Q1 Visa Application

The evening of the 15th May Disney sent everyone in the July 21st arrival date (the dream team) an email stating:

Congratulations! The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has notified the US Consulate in your country of the approval of the petition that allows you to participate in the Q-1 International Cultural Representative Program at the Walt Disney World® Resort.

However... in this email was a link to the site to begin your Visa application and there was also a link to your I-797 form, BUT due to a technical glitch on the site the link they had sent us to the I-797 form was not working but after a quick email to alert them of this they replied almost instantly and said thank you for the email that they are looking into this and will notify us as soon as it is available.

Then the evening of the 16th the new link arrived. Wahoo! Although I was far too sleepy by this point to start, so I waited until the next morning as I daren't risk answering a question incorrectly due to my tiredness!

So alas, the next morning I began the application which sent you to the DS-160 form to fill out, which by the way is VERY long and requires you to be on the ball, paying close attention to detail. I was grateful I waited as one of the questions asked me to state the last five visits (and state the arrival date and the duration of your stay) I had to the United States. I have only been twice but the first time was when I was 6 so obviously I was clueless what date this would have been, but many thanks to my Dad filming every second of our holidays we were able to track this date down...magic! The form also asks several security questions which checks your intentions of your stay, your criminal background amongst other checks! There is no point in me stating what else the DS-160 form covers as I'd be here all day and I'm sure you aren't all interested to know exactly what was covered.

For the DS-160 form to be complete required a photo to be uploaded but due to the strict rules for this US Visa photo I decided to visit a photobooth and an expensive £7 (and a terrifying photo of myself) later, I had a photo I could use to upload and complete the application.


THEN I could finally book and pay for my Visa appointment, which I'll be heading to on Friday 5th June at 8:30am (Yes all Q1 Visa appointments are crazy early!)