A U.S. visa allows a non-U.S. citizen to travel to a United States port of entry and request admission into the United States from a Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) immigration officer. Since September 11, 2001, U.S. visa applications have been subject to a greater degree of scrutiny than in the past. The timeframes for visa processing today are difficult to predict with accuracy for any individual applicant and could vary significantly by country and visa applicant. Advance planning on the part of travelers is essential to receive a visa in time for proposed travel dates to the United States.
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ASCO will provide registered attendees with an invitation letter to assist with applying for a U.S. visa. The letter will be available via a link in the confirmation e-mail sent once the attendee has registered for one of the following ASCO-sponsored meetings:
ASCO Annual Meeting
Best of ASCO Meetings (U.S.)
Breast Cancer Symposium
Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium
Genitourinary Cancers Symposium
Molecular Markers in Cancer Meeting
This letter does not guarantee the issuance of a visa. Applicants for nonimmigrant visas must show that they qualify individually on their own merit under provisions of U.S. immigration law, and not based on the assurances of others.
For the 27 countries in the Visa Waiver Program, citizens meeting the visa waiver criteria will not need a visa, but they must have a machine-readable passport.
Citizens from Canada, Mexico and Bermuda do not need a visa.
The U.S. Embassy Consular Section will decide, based on immigration law, about a particular applicant's eligibility for a given visa type from the information and documentation presented to the consular officer. However, as a general rule, anyone who wants to attend a business, educational, professional, or amateur sports event, conference or meeting who is not a government official, will generally need a visitor visa (B1/B2). Media and journalists, including citizens from Visa Waiver Program countries, will generally need a media (I) visa. Government officials traveling for official purposes will need an A or G visa.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), an applicant must overcome the presumption that he or she is an intending immigrant. An applicant must demonstrate, to the consular officer's satisfaction, that he or she has strong social and economic ties to his or her country of residence, plans to remain for a specific, limited period, has a residence outside the United States, as well as other binding ties which will ensure his or her return abroad at the end of the visit. It is also important that the applicant has access to sufficient funds to cover the entire trip.
Advance planning by non-U.S. travelers is critical. The U.S. State Department recommends all non-U.S. travelers consider the following when making their plans to travel to the United States:
As soon as travel to the United States is considered, non-U.S. travelers should identify whether a visa is needed. If the traveler already has a U.S. visa appropriate for this travel, check the expiration date on the visa to make sure it will not expire before the planned travel date.
In many cases, a visa will not be issued if the traveler's passport will expire within six months after the traveler's planned entry into the United States. For example, the 2008 ASCO Annual Meeting begins May 30, 2008. Passports for non-U.S. citizens traveling to the United States for the ASCO Annual Meeting must not expire before November 30, 2008.
ASCO-sponsored meetings are scientific in nature. Therefore, visa application should be made no later than 90 days in advance of the travel. Visa applicants will need to schedule an interview appointment as a first step in the visa process. Specific interview scheduling information and wait times for each embassy or consulate is available from the U.S. Department of State.
Additional planning time beyond the guidelines above are needed for visa applicants applying at some embassies, due to the time required to schedule an interview appointment. Additionally, the interview wait times do not include time for required security clearances or administrative processing, which may extend beyond the general timeframe guidelines, for a portion of visa applicants.
