U.S. Embassy in Panama

What is a Visa?

A citizen of a foreign country who seeks to enter the United States generally must first obtain a U.S. visa, which is placed in the traveler’s passport, a travel document issued by the traveler’s country of citizenship or nationality.

Certain international travelers may be eligible to travel to the United States without a visa if they meet the requirements for visa-free travel under the Visa Waiver Program .  The Visa section of this website is all about U.S. visas for foreign citizens to travel to the United States.  If you cannot find what you are looking for here, please visit Travel.State.gov  for additional information.

Note: U.S. citizens do not need a U.S. visa for travel to the United States. When planning travel abroad a U.S. citizen may need a visa issued by the embassy or consulate of the country they wish to visit.

To help guide you through this process, the U.S. Embassy has created a “navigator” that will prompt you with a series of questions to help us better serve you. Once you have gone through the questions for your particular situation, you will be presented with guidance on how to address your specific needs. If, however, your question cannot be answered by the navigator, you will be given specific instructions on how to contact our customer service team. Correspondence following these specific instructions will typically be answered within 48 business hours. If your email does not follow the guidance set forth in the navigator and your question can easily be answered with the information provided in the navigator, YOUR EMAIL WILL NOT BE ANSWERED.