Traveling is one of the most valued experiences by people when it comes to enjoying our leisure and vacation time. However, however accustomed we are to tourism, on each trip we must take into account several aspects, especially if we want to enter the United States without problems.

If we want to go to such prominent destinations as New York, we will need to consider under what conditions we will do it and what are the different types of nonimmigrant visas for the United States available.

I don't know what his secret is, but year after year, the United States welcomes millions of tourists from all over the world: from the Asian and American continent, but also Europe. The dream of many Spaniards is to walk one day on 5th Avenue or disembark on the island of the well-known statue of liberty.

The truth is that such a trip implies more preparation than many others to which we may be accustomed; since, in addition to the significant disbursement that it may entail, it is not exempt from administrative procedures that we must comply if we want to enter the United States.

Traveling to the United States from Spain: What documentation do I need?

Since Spain became part of the European Union, it is very common that we move through countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, etc. Only with our ID. However, if we want to travel to the United States, we need to carry out a series of procedures to be able to make our tourist visit, to any of the cities of this great American continent.

The procedures are different according to our passport and the country from which we do it. For this, there are two types of documents exclusively for tourists, ESTA, and the B1 and B2 visa for Latin American countries, such as Mexico.

This is a document that must be requested by the citizens of the 38 countries that the United States exempts from visa processing. Among them is Spain, therefore, if we travel to the United States from Spain and with a Spanish passport (valid on the dates on which you make the trip), we must request that document.

This process can be carried out entirely online, so it is usually a quick process (in most cases, in 48 hours we can have the confirmation of our document; but we must be more cautious in case they reject us, for some error in the request that we have caused when filling it out). However, it is important to request it as soon as possible, to make sure we have it before traveling and not take the fright of not being able to make our trip, since, without this document; we will not be able to enter the United States.

It is also very important to keep in mind that this type of document is only valid for periods of a maximum of 90 days and, once approved, is valid for up to two years.

If we have a Spanish passport and want to enter the land on US soil, from a bordering country such as Canada, we will not have to manage any more documents than the one requested by the Canadian government itself.

B1 and B2 Visa

These are two types of visas that the United States requires from those whose passport is from countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Guatemala, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela or Uruguay, among others. Citizens of these countries will have to have these visas even if they travel from Spain.

A very important note for your tourist stay is the fact that you respect scrupulously the time spent on that visit. Since if for any reason we surpass them, we can expose ourselves to an expulsion order, which may result in not being able to step on the American country again.

In summary, if you are planning a trip to meet or go shopping in the United States, you must have the passport in order and valid on the dates of the trip (which does not expire during your stay); to process the ESTA and meet all the requirements for approval, in order to enjoy your American visit.