The United States of America is a large country in North America, often referred to as the “USA”, the “US”, the “United States”, “America”, or simply “the States”. It is home to the world’s third-largest population, with over 310 million people. It includes both densely populated cities with sprawling suburbs, and vast, uninhabited and naturally beautiful areas.
With its history of mass immigration dating from the 17th century, it is a “melting pot” of cultures from around the world and plays a dominant role in the world’s cultural landscape. It is famous for its wide array of popular tourist destinations, ranging from the skyscrapers of Manhattan and Chicago, to the natural wonders of Yellowstone and Alaska, to the warm, sunny beaches of Florida, Hawaii and Southern California.
The United States is not the America of television and the movies. It is large, complex, and diverse, with several distinct regional identities. Due to the vast distances involved, traveling between regions can be time-consuming and expensive.
Geography
The contiguous United States (called CONUS by US military personnel) or the “Lower 48″ (the 48 states other than Alaska and Hawaii) is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west, with much of the population living on the two coasts. Its land borders are shared with Canada to the north, and Mexico to the south. The US also shares maritime borders with Russia, Cuba, and the Bahamas.
The country has three major mountain ranges. The Appalachians extend from Canada to the state of Alabama, a few hundred miles west of the Atlantic Ocean. They are the oldest of the three mountain ranges and offer spectacular sightseeing and excellent camping spots. The Rockies are, on average, the highest in North America, extending from Alaska to New Mexico, with many areas protected as national parks. They offer hiking, camping, skiing, and sightseeing opportunities. The combined Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges are the youngest. The Sierras extend across the “backbone” of California, with sites such as Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park; the Sierras transition at their northern end into the even younger volcanic Cascade range, with some of the highest points in the country.
The Great Lakes define much of the border between the eastern United States and Canada. More inland seas than lakes, they were formed by the pressure of glaciers retreating north at the end of the last Ice Age. The five lakes span hundreds of miles, bordering the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, and their shores vary from pristine wilderness areas to industrial “rust belt” cities. They are the second-largest bodies of freshwater in the world, after the polar ice caps.
Grand Tetons, Rocky Mountains, Wyoming
Climate
The overall climate is temperate, with notable exceptions. Alaska is cold and dominated by Arctic tundra, while Hawaii and South Florida are tropical. The Great Plains are dry, flat and grassy, turning into arid desert in the far West and Mediterranean along the California coast.
In the winter, the northern and mid-western major cities can see as much as 2 feet (61 cm) of snowfall in one day, with cold temperatures. Summers are humid, but mild. Temperatures over 100°F (38°C) sometimes invade the Midwest and Great Plains. Some areas in the northern plains can experience cold temperatures of -30°F (-34°C) during the winter. Temperatures below 0°F (-18°C) sometimes reach as far south as Oklahoma.
The climate of the South also varies. In the summer, it is hot and humid, but from October through April the weather can range from 60°F (15°C) to short cold spells of 20°F (-7°C) or so.
History
What is now the United States was initially populated by indigenous peoples who migrated from northeast Asia. Today, their descendants are known as Native Americans, or American Indians. Although Native Americans are often portrayed as having lived a singular, usually primitive lifestyle, the truth is that prior to European contact, the continent was densely populated by many sophisticated societies. The Cherokee, for example, are descended from the overarching Mississippian culture which built huge mounds and large towns that covered the landscape, while the Anasazi built elaborate cliff-side towns in the Southwest. As was the case in other nations in the Americas, the primitive existence attributed to Native Americans was generally the result of mass die-offs triggered by Old World diseases such as smallpox which spread like wildfire ahead of the early European explorers. That is, by the time most Native American tribes directly encountered Europeans, they were a post-apocalyptic people.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, multiple European nations began colonizing the North American continent. Spain, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Russia established colonies in various parts of what would become the USA. Of those early settlements, it was the original British colonies in Virginia and Massachusetts that formed the cultural, political, legal and economic core of what is now known as the United States of America.
