Which country are you from?

Most visitors are eligible for a 10 year visa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_the_United_Stat... (see section "Validity period").

Unfortunately, the treatment might not be the best. In that case, you can probably apply for a Canadian/UK/Schengen visa and get 80% of the effect without much of the hassle.

As for the girl, I'm not sure why she would think she would be let back in after being arrested in the US.

I am from India and have a permanent residence in one of the European countries and yet my application goes to administrative processing each time taking several weeks and affects my travel plans even after applying well in advance.

As for the girl it didn’t seem like a serious crime. But anyway I am only complaining about lack of privacy at the booths. And she was not arrested in the US. She was arrested in her country of residence. She had never been to US!

> And she was not arrested in the US. She was arrested in her country of residence. She had never been to US!

Isn't countries' embassies technically the territory of that country (as opposed to the country of whichever city it's located)?

That's the popular portrayal, but the reality is more complicated; the territory doesn't change hands, but the rights and responsibilities of the two states are governed by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, which exempts the premise from most controls of the recieving state (but, for instance, radios can only be installed on the premises with the permission of the receiving State.)

LOL that’s a paradox then you are entering the country to get the visa to enter into the country!

> Most visitors are eligible for a 10 year visa

It's up to the person in the embassy to decide. Just because you're eligible for it, doesn't mean you'll get it.

For my country, it's either 6 months or 10 years. I got a 10 year one, but a person in front of me got a six months one.

Usually arrests/criminal records are only problems if it would be an offence under US law. Getting arrested for drinking alcohol in Iran won’t/shouldn’t bother the US.

DUI isn’t a serious offence in the US, so that’s ok too.

"DUI isn’t a serious offence in the US, so that’s ok too."

It's definitively very serious, and can be enough to get a visa denied.

I'd like to agree with you, but I once found myself as the only person in a mid-sized firm who didn't have one on my record. It was an eye-opener.

And they all went through hassles and spent a lot of money to resume a normal life.

That's a highly understated way of putting it.

Very serious? Millions of people in the US have one with no serious effects on them whatsoever (I'm talking of DIU and being caught, not hitting someone on it). E.g.:

"The penalties for drunk driving vary among states and jurisdictions. It is not uncommon for the penalties to be different from county to county within any given state depending on the practices of the individual jurisdiction. Some jurisdictions require jail time and larger fines, even on a first offense. For instance, Ohio requires a mandatory 72-hour jail sentence for a first offense conviction; however, the jail time component is satisfied by attendance of the Ohio A.W.A.R.E. Program, which is a 72-hour alcohol-education program. Compared to many other countries, such as Sweden, penalties for drunk driving in the United States are considered less severe unless alcohol is involved in an incident causing injury or death of another, such DUI, DWI or OWI with Great Bodily Injury (GBI) or Vehicular Manslaughter."

"Wisconsin regards first offense drunk driving as a municipal offense, and New Jersey treats all drunk driving cases without serious injury or death as traffic violations."

You're talking about people already in the US (citizens/residents). If you're trying to get a US visa from your country and you have a DUI on your record, it makes it much more difficult to get approved.

FYI, a US citizen with a DUI will likely get denied entry into Canada -- you usually need to be deemed "rehabilitated" or be granted a temporary stay visa before allowed in.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/402/~/entering-...

You’re being pretty selective there. MANY states require an Ignition Interlock Device:

http://www.ncsl.org/research/transportation/state-ignition-i...

This not only costs thousands of dollars – a very significant amount of money to the vast majority of Americans – but it also SEVERELY limits an individual’s ability to drive a work vehicle.

Yes, prison time is not always involved, but the financial cost of a DUI can be quite serious.

We're talking about people trying to visit/immigrate. The US is a very different country if you're a Citizen or not.

Got my H1B with a wet reckless offense (still a DUI I think). No question asked at the embassy. I even figured out later that I went to the embassy while having a warrant (lawyer never went to court because he died 2 days before).

It doesn’t mean you need to drink and drive or that it will apply to you, I think I just went crazy lucky that day at the embassy.

Yeah it's probably not 100% hit for sure. Some people in my University had questions when renewing their (student) visa because they got a DUI driving a bicycle.

Canada sometimes denies entry to US citizens who have been convicted of DUI. They have a data sharing system in place and can check US criminal records on the spot.

Yep a friend of mine is banned from Canada for that.

If you’ve got the money, there are a couple of good ways around that. This article seemed to explain it pretty well:

https://www.adamgreenmanlaw.com/blog/can-you-go-to-canada-wi...

Iranian nationals are currently barred from travelling to the US, so I imagine a criminal record is not even necessary to get the visa denied.

From personal experience, depends a lot on the age of the applicant. My wife got a 1 year visa. My in-laws got 10 year visas even though they applied together.

Older people find it easy to get for one simple reason. They don't stay for long. And if they do, they are already old. So they won't abscond or go missing to stay as illegal immigrants.

Young people are likely to stay for long, some times even tear their passports and throw away to become illegal immigrants.

Also there have been cases when elderly people from India visit the US on a B1/B2 Visa, and then work hourly wages as nannies.