Brit seeking advice with B2 visa application

[Fletchlives1234]

Alreeeet peeps.

I am from the U of K and I am planning a on doing the Thru hike this April. Last night I was up late researching Visas and from what I have read on Whiteblaze I think I need a B2 visa.
I think I understand the process of filling in the online application form (DS160) and then arranging an intereview etc.
Can anyone let me know who long this process is likely to take??

On filling out my visa appliaction form (DS160) they ask all manner of questions. They ask for a US point of contact. I have emailled the Appalachina Trail Conservancy to see if I can use them as a POC, as I don't know any peeps in the states.
Any advice here would be greatly appreciated on how other brits have got round this problem. Is there anyone else I could put down??

Under the "Travel information" section of the application I have put down the Hiker hostel for where I will stay in the US.
This is a service that picks peeps up from the airport in Atlanta and then takes them to the trail via an overnight stay at their hostel. Sounds like a great service and they are happy for brits to us their address for the bit of the application. Has anyone else done this? Is it sufficient to only feature the first place that you will stay at the start of the journey??

I am new to WB so please don't shoot me down in flames. I just wanna hit that friggin trail and if you have any advice that will help me with these final logistical schnizzlers then that would be well received.

Kind Regards,

Fletchlives.

[Aussie_donkey]

I got a visa from Aus through the US consulate and so long as you have all your forms filled out correctly you should get your visa on the spot (which actually means you will get in about a week when they post it to you) I also opt to pay the $30 fee to extend it to 5yrs just in case you end up having to finish it in two parts...

Part 2 is the address I just put down the name of the hostel as the only address and didn't have any problems. The DS160 makes the whole process seem a little intimidating but it's not really.

See you out there!

[Fletchlives1234]

Thanks for getting back Aussie Donks.

I agree the DS160 is pretty intimidating. Especailly the questions that ask if I am a terrorist - ha.

What about the Point of Contact info. Do you have any advice? I was planning on using the AT Conservancy, but I am awaiting a rply from them to confirm this is ok.

Kind Regards,

Fletchlives

[rickb]

Greetings,

i don't want to be one of those guys who shouts "Check the archives" because one on one answers are so often best.

That said, there is a ton of post on this subject, but the search function is not always friendly and can give you a lot of junk to sort thru if you are unfamiliar with it. I think the trick would be to go to the advanced search tab and search on Visa -- but with the "search on titles only" pull down option selected.

I just did that and saw page after page listed-- all with visa in the title.

[Coffee]

The whiteblaze search feature doesn't work that well for me. I use google instead. Type the following or some variation into a google search box:

site:whiteblaze.net us visa application

several results come up.

[Sierra2015]

We Americans do love our bureaucratic red tape. Both in and out of government. :p

Now! I will continue my thread of being unhelpful by asking where in the UK you hail from.

[Fletchlives1234]

Wow. After spending the last few months struggling to get info, Whiteblaze is proving to be kiss ass. It great to actually speak with fellow hiker peeps.
So far I have been lucky enough to speak with the guys from Zpacks and Tarp tents about my trip and they have been really helpful. It just I hit the wall with this Visa thing.


I too have struggled with the Whiteblaze search facility and have opted to use Google instead and I have uncovered some Whiteblaze posts, but none of them actually answer the questions I featured in my first post. I will take another look based on the results from the last few posts. Thanks for your help on this.

Sierra2015 - I live just outside of Oxford. My first time in your great country was last year when me and the lady spent 2 weeks in Yellowstone. That's where I got the bug.

[Fletchlives1234]

JACKPOT!

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-91420.html
It seems like I was bang on the money with the ATC as my point of contact and also putting down the Hiker Hostel as the place where I would be resting my bones.
I have dropped the peeps at the ATC an email to confirm, although I have not heard a dicky bird as yet. Do you think I can just go ahead and send the Visa application form (DS160) ASAP??

Kind Regards,

Fletchlives

[colorado_rob]

Wow. After spending the last few months struggling to get info, Whiteblaze is proving to be kiss ass.

My first time in your great country was last year when me and the lady spent 2 weeks in Yellowstone. That's where I got the bug. Kiss-ass? Well.... if we're going to let you into our country for any length of time, you're going to have to learn the proper slang.... "Kick-ass", not "Kiss-ass" ! (truly, all said in pure fun and jest).... Maybe they should have a test on the Visa application on how to spell "color" and "analyze" ??? Just kidding, really. come out to Colorado and see more of the west when you get a chance. Yellowstone is cool, but there are much cooler areas out here, and a whole lot less crowded.

