Visitor Visa for Parents: How to Bring Your Parents to the USA

Which visa do parents use to visit the United States?

Parents use the visitor visa, formally the B-2 category, often called a tourist visa. The regulation lists visits with friends or relatives as a pleasure purpose. The visa is temporary, forbids work, and requires the parents to intend to leave at the end of the visit.

The State Department's Visitor Visa page lists a visit with friends or relatives among the B-2 activities and says a visitor visa holder may not work (Visitor Visa; 22 CFR 41.31). The India consulate guide covers the applicant's side of the process, and the B-1/B-2 visa guide covers the visa itself. If your parents want to live in the United States, that is a different route: see visitor visa or green card for parents.

How do parents apply for a visitor visa, step by step?

Each parent completes a DS-160, pays the application fee, books two appointments, one at a visa application center and one at the embassy or a consulate in India, and attends the interview. After approval the passport is returned with the visa. Do not buy tickets before the visa is issued.

1. Apply in India. The State Department asks nonimmigrant visa applicants to schedule in their country of nationality or residence (notice, updated July 15, 2026). The embassy in New Delhi and the consulates in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai handle visitor visas (ustraveldocs, Step 5).
2. DS-160 for each parent. Each person, including a spouse, needs a separate DS-160, submitted at least two business days before the interview; its barcode must match the one used to book (ustraveldocs, Step 2).
3. Fee and appointments. Pay the fee, keep the receipt number, then book the visa application center visit and the interview. India allows one reschedule (ustraveldocs, Step 4).
4. Interview. Generally required for every applicant, including those over 79; a waiver remains for some B-1/B-2 renewals (interview-waiver update). See interview questions for parents.
5. Visa and passport. If approved, the passport returns with the visa. Do not make final travel plans or buy tickets until the visa is issued.
6. Arrival. A CBP officer decides admission and the length of stay; see what happens at the port of entry.

Is an invitation letter needed, and is there a sample?

No letter is needed to apply. The State Department says a letter of invitation or Affidavit of Support is not needed for a visitor visa and is not a decision factor, while U.S. Customs and Border Protection advises a host to confirm an invitation in writing for the border. A sample is below.

Copy the sample into a document, replace every bracketed item, and sign it, or use the free invitation letter generator, which fills it in from your details. CBP says the written confirmation, with your full name and address, does not guarantee admission but helps the officer assess the situation (CBP Information Center).

[date]

To Whom It May Concern

Subject: Invitation for [full name(s) as in the passport] to visit the United States

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to invite my parents, [full name(s) as in the passport], to visit me in the United States from [arrival date] to [departure date]. They will stay with me at [address in the United States].

I am a U.S. citizen. I live at [your address in the United States].

They live in [home country].

The purpose of the visit is to spend time with family.

My parents will pay for their own travel and expenses.

They plan to return to [home country] at the end of the visit. I understand that they must leave the United States before the authorized stay ends and that the decisions on the visa and on admission belong to the U.S. officers who review them.

Please contact me at [phone number] or [email address] if you need any further information.

Sincerely,

[your full name]

Enclosed: a copy of my U.S. passport.

If an officer asks for evidence of support, a Form I-134 is one option the Foreign Affairs Manual names; see when the I-134 applies.

How much does a visitor visa for parents cost?

The visa application fee for a B-1/B-2 visitor visa is $185 per person, paid whether or not a visa is issued. India's schedule lists no separate issuance fee for B visas. A visa integrity fee of at least $250 is in federal law, but we found no official notice that anyone is yet charged it.

Sources: the State Department fee page, 22 CFR 22.1, the India reciprocity schedule, Public Law 119-21 and Form G-1055. The $750 paid-expedite pilot for visitor visa interviews is not offered in India (State Department). Check the fee page when you book, because the integrity fee could start without a change to this guide. The cost of an extension is in extending a parent's B-2 stay.

How much money do parents need to show?

No official minimum exists. The regulation asks the officer to be satisfied that adequate financial arrangements have been made for the visit and the departure, officers decide each case, and the State Department says another person may show that they will cover some or all of the costs. Any specific balance quoted online is not official.

As the host, you can show that you will pay for the trip with a signed statement of who pays, which the invitation letter carries, and with bank or employer evidence if an officer asks. The full answer, with the sources, is in how much money parents need to show.

How long does it take to get a visitor visa for parents?

The wait for an interview appointment varies by consulate and changes, and no guide can promise a total. The State Department publishes an estimate for each Indian consulate, and its estimates exclude administrative processing and passport return. Check the tracker for the consulate your parents will use, and book as early as their plans allow.

The State Department says its published wait times do not include administrative processing or the time to return the passport (Visa Appointment Wait Times). The India visa service says most administrative processing is resolved within 180 days of the interview and asks applicants to wait at least that long before inquiring, except in emergencies (ustraveldocs, 221(g)). For the applicant's view with the live table, see the India consulate guide.

How long can parents stay, and is there an age limit?

CBP sets the stay at the port of entry each time, and the I-94 date is the only date that counts. The regulation allows up to one year and sets a six-month minimum in the ordinary case. The visa itself can be valid for up to ten years, which is a different thing. No age limit appears in the rules we read.

State's reciprocity schedule lists multiple-entry B visas valid for up to 120 months for Indian nationals, and an officer can issue less in an individual case (India schedule; 22 CFR 41.112). The details, including overstay consequences, are in how long parents can stay on a visitor visa; to stay longer, see extending a parent's B-2 stay.

What changes if the host is a citizen, a green card holder, an H-1B holder or an F-1 student?

For the visa, nothing in the rules we read depends on the host's status: all four can host parents on a B-2. The difference is the longer route. Only a U.S. citizen aged 21 or older can petition for a parent to immigrate. A green card holder, H-1B holder or F-1 student cannot.

The reasoning and sources are in can a citizen or green card holder sponsor parents for a tourist visa and visitor visa or green card for parents.

What is the “$5,000 parent visa”?

There is no parent visa that costs $5,000. The figure was the lowest tier of the B-1/B-2 visa bond, a refundable bond that applies to visitors from certain countries and ran from August 20, 2025 to August 2, 2026. Since August 3, 2026 the tiers are $10,000, $15,000 and $20,000.

The requirement follows the passport, not the parents' relationship to you. The State Department's list, last updated on October 2, 2026, names 50 countries, including Nepal and Bangladesh, and does not include India (countries subject to visa bonds; final rule). Read the visa bond explained and check the live list before your parents book.

What happens after the visa is issued?

Your parents travel, a CBP officer inspects them and sets the date to leave, and they should carry their medicines, your address and any letter. If the visit needs more time they file Form I-539 before the I-94 date. Staying past that date voids the visa and can bar future return.

• What happens at the port of entry: CBP's questions, photographs, medicines, food and secondary inspection.
• Extending a parent's B-2 stay with Form I-539: when to file, the fee, and what a pending request does.
• How long parents can stay: the I-94 date, side trips and the three- and ten-year bars.
• Health cover: no official page we read requires insurance, but the State Department screens for visitors who cannot cover their own medical costs; see do parents need health insurance.

Changes to this page

• October 11, 2026. First published, written for the host in the United States. Eight supporting guides and the invitation letter generator were published the same day. The State Department's pages block automated readers, so their text was read on adoption.state.gov, a State Department site that serves the same pages; confirm the wording on the live pages before relying on a fee or a rule. The US Mission India and ustraveldocs pages carry no publication date; they were read on October 11, 2026.

Sources