can apply for a visa to come to the UK if you are currently in the USA.

When to apply
You can apply for a visa up to 3 months before your date of travel to the UK. Applications received more than 3 months before your date of travel will be returned without a visa and without a refund of the visa fee. You will then be required to submit a fresh application and to resubmit your biometric data within the 3 month time frame. We strongly advise you not to confirm your travel arrangements until you have received your visa. To find out how long we usually take to process your type of visa, see the Visa processing times page.

Before you apply


Before you apply, you must:

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prepare the supporting documents that you will need; be ready to enrol your fingerprints and photograph (known as biometric information) at one of the Application Support Centers run by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (unless you are exempt from this requirement); be ready to send your valid original passport or travel document and supporting documents to the UK Border Agency in New York, USA.

If you do not know which supporting documents to provide, the Visa application fees and guides page will help you to find guidance for your visa category. If you are applying under the points-based system, you should provide all the documents specified in the guidance for your visa category. For each document, you should also provide any information or explanation that may help us to make our decision. If you are applying for any other type of visa, you should provide documents that:

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support the statements that you make in your visa application; and show that the information in your application is true.

We will only consider documents submitted with your application. You cannot submit documents after you have completed your application at the visa application centre, unless our staff ask you for them. For every document that you provide, you must include the original document and a photocopy. This includes a copy of your passport bio-data page (the page containing your photograph). Please ensure that the photocopies are of good quality and can be read easily. If you do not provide a photocopy of each document, we might not return your original documents to you.

If you do not have a document, or your documents are not written in English or Welsh, or you are not paying for your trip, you can find out what to do under 'More information' below.

How to apply
To apply for a visa, you must:

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complete and submit a visa application form online; pay for your visa online and be able to show proof of on-line payment (this will be shown on your online application form). The Visa application fees and guides pages explain how much your visa application will cost; pay your return courier service fee online if you are selecting to have your documents mailed back to you by next business day UPS; book an appointment online to attend one of the Application Support Centers run by the Citizenship and Immigration Services to submit biometric information (unless you are exempt from this requirement); After you have given your biometric information, you must submit your completed application, supporting documents, photograph, stamped biometric receipt and original passport or travel document to the UK Border Agency New York via mail or registered travel agent.

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You need to complete, submit and pay for your application online. We cannot accept handwritten application forms.

Applying online
When applying online you will need to print out, sign and date your completed form. If you do not have access to a printer when you apply, you will be able to log in and print out the form later. When you have completed your online application and online visa payment you will receive an email message containing your application number (also known as a 'GWF reference'). Please make a note of this number. You will also be prompted to schedule an appointment to give your biometric information via an online calendar. You can see the Application Support Centers in your area by visiting the US Citizenship and Immigration Service website but you cannot book your appointment using this website. Once you have selected an appointment time, you will also receive an email confirming the time and date of your biometric appointment at one of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services Application Support Centers. Please print this confirmation receipt and take with you to the appointment along with your original valid passport or travel document and a printed copy of your online visa application form. You must enrol your fingerprints and facial photograph (known as 'biometric information) when you attend your appointment. You cannot enrol your fingerprints if your fingertips are cut or damaged, or if you have put any form of temporary decoration (such as henna or mehendi) on them. You must wait until the injury has healed or the decoration has faded before making your appointment.

If you are part of a family or group, each member of the family or group must make an individual appointment. For example, if you are a family of 4 with 2 adults and 2 children you must make 4 individual appointments. You can find the online application form under 'Do it online' on the right side of this page.

Paying your visa application fee


As part of your online application you must pay your visa application fee and return courier service fee online. The $12 courier fee allows the UK Border Agency to return your documents to you once a decision has been made on your visa application. This $12 fee must always be paid unless you have arranged for a visa agent to submit your application on your behalf or you are using the drop box facility in Washington DC. Online payment can only be done using Visa or Mastercard credit or debit card. We are unable to accept any other type of credit cards such as American Express. You can find the online application form under 'Do it online' on the right side of this page.

Application Support Center


To complete the application process, you must attend your appointment to give biometric information (unless you are exempt from this requirement) at one of the Application Support Centers in the US run by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. You will also need to send your application to our processing centre in New York. You should not mail any part of your visa application to the UK Border Agency until you have attended the Application Support Center and provided biometric data and obtained the stamped receipt.

Visa processing times in the USA


This page explains how long you can expect to wait for your UK visa application to be processed if you have applied in the USA.

On this page y y Service standards Our recent performance

Service standards
We have service standards for processing UK visa applications in the USA. Our standards say that we will process:

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90 per cent of non-settlement applications within 3 weeks, 98% within 6 weeks and 100% within 12 weeks of the application date; and 95 per cent of settlement applications within 12 weeks and 100% within 24 weeks of the application date.

If our visa processing service is experiencing delays, we will publish a news story on this website to explain what is happening. You can find recent news stories on the right side of this page.

If we have taken more than 3 weeks (for non-settlement visas) or 3 months (for settlement visas), from the day your application was received at the UK Border Agency in New York, to process your application, and we have not published a news story to explain the delay, you can contact our dedicated information partner WorldBridge to find out what is happening. You can find their contact details on the WorldBridge in USA website. They will forward your query to us for a reply. Please do not contact WorldBridge unless you have been waiting longer than the time stated above for a decision. We will not respond to your enquiry unless this time has passed. back to top

Our recent performance


Our guide to visa processing times contains up-to-date information on the time taken to process UK visa applications in every visa application centre, by visa category. We update this information each month. You can find out our recent processing times from the table below. The processing time begins when the UK Border Agency, New York has received your completed application form, application fee, passport and supporting documents, and you have enrolled your biometric information. It ends when we have made a decision on your application and your passport is available for collection. You can use this information as a guide to how long it may take to process your application, but we cannot guarantee that your application will be processed within that time. This is because of the unique circumstances of each case. back to top

United States

Visits Visas Premium Visit (more than 6 months) General Visit (6 months or less) Family Visit (6 months or less) Transit (6 months or less) Other Visit (6 months or less)

2 days 54% 41% 39% 57% 34%

3 days 83% 77% 87% 77% 85% 69%

5 days 91% 91% 94% 91% 94% 88%

10 days 96% 98% 99% 98% 100% 97%

15 days 97% 99% 99% 99% 100% 100%

40 days 99% 99% 100% 99% 100% 100%

60 days 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

90 days 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

120 days 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Total decisions made 383 1189 328 777 176 177

Business Visit (6 months or less) 64%

Points Based System Visas 2 days 3 days 5 days 10 days 15 days 40 days 60 days 90 days 120 days Total decisions made PBS Tier 1 PBS Tier 2 PBS Tier 4 PBS Tier 5 45% 67% 34% 58% 70% 86% 67% 81% 85% 94% 87% 94% 92% 99% 98% 97% 97% 100% 99% 98% 100% 100% 99% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 40 158 490 139

Other Non Settlement Visas 2 days 3 days 5 days 10 days 15 days 40 days 60 days 90 days 120 days Total decisions made Student EEA Family Permits Other Non-Settlement 0% 32% 63% 100% 52% 73% 100% 76% 87% 100% 97% 92% 100% 97% 96% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 1 34 57

Settlement Visas 2 days 3 days 5 days 10 days 15 days 40 days 60 days 90 days 120 days Total decisions made Settlement 38% 58% 76% 90% 94% 98% 100% 100% 100% 225

The above data is for all decisions made in November 2011

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