[Fletchlives1234]

Bleeder! Sorry guys. I have been doing this at work under the nose of Mr boos man, so apologies for my typo. Obviously as Rob pointed out I meant KICK ASS. I will endeavour to raise my game in the future.

I agree Yellowstone was busy, but we did manage to get away from it by camping out in the backcountry. Hopefully the AT will take this a stage further.

[Sierra2015]

Bleeder! Sorry guys. I have been doing this at work under the nose of Mr boos man, so apologies for my typo. Obviously as Rob pointed out I meant KICK ASS. I will endeavour to raise my game in the future.

I agree Yellowstone was busy, but we did manage to get away from it by camping out in the backcountry. Hopefully the AT will take this a stage further.
Oh? What do you do for a living? (I'm nosy as hell. :p)

[Odd Man Out]

Another thing I can tell you is that one purpose of the interview is to prove that you are not planning to stay in the country permanently (and illegally) by overstaying your tourist visa. In fact the interviewer is required to assume that your are trying to become an illegal immigrant and it is your job to prove otherwise. The level of suspicion will vary depending on where you come from and why you are traveling here. Coming from the UK to hike is less likely to be a problem. But I know Romanians who try to come to visit relatives in the US and are successful in getting visas less than half the time.

[Fletchlives1234]

Thanks for all the great advice. I have another question.

The window I have to do the trail is from April through to mid August. I plan to start gently maybe
covering 5-10 miles / day as recommended by the book "Appalachian Trials" by Zach Davis. Then after a few weeks once my body gets used to the pain then I'll up the mileage. I certainly understand that it's more about the smiles than the miles.

However saying this I do need to book return tickets to get home. From what I understand if this isn't done then it can be difficult get your visa ok'd when you hit customs in the US.

Where do you think I should aim to get to in the time that I have available. I understand that there
are airports at Washington, New York, Boston, Portland and even Bangor in Maine.
I suppose worse case I could always try and get a ride to make up the distance that I don't manage to
cover.

Or do you think that it is entirely possible to do the whole thru hike in approx 132 days??

I have read that the key is to make sure that you book tickets where you can change the date /
time that you wish to return on. I don't think that these golden tickets will allow me to change airport though.

Can you recommend any airlines that do this?

Any advice here would be appreciated.

[Fletchlives1234]

Didn't mean to post as Bold. Ooops

[bfayer]

It is possible to hike the trail in 132, but, and keep in mind I am not a thru hiker, you would need to start strong, stay strong and take few zeros. If you take no zeros (not very reasonable), you will need to average about 16 miles a day or better every day for 132 days.

My point is you will need a bunch of 20+ mile days to make up for the zeros and short days you have at the start or because of weather or injury.

Now don't let anything I said stop you from coming. The only adventure that is a complete failure is the one one you never take. Come, hike, enjoy, make friends and memories. Let the miles worry about themselves.

[bigcranky]

Even if you finish at Katahdin, you will need to travel to get to an airport for your flight home. It doesn't really matter where that airport is -- so I would go for convenience. If it were me I'd probably get tickets for my return flight from Washington, D.C.'s Dulles airport. That's centrally located on the trail, and it's easy to get to DC from pretty much anywhere on the East Coast. Also, there are plenty of flights to Europe.

This way it doesn't matter where you end up, just plan to get off the trail a few days ahead of your flight so you can make your way to DC.

[Coffee]

Baltimore (BWI) might be a little easier to get to than Dulles. We don't have train service to Dulles yet (expected in 2018) and although there is a bus, accessing it requires being near DC itself and isn't that user friendly to tourists. Airfares also tend to be a bit cheaper at BWI for domestic flights so if you find yourself far from Baltimore at the end of your hike, you could potentially catch a cheap Southwest flight from further north to BWI prior to going back to the UK.

[bigcranky]

All true. I always forget about BWI as my inlaws live a few miles from Dulles.


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[bfayer]

All true. I always forget about BWI as my inlaws live a few miles from Dulles.


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And Reagan National which is on the Metro line from Union Station. The point being is if you can get to DC, you can get to anywhere in the U.S. or the world.

[Coffee]

Reagan National (DCA) is my preferred airport since it is just a few miles from my home and on the metro but at least 75% of the time I end up going to BWI for lower fares.

[Odd Man Out]

If your are hiking NOBO, after 120 days you will be closer to NY than DC, even if hiking slowly. Flights from DCA don't go to UK. IAD, yes, BWI, ??? From NY you could get a transatlantic flight from either Newark or JFK. I'm pretty sure any major airline can issue a flexible return ticket. You just have to pay more.