Many applicants for United States visa in Costa Rica delegate the process to a adviser to increase your chances of success. However, a common—and risky—practice could leave the applicant without control over their own process: not having access to their profile in the official system.
Sometimes, the person hired could cause serious problems, so it is key to be attentive from the beginning.
The problem arises with the profile that each applicant must create on the official visa platform. To do this, an email and password are required, which allow you to manage sensitive information about the process.
However, many times this step is carried out by the advisor and does not provide the password to the applicant. Even, in some cases, it uses a different email address than the person requesting the visa.
Given this, before hiring an advisor, you should make sure that you will have full control of your profile.
Why should you monitor your profile?
The visa profile is not a simple registration. From there you can access your personal information, the DS-160 form, the consular appointment and the payment receipts.
In addition, it allows you to follow up on the process and even advance the interview appointment, if there are spaces available.
Not having access to that profile means losing control of the process. In practice, this translates into situations such as:
- Not being able to verify if the information on the DS-160 form is correct.
- Not being able to modify or reschedule appointments.
- Completely depend on the advisor in the event of any change or inconvenience.
- Being “tied” if there are conflicts or the advisor stops responding.
There are even cases in which the person arrives at the interview without knowing exactly what was sent on their behalf.
Having access to the profile also allows you to ensure that all information presented is truthful and consistent with what you will declare to the consular officer.
Therefore, if you decide to hire a visa advisor, demand that the account be in your name, with your email and under your control. Additionally, you must receive the username and password from the beginning.
Although an advisor can assist you in the process, the applicant is solely responsible for the information presented to the consular authorities.
If you have little technological knowledge or do not have an email, you can ask a family member or trusted person to help you create one. Remember that all official notifications will be sent to that email.
