Invitation Letter for Parents Visiting the USA

Do my parents need an invitation letter for a visitor visa?

No. The State Department says a letter of invitation or an Affidavit of Support is not needed to apply for a visitor visa, and a letter brought to the interview is not one of the factors used to issue or deny the visa. Parents qualify on their own ties abroad.

A consular officer can still ask for more. The Foreign Affairs Manual says that when the evidence does not show adequate provision for the visitor's support during the stay and the return, the officer may request specific financial evidence, such as a letter of invitation, a Form I-134 from a sponsor or a surety bond. The same section calls this a matter of the officer's discretion and says a brief visit may not need evidence of the host's finances (9 FAM 302.8).

The letter therefore does two modest things. It puts the trip details in one place, and it gives the host something to hand over if an officer asks who is hosting. It does not replace the parents' own evidence of ties to their home country, such as a job, a home or family. The I-134 guide explains the one form the Manual names for a sponsor's financial support.

What should an invitation letter for parents include?

A host's invitation letter states who is inviting whom, how they are related, when the visit starts and ends, where the parents will stay, why they are coming and who pays for what. The host signs it and adds contact details. The generator above follows that order.

The State Department's visitor visa page publishes no template and sets no format. The items below are the facts a consular or border officer is likely to want, written in the host's own words.

• The host. Full name, address, phone, email and immigration status in the United States, with a note of the document the host can enclose to show it.
• The parents. Full names as they appear in the passports, home address, country and the relationship to the host.
• The visit. Arrival and departure dates, the address where the parents will stay and the reason for the trip, such as a family visit, a grandchild's birth, a graduation or a wedding.
• Who pays. Which costs the parents cover and which the host covers. Write only what is true.
• Ties to the home country (optional). Facts the host knows, such as a job, a home or a planned return date, in the host's words.
• Signature and date. The host signs the printed letter and dates it.

How do I fill in and use the invitation letter generator?

Enter the host's and the parents' details, read the live preview, then copy, download or print the letter and sign it. Any field left empty appears as a bracketed placeholder, so the preview shows what is still missing before the letter is used.

1. Enter your name, address, contact details and immigration status.
2. Enter your parents' names as in their passports, the visit dates and the address where they will stay.
3. Choose who pays for what and fill in any optional lines. Leave a line empty and the letter omits it.
4. Replace every bracketed placeholder and check each date against the flight booking.
5. Copy the text, download it as a .txt file, or print it or save it as a PDF from the print dialog. Sign the printed page.
6. Keep a copy. Your parents can carry the signed page with their other travel papers.

What should an invitation letter not say?

An invitation letter should not promise an outcome, should not call itself a sponsorship, and should not state anything the host cannot back up. No letter can guarantee a visa, because the officer decides on the parents' own purpose, ties and funds.

• No guarantee. The generator never writes that a visa will be approved. It states the planned dates and leaves the decision to the officer.
• No legal undertaking the host does not intend. A visitor visa has no sponsor, and an I-134 is a separate form with its own terms. The sponsorship guide explains the difference.
• No false details. Willfully misrepresenting a material fact to obtain a visa or admission makes a person inadmissible under section 212(a)(6)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The host's signature stands behind every line.

Who can write the invitation letter for a parent's visit?

Any host in the United States can write it: a citizen, a green card holder, or a person on a work or student visa such as H-1B or F-1. Nothing the State Department publishes for visitor visas depends on the host's status, so the letter simply states that status.

The Foreign Affairs Manual names the parents of temporary workers and students as visitors who belong in the B-2 category when they cannot get derivative status (9 FAM 402.2). The sponsorship guide sets out what changes, and what does not, for each host status.

Should parents carry the invitation letter at the port of entry?

Yes, it is worth carrying. U.S. Customs and Border Protection advises a host who has invited someone and will provide lodging and meals to confirm the invitation in writing, with the host's full name and address, so the visitor has something to show the officer. CBP says it does not guarantee admission but helps the officer assess the situation.

That advice comes from CBP's Information Center (CBP, Do foreign visitors need a certain amount of money to enter the United States?). The same article says a visitor must be able to show an officer enough funds for travel, lodging and meals, and that when funds are limited the officer judges admissibility on the explanation given. The State Department's statement that a letter is not needed concerns the visa decision; CBP's advice concerns the border. No CBP page we read requires the letter.

CBP also says its officers may question any person coming into the country under oath to determine admissibility (CBP, Immigration Inspection Program). What officers ask, and what parents can expect, is in what happens at the port of entry with parents on a B-2.

Does this letter generator save or send what I type?

No. The letter is built in your browser from the details you enter. Nothing is sent to WaitDelta or saved on a server, and nothing is stored in the browser, so reloading or closing the page clears the form.

Copying, downloading and printing all happen on your device. If you share the finished letter, you share only what you chose to put in it.

Changes to this page

• October 11, 2026. First published. The State Department's visitor visa page blocks automated readers, so its text was read on adoption.state.gov, a State Department site that serves the same pages. Confirm the wording on the live page.

Sources