Customs and Immigration
The United States Embassy (or other diplomatic post) working with you will arrange for your international air tickets and issuance of your visa, which will be placed in your passport. They will also give you some documents to give to the inspection officials when you arrive in the United States, as well as other documents to keep in your passport during your stay. It is important that you do not lose any of these documents. To protect against loss, please make copies of all your important documents and pack them in your checked baggage.
When you arrive in the United States, you will be screened by officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Under the US-VISIT program, nearly all visitors to the United States are photographed and fingerprinted upon arrival. Sometimes visitors are sent from the regular inspection lane to an office for an interview; do not be alarmed by this procedure. It is also possible that when being admitted into the United States, you will be instructed to report for an in-country interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Prior to arrival, we urge you to refer to the following federal government websites for more information about entering the United States:
- Transportation Security Administration (TSA) - Welcome and overview
- Department of Homeland Security - Permitted and Prohibited Items
- Department of Homeland Security – Immigration and Borders
- Department of Homeland Security – US-Visit Program
- U.S. Customs – “Know Before You Go”
- U.S. Department of Agriculture - Bringing food and agricultural products into the United States