Government and politics
The United States is a federal republic comprising 50 states, the District of Columbia (Washington DC), and several dependent areas overseas. The federal government derives its power from the Constitution of the United States, the oldest written constitution in the world in continuous use. Although federal law supersedes state law in the event of an express or implied conflict (known in legal jargon as “federal preemption”), each state is considered to be a separate sovereign, maintains its own constitution and government, and retains considerable autonomy within the federation. State citizens enjoy the power to vote for federal representatives, federal senators, and the federal President.
By way of contrast, the District of Columbia and the overseas territories have limited federal representation, as they can only elect “delegates” to the federal House of Representatives who cannot participate in votes by the Committee of the Whole on the House floor. (D.C. does, however, get three electoral votes with respect to the election of the federal President.) Because they lack state sovereignty, the governments of D.C. and the territories exist at the mercy of the federal government, which theoretically could dissolve them at any time.
State and territorial laws can vary widely from one jurisdiction to another, meaning that the US actually consists of at least 54 separate legal systems with regard to any area of law not within the purview of federal law. State and territorial laws are quite uniform in some areas (eg, contracts for sales of goods) and extremely divergent in others (eg, “real estate,” the American term for immovable property). If this was not confusing enough, sovereign Native American tribes are allowed to operate their own legal systems separate from both federal and state law.
The federal government consists of the President of the United States and his administration acting as the executive branch, the United States Congress acting as the legislative branch, and the Supreme Court of the United States and lower federal courts acting as the judicial branch. State government structures are organized similarly, with governors, legislatures, and judiciaries.
The President of the United States is elected indirectly every four years by the people via an electoral college, and serves as both head of government and head of state. The Congress is bicameral; the lower House of Representatives has seats assigned to the states proportionally, while the upper house, the Senate, comprises exactly two seats per state.
Culture
The United States is made up of many diverse ethnic groups and its culture varies greatly across the vast area of the country and even within cities – a city like New York will have dozens, if not hundreds, of different ethnicities represented within a neighborhood. Despite this difference, there exists a strong sense of national identity and certain predominant cultural traits. Generally, Americans tend to believe strongly in personal responsibility and that an individual determines his or her own success or failure, but it is important to note that there are many exceptions and that a nation as diverse as the United States has literally thousands of distinct cultural traditions. One will find Mississippi in the South to be very different culturally from Massachusetts in the North.
Units of measure
The United States is the only industrialized country that has still not adopted metric units of measure in daily life (it still uses the customary English units that were in use prior to the revolution, similar to the later British imperial system, but typically with smaller units as one of the major differences), except for scientific, engineering, and military applications.
All road signs and speed limits are posted in miles and miles per hour respectively. Automotive fuel prices and the capacity of liquid products are quoted and sold per gallon, quart, or ounce. Temperatures are reported in Fahrenheit only; 32 degrees (with units unspecified) is freezing and not at all warm. The good news is that most cars on the road in the US have both miles and kilometers indicated by their speedometers (good for trips to Canada and Mexico), and almost all groceries and household items sold in stores are labeled in both systems. The vast majority of Americans, though, have little day-to-day exposure to the metric system (apart from having studied it a little in school) and will assume some understanding of customary measures.
In addition, the US government does not regulate apparel or shoe sizes. Although there are informal standard sizes, they are not strictly enforced. The only thing you can count on is that sizes tend to be consistent within the same brand. If you plan to shop for apparel or shoes, you will have to do some trial-and-error for each brand to determine what fits, because you cannot rely on any brand’s sizes as equivalent to another’s.
Electricity
For more information: Electrical systems
Electricity in the United States is provided to consumers in the form of 120 V, 60 Hz alternating current, through wall outlets that take NEMA 1 or NEMA 5 plugs. (NEMA stands for National Electrical Manufacturers Association.) NEMA 1 plugs have two flat, blunt blades (don’t worry, they’re not sharp), one of which may or may not be polarized (slightly larger than the other), to ensure that the hot and neutral blades are inserted correctly for devices for which that matters. NEMA 5 plugs add a round grounding pin below the blades. All US buildings constructed or renovated after the early 1960s are required to have three-hole outlets that accept the two blades and one pin of NEMA 5 plugs, as well as both polarized and unpolarized NEMA 1 two-blade plugs.
