May 22, 2024

What Is A U.S. Visa, Visa Stamp And Visa Foil And What Are These Used For?

In U.S. immigration matters, a visa is a document that allows a foreign national to enter the United States for a specific purpose, such as tourism, work, study, family visits (a nonimmigrant visa) or to immigrate (an immigrant visa). It is typically a stamp or sticker placed in the foreign national’s passport by a U.S. consulate or embassy.

A visa stamp refers to the physical impression or mark placed directly onto a passport page. It contains important information such as the visa holder’s name, passport number, visa classification (e.g., B-1/B-2 for business/tourism or F-1 for a student), and expiration date.

A visa foil, on the other hand, refers to the physical adhesive visa document that’s affixed to a passport page. It’s essentially the visa sticker itself, which contains similar information to the visa stamp. The visa foil is named after older visa material which had a consistency and look of (aluminum) foil but this material is no longer used.

Both the visa stamp and visa foil serve as evidence that the holder has been granted permission to travel to the U.S. to seek admission for a specific purpose and for a specified period. They are necessary for border officials to determine the traveler’s eligibility to enter the country. Without a valid visa, admission into the U.S. may be denied, except for citizens of countries that participate in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), who can travel to the U.S. for tourism or business for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa.

If you have any questions about U.S. visas or U.S. immigration, contact us at info@enterlinepartners.com and speak with a U.S. immigration attorney in Ho Chi Minh City, Manila and Taipei.

ENTERLINE & PARTNERS CONSULTING

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Office

146C7 Nguyen Van Huong St, Thao Dien Ward,
District 2, Thu Duc City
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Tel: +84 933 301 488
Email: info@enterlinepartners.com
Facebook: Enterline & Partners – Dịch vụ Thị thực và Định cư Hoa Kỳ
YouTube: @EnterlineAndPartnersConsulting
Website: http://enterlinepartners.com

Manila, Philippines Office

LKG Tower 37th Floor

6801 Ayala Avenue

Makati City, Philippines 1226

Tel: +63 917 543 7926
Email: info@enterlinepartners.com
Facebook: Enterline and Partners Philippines
Website: https://enterlinepartners.com/language/en/welcome/

Copyright 2024. This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. This article may be changed with or without notice. The opinions expressed in this article are those of Enterline and Partners only.

Categories: Immigrant Visa, Non-immigrant Visa

Tags: visa, visa foil, visa stamp

CDC Removes COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement for Immigrant Visa Applicants

USCIS Proposes to Collect Social Media Handles on Immigration Forms

What Is Adjustment Of Status For U.S. Immigration Purposes?

Delinquent U.S. Taxpayers in Southeast Asia

our services

Over 18,000 successful customers with Enterline &
Partners, realizing the dream of immigration

Latest News

Trump Administration Issues Executive Order Requiring Alien Registration Requirement

As posted on the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) website, on January 20, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order (“EO”) 14159, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion”. The EO directs the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to ensure that aliens comply with their duty to register with the government. Failure to comply with the registration requirement is treated as a civil and criminal enforcement priority. The DHS requires that, with limited exceptions, all aliens 14 years of age or older who were not registered and fingerprinted (if required) when applying for a U.S. visa, and who remain in the United States for 30 days or longer, must apply for registration and fingerprinting. Similarly, parents and legal guardians of aliens below the age of 14 must ensure that those child aliens are registered. Within 30 days of reaching his or her 14th birthday, all previously registered aliens must apply for re-registration

CDC Removes COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement for Immigrant Visa Applicants

Effective March 11, 2025, The United States Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) has removed from the technical instructions to panel physicians the requirement that immigrant visa applicants receive the COVID-19 vaccination. Panel physicians will no longer determine that an immigrant visa applicant is ineligible for travel based on their failure to receive, or otherwise document, their vaccination against COVID-19. Based on CDC’s updated guidance to panel physicians, which is inline with the recent United States Citizenship and Immigration Services policy, Embassies and Consulates will no longer refuse an immigrant visa application for failure to present documentation that they received the COVID-19 vaccination. Applicants whose medical exams are unexpired and otherwise still valid for travel to the United States, and whom a consular officer previously found ineligible based solely on the applicant’s failure to establish vaccination against COVID-19, may have a new medical exam issued by the panel physician without a

USCIS Proposes to Collect Social Media Handles on Immigration Forms

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) issued a 60-day notice and comment on a proposal to collect information pertaining to social-media handles and associated social media platform names from applicants in an effort to verify identification, streamline public safety screening and related inspections. The proposal, which was published in the Federal Register on March 5, 2025, is in line with President Donald Trump’s January 20, 2025 Executive Order, “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threat” which directs the implementation of uniform vetting procedures. The USCIS will accept comments to the proposed rule until May 5, 2025. If the proposed rule officially becomes part of USCIS vetting standards, it will follow the U.S. Department of State 2019 rule which requires U.S. visa applicants to disclose their social media handles and other social media related information on their DS-160 Nonimmigrant Online Visa

What Is A U.S. Visa, Visa Stamp And Visa Foil And What Are These Used For?

CATEGORY

Over 18,000 successful customers with Enterline &Partners, realizing the dream of immigration

Latest News

Over 18,000 successful customers with Enterline &
Partners, realizing the dream of immigration