This guide provides detailed information about the visa interview process at the American Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It covers essential aspects such as registration, required documents, medical examinations, security procedures, and important tips for a successful interview.
Registration and Appointment
You need to register your appointment online. Registering your appointment provides us with the information we need to return your passport to you after your interview. Registration is free.
Applicants with appointments currently scheduled should reach out to the National Visa Center using the Public Inquiry Form to request or confirm an appointment.
If you are unable to attend your appointment, please go to ais.usvisa-info.com to select a new appointment date. There may be a significant wait before the next available appointment, so please attempt to attend the date already assigned.
Please reschedule your appointment through the “Missed My Appointment” option in your online account at ais.usvisa-info.com or by calling +251 011 558 2424.
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Please note: You need to register your original NVC/KCC appointment online before you can reschedule it.
For some family-based and employment preference visa categories, a visa became available within the month you have been scheduled by NVC. DV applicants should be aware that visas are numerically limited and must be issued by September 30 of the program year. There is no guarantee that a visa will still be available on the date of your rescheduled interview. Please carefully consult the Visa Bulletin before you request to reschedule your interview.
Required Documents
It is important that you bring all required original documents to your case prescreening and interview. We’ve created a checklist that will tell you what to bring.
Evidence of the relationship between the petitioner and visa applicant. The evidence must be authentic.
Copy of J1 visa: If you have ever traveled to the United States on a J1 Non-Immigrant Visa, please provide a copy of that visa when you arrive at the embassy for interview.
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If you are older than 16 years of age: The original police certificate from your country of current residence and countries of previous residence.
Please note: To prevent unnecessary delays, additional evidence of the petitioner’s finances is often useful: petitioner tax records for the last three years, job letters specifying salary and length of employment, W-2 forms, and/or payment stubs.
Please note: If you are immigrating to the United States through employment (such as EB1), the I-864 Affidavit of Support (AOS) is generally not required. The AOS is required only if your relative filed the IV petition on your behalf or has at least a 5% ownership interest in the business that filed the petition. employer should also confirm that the employment officer is still valid and available as of the time of the interview.
Medical Examination
All immigrant visa applicants, regardless of age, require a medical examination prior to the issuance of a visa. The Embassy can provide a list of designated doctor’s offices in Ethiopia.
You should allow at least 21 days to complete the medical examination process, from start to finish. Please also make sure that you do not book the appointment earlier than three (3) months before your scheduled immigrant visa interview with the embassy.
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Any medical examination fees are performed at applicant expense, including x-ray and blood tests.
The medical examination will include a medical history review, physical examination, and chest X-ray, gonorrhea test, and blood test (for applicants 15 years of age or older). The United States also requires tuberculosis (TB) testing for all applicants two years of age and older.
Please be prepared to discuss your medical history, medications you are taking, and current treatments you are undergoing. Immigration law requires immigrant visa applicants to obtain certain vaccinations prior to the issuance of a visa.
Any x-rays taken will be given to you. You DO NOT need to bring the x-rays to your visa interview unless you suffer from tuberculosis (TB).
Security Procedures
Embassy Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, must follow certain security procedures. To avoid delaying your entry and that of those in line behind you, please bring only what is required for your interview.
Please arrive at least 30 minutes before your appointment to clear security. Visa appointment holders must have an appointment confirmation page and may not be admitted more than 30 minutes before their appointment.
After arriving you will be required to go through a security screening. No personal items are allowed into the Consular waiting area. After security screening, you will be directed to the consular waiting area. When instructed, proceed to the window for your interview.
You will not be allowed to enter the building with prohibited items. Please make other arrangements to store prohibited items before entering the consular section. Embassy security personnel will be unable to enter the Embassy.
If you leave items in your car, be sure to put them in the trunk and lock your car; do not leave any personal items in view in the passenger compartment.
The Interview Process
A consular officer can make a decision on a visa application only after reviewing the formal application and interviewing the applicant. There is no guarantee that you will receive a visa.
At the end of the interview, the officer will decide your visa eligibly. The officer will inform you of any next steps.
Sometimes a consular officer is unable to make a decision on a visa application because he/she needs to review additional documents or the case requires further administrative processing. When additional documents are requested, the consular officer will give you a refusal letter that asks you to submit additional documents. The letter will include instructions on how to send those documents to the embassy. Administrative processing takes additional time after the interview. Most administrative processing is resolved within 60 days. However, the timing varies based on the circumstances of each case.