All of North America and nearly all of the Caribbean and Central America follows US standards for electricity and plugs. If you are arriving from outside of those areas, you will need to verify whether your electrical devices are compatible with US electricity and plugs. The rest of the world uses 220-230 V at 50 Hz, for the simple reason that they began large-scale electrification at much later dates than the US and after wire insulation technology had significantly advanced. This meant they could select a higher voltage and lower frequency, which required less conductor material (meaning less use of expensive metals) but at the expense of more insulation and larger, more heavily insulated plugs.
Law and bureaucracy
The US federal government has five separate agencies with jurisdiction over visitors.
The most important one from a visitor’s perspective is Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a bureau of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The CBP’s Office of Field Operations operates 20 Field Operations offices which supervise immigration and customs inspection stations at over 320 ports of entry. All travelers entering the United States must undergo immigration and customs inspection to ensure lawful entry. All US citizens and nationals and visitors who can qualify for the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) (as explained further below) generally encounter only CBP officers.
If you cannot enter the US through the VWP, you must visit a US Embassy or Consulate in your home country to apply for and obtain a visa, which will often require a short visa interview with a US consular officer. US Embassies and Consulates are operated by the Bureau of Consular Affairs of the US Department of State.
If you attempt to unlawfully cross a US land border at any other point besides a port of entry, you may encounter the U.S. Border Patrol, which is also part of CBP.
If you attempt to unlawfully come ashore in the US from a body of water at any other point besides a port of entry, you may encounter the U.S. Coast Guard, which is normally part of DHS (but can operate as part of the Department of Defense in wartime).
Finally, if you unlawfully enter the US, commit a severe crime in the US, or overstay your visa, you will likely encounter officers from the division of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), another DHS bureau. ICE operates a gigantic system of immigration detention facilities. Strict compliance with US law during your stay is strongly recommended. ICE is frequently criticized by human rights organizations like Amnesty International for ongoing problems with substandard healthcare and human rights violations.
Planning and pre-arrival documentation
Visa-free entry
Citizens of the 37 countries within the Visa Waiver Program, as well as Canadians, Mexicans living on the border (holding a Border Crossing Card), and Bermudians (with British Overseas Territories passports) do not require advance visas for entry into the United States.
For Canadians and Bermudians, the entry period is normally for a maximum of six months. However, entry may still be refused on the basis of a criminal record. Those who have criminal records should seek out a US embassy for advice on whether they need a visa.
For travelers under the Visa Waiver Program, the entry period is strictly limited to 90 days (see additional requirements below).
As of October 2012, the countries under the Visa Waiver Program are Andorra, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brunei, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.
Citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau may enter, reside, study, and work in the US indefinitely with only a valid passport.
Citizens of the Bahamas may apply for visa-free entry only at the US Customs pre-clearance facilities in the Bahamas, but a valid police certificate may be required for those over the age of 14. Attempting to enter through any other port of entry requires a valid visa.
Persons holding a passport from the Cayman Islands, if they intend to travel directly to the US from there, may obtain a single-entry visa waiver for about $25 prior to departure.
Visa Waiver Program requirements
Travel under the Visa Waiver Program is limited to tourism or business purposes only; neither employment nor journalism is permitted with a Visa Waiver. The 90-day limit cannot be extended nor will travel to Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean reset the 90-day limit. Take care if transiting through the US on a trip exceeding 90 days to Canada and/or Mexico.
Travelers entering the US through the Visa Waiver program must apply for Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) approval on-line before their flights, preferably 72 hours before travel. An ESTA approval is valid for two years (unless your passport expires earlier) and costs $14.
Entry under the Visa Waiver program by air or sea also requires that you are using a signatory carrier. It is a fairly safe assumption that commercial scheduled services to the US will be fine. But if you are on a chartered flight or vessel you should check the status of the carrier, as you may require a visa.
Travelers entering by air or sea must also have a return/onward ticket out of the United States. If the return/onward ticket terminates in Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, or any Caribbean island, the traveler must be a legal resident of that country/territory. If traveling by land, there is a $7.00 fee when crossing the border. Before VWP travelers commence their journeys, they must apply electronically for authorization to travel (ESTA) through the ESTA website. If approved, it allows the traveler to commence his journey to the US but (as with any visa or entry permit) it does not guarantee entry.
