Illegal Work in the U.S.: Paying the Price

Check out our latest video, “Illegal Work in the U.S.: Paying the Price” on the consequences of working illegally in the United States.

Over the past few years, some Israelis wanting to work in the United States have told interviewing officers that they planned to go to the United States only for tourism. This video shows what happens when they are caught having worked illegally, either at the port of entry or at their workplace. What can follow is detention, possibly a court hearing, and then an immediate return to Israel along with a multi-year ban on future travels to the United States. This video features Israelis speaking honestly about their experience. We hope you'll agree with them that the price of breaking U.S. immigration law is too high!

The United States welcomes all Israelis who want to work legally or travel for tourism. Please obey the terms of your visa and have a great trip to the United States!

Intercountry Adoption Guide for American Citizens

Each year the United States welcomes more children into homes through intercountry adoption than any other country.

Adoption is a wonderful way for many orphaned children to find a loving, permanent home. However, the process of adopting a child from another country—and following all the regulations—can be confusing.

While the procedures vary from country to country, under U.S. law, there are two general processes that families must follow: the Hague Convention process, or the non-Hague Convention process. Which one you follow will depend on whether or not the other country involved is also a party to the Hague Convention.

Regardless of which process you use, most adoptions will include the following steps:

1) Selecting your adoption service provider;

2) Gaining approval to adopt abroad from the Department of Homeland Security (USCIS);

3) Being matched with a child;

4) Adopting or obtaining legal custody of the child in the foreign country;

5) Applying for a visa from the American Embassy or Consulate for the child to move to the United States;

6) Traveling home with your child.

Ready to get started? The State Department is here to help.

To learn more about country specific requirements, download the State Department’s Intercountry Adoption Guide at http://adoption.state.gov/content/pdf/Intercountry_Adoption_From_A_Z.pdf. Or, you can visit our website http://adoption.state.gov for answers to many international adoption questions.

You Spoke, and We Listened!

A few months ago, the U.S. Embassy sent out a customer service survey asking for your opinion of the Visa Section and what improvements we could make. More than 4,500 visa applicants responded! We appreciate each of you who took the time to complete the survey and want you to know how valuable your feedback has been. 

Of particular mention are the high scores we received for the courtesy and professionalism of our local staff and the American officers. As you know, customer service is one of our top priorities, so we’re happy to know our staff are receiving top marks. We also welcomed your suggestions for improvements. Your two most common requests were for: 1) more seating in our waiting room, and 2) a shorter wait at the Embassy. You spoke, and we listened!

We have now added 50 more chairs to our waiting room so you can sit down while you’re waiting for your interview with the consular officer. We also made a few internal changes to our procedures to reduce your wait time at the Embassy, which is now 30 minutes less!  Additionally, we produced the video, “Get Through the Visa Line Faster,” to show you how to make your visit to the Embassy as quick and efficient as possible.   

The U.S. Embassy is committed to making the visa application experience as straightforward as possible and we appreciate your feedback—year round! Thanks to your feedback we were able to significantly improve the visa experience for our applicants by increasing the number of chairs by 500% and decreasing the amount of time spent in the waiting room by 30%. 

Feel free to email us at NIVTelAviv@state.gov or leave a comment on our Facebook page with suggestions on how we can do even better. You can also read our customer service statement to visa applicants online at http://travel.state.gov/visa/visa_2796.html.