Everyone who is immigrating to the United States must be present at the interview. We cannot issue a visa to anyone not physically present for a personal interview.

Please show your appointment letter and passport or ID card to the guards at the access gate to the Embassy on Hviezdoslavovo namestie. You will need to be screened by security: please note that you may not bring in large bags, laptops, cell phones, music players, food, or drink into the Embassy. When you have been cleared, the guards will show you the way to the waiting room.

Let the Receptionist know your name and the reason for your visit and wait in the waiting room. An assistant from the IV Unit will call you to collect your documents and for payment.

Once your case has been prepared for interview, you will be called by name over the loudspeaker and interviewed by a Consular officer at a visa window. The interview can last only a few minutes or over an hour; each case is different.

If you are missing something, you will be given a letter and asked to come back with it in a few weeks. If your case is complete, you will be told whether or not you qualified for the visa.

Getting Your Visa

If your visa is approved and you don’t want to pick it up personally, a visa packet will be sent to you in the insured envelope . The visa packet will contain the following two items:

• The Immigrant Visa, which is a small foil stuck into your passport;
• A sealed envelope containing documents you gave at your interview. Do not open this envelope and pack it only into a cabin baggage. It will be opened by the immigration officer when you arrive in the U.S.

The visa packet is your permission to apply for entry into the United States as a lawful permanent resident (LPR). The visa itself is valid 6 months from the date printed, so you must enter the U.S. before it expires.

Port of Entry

You must give the U.S. Immigration officer at the border your passport with visa and the sealed envelope when you arrive in America. This officer will put an entry stamp in your passport documenting your admission as an LPR. With this stamp, you may begin to work, study, and live in the United States. The visa and stamp are your proof of legal status in the U.S.

Normally, your plastic Permanent Residence card (“green card”) will be mailed to your U.S. address within a year from your arrival. If you do not receive it within the first year, contact U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. From your arrival in the U.S., USCIS becomes responsible for your immigration process, not the Embassy.