Obtaining a Visa
For the rest of the world, or for those who don’t fit the profile of a Visa Waiver Program entry (e.g., need to stay more than 90 days) the visa application fee is a non-refundable $160 (as of April 2012) for visas that are not issued on the basis of a petition and $190 for those that are. This fee is sometimes waived under very limited circumstances, namely for people requesting certain exchange visitor visas.
Under US law, all persons requesting entry as non-immigrants are presumed to be immigrants (that is, trying to permanently migrate) until they overcome that presumption by presenting evidence of “binding ties” to their home country as well as sufficient proof that the visit will be temporary. To obtain a visa, face-to-face interviews at the nearest US embassy or consulate are required for nearly all nationalities. When the US rejects a visa application, it is usually because the applicant did not show enough binding ties to his or her home country to convince the consular officer that they will not try to overstay their visa. Since waits for interview slots and visa processing can add up to several months, you must start researching how to obtain a visa well in advance of your planned departure date. If you do not live close to a US consulate, you will need to set aside a day (or two) to travel to the closest consulate for the visa interview.
Arriving in the United States
Before arrival, if you are not a Canadian or Bermudian, you will receive either a white I-94 (if entering with a visa) or green I-94W (if entering on a visa waiver) form to complete.
I-94 forms are now used primarily at land ports of entry. As October 2013, the I-94 paper form is now optional for virtually all visitors arriving by common carrier at air and sea ports of entry. CBP now has arrangements in place to electronically receive manifest information directly from all major common carriers. From the manifests, CBP’s computers create and maintain electronic I-94 records for all passengers who are foreign visitors. CBP operates a Web site where visitors may view their own electronic I-94 record while they are still in the United States.
When you reach a CBP immigration checkpoint, you will undergo a short interview if you are not a citizen or resident of the United States. A CBP officer will attempt to determine if the purpose of your visit is valid. Usually, the determination of admissibility is made in a minute or less.
Otherwise, you may be referred to further questioning in a more private area. At that stage the CBP officers will likely search your possessions, and may read any documents, letters or diaries found in your possession. Do not bring anything that could imply you intend to permanently immigrate or otherwise violate the terms of your visa. For example, you should not be carrying work-related or sales materials if you are entering on a tourist visa. If you are unable to convince the CBP officers that you will abide by the terms of your visa (or VWP ESTA authorization if applicable), it can be cancelled on the spot, and you will be denied entry.
Like immigration and customs officials everywhere, CBP officials are humorless about any kind of security threat. Even the most flippant joke implying that you pose a threat can result in lengthy interrogation at best, and summary expulsion at worst.
For non-residents, your entry forms will need to state the street address of the location where you will be staying for the first night. This should be arranged in advance. The name of your hotel, hostel, university, etc. is not sufficient; you must provide the street name and number.
Once you are admitted, the departure portion of your I-94 or I-94W will be stapled to your passport (if you were required to fill it out). Keep it safe as you will need to give it CBP upon departure from the US. In the alternative, even if you weren’t required to fill out a I-94, the CBP officer will place an “alien admission stamp” in your passport which shows that you were granted admission to the United States.
At Customs
All travelers entering the US (including US citizens, nationals, and permanent residents) must fill out the Customs Declaration form, CBP Form 6059B, a blue-colored form in the shape of a tall narrow rectangle. It used to be distributed on the plane, but some airlines now hand it out at check-in for flights to the US.
If you are traveling with family members, then only one form per family is required to be filled out. Normally, the head of the family is responsible for ensuring the declaration is accurate.
The Customs Declaration form asks you to declare whether you are bringing with you a variety of heavily regulated items, such as more than USD $10,000 in cash. In addition, you must list on the back side all goods that you are permanently bringing into the US and leaving there (such as foreign gifts for US-based friends and family). The Form 6059B is notorious for not having enough space on the back, so ask for and fill out multiple forms if you have many items to declare.
After you are admitted into the US and retrieve your bags from the baggage claim, you will proceed to the secondary inspection area (the customs checkpoint). Hand your customs declaration to the officer. Most of the time, the officer will point you to the exit and that will be it.
Sometimes, the officer may ask you a few routine questions and then let you go. The officer may refer you to an adjacent X-ray machine