Please note: The fee for an Immigrant Visa (IV) is USD 325.00 per person or the equivalent in local currency. IV applicants must pay this fee on the day of your prescreening if the petitioner (your sponsor) did not pay this fee in advance. The fee for a Diversity Visa (DV) is USD 330.00 per person or the equivalent in local currency.
Embassy at 1:00 pm on the day of your case prescreening. If you are found ineligible to receive a visa, the application fee cannot be refunded.
Passport, Visa, and Immigrant Packet
If your visa is approved, we will keep your passport at the embassy while we prepare your immigration packet and print a visa for your passport. We will return your passport to you later via courier services only. Instead, visit ais.usvisa-info.com and ask for information on courier services.
We will place your immigrant visa on a page in your passport. Please review your visa to make sure there are no spelling errors. Please be sure that your name appears on the visa exactly as it appears in your passport.
You must carry it with you; do not put it in your checked luggage. Do not open this envelope. You must give it to U.S. immigration authorities when you arrive in the United States for the first time.
When You Should Travel - You must enter the United States before the expiration date on your visa, which is usually six months from the date of printing. The period of your immigrant visa validity is printed on the visa. It may be less than six months if other documents in your case, such as your medical exam, expire within that time. Your visa is single-entry and not renewable.
If the visa category on your passport is F11, F21, FX1, F24, F31, F41, E11, E21, SE1 or DV1 the principal applicant must enter before or at the same time as other family members with visas.
If your visa category requires you to be single (e.g. K1), you must marry your U.S. citizen petitioner before traveling to the United States.
USCIS Immigrant Fee
Before departing for the United States, you must pay the USCIS Immigrant Fee to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) prior to traveling to the United States. This fee is for processing your residency status and printing your Permanent Resident Card.
Once your card is issued, you should not stay outside of the United States for more than one year. This is a very important document that proves you have permission to reside in the United States. We also recommend you check with the airline to ensure you are in compliance with their rules.
Information for New Immigrants
Please visit the USCIS web page for helpful information on moving to the United States.
Diversity Visa (DV) Applicants: Additional Instructions
If you are interviewing for a Diversity Visa (DV), all of the above instructions apply to you. Below are additional instructions that apply only to DV applicants.
- $330 cash payment for the Diversity Visa Application Fee for each visa applicant.
- Educational qualifications: You must possess one of the following as evidence of your educational qualifications. If you cannot meet the educational requirements, you may submit evidence of qualifying work experience.
Qualified work experience is defined as at least two years of full-time employment during the past five years in an occupation that requires at least two years of college training or experience. Please be advised that it is very difficult to fulfill the educational requirements based on work experience.
Note: Department of Labor’s Occupational Skills List found at www.onetonline.org. Embassy in Addis Ababa cannot verify educational or work experiences that occurred in Somalia.
Prior to your visa interview, we recommend that you review the data on your initial E-DV entry. On your initial E-DV application, you must have correctly entered your marital status.
Additionally, you must have listed ALL of your living children who are unmarried and under 21 years old. citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident). This includes children who are your spouse’s from a previous marriage, and children who have been formally adopted.
Failure to have listed an existing spouse or children at the time of your entry in the Diversity Visa lottery will result in the denial of your visa and visas for your family. government in support of your visa application(s) are nonrefundable.
If you failed to include a child who had already been born, or a spouse to whom you were married when you entered the lottery, you should not proceed with the visa application.
Important Reminders
Under United States law, all applicants for non-immigrant visas are viewed as intending immigrants until they can convince the consular officer that they are not. You must therefore be able to show that you have reasons for returning to your home country that are stronger than those for remaining in the United States. "Ties" to your home country are the things that bind you to your hometown, homeland, or current place of residence (i.e., job, family, financial prospects that you own or will inherit, investments, etc).
If you are a prospective student, the interviewing officer may ask about your specific intentions or promise of future employment, family or other relationships, educational objectives, grades, long-long range plans, and career prospects in your home country.
Anticipate that the interview will be conducted in English and not in your native language. One suggestion is to practice English conversation with a native speaker before the interview.
Do not bring parents or family members with you to your interview. The consular officer wants to interview you, not your family. A negative impression is created if you are not prepared to speak on your own behalf.
If you are not able to articulate the reasons you will study in a particular program in the United States, you may not succeed in convincing the consular officer that you are indeed planning to study, rather than to immigrate.
Because of the volume of applications that are received, all consular officers are under considerable time pressure to conduct a quick and efficient interview. They must make a decision, for the most part, on the impressions they form during the first minute or two of the interview. Consequently, what you say first and the initial impression you create are critical to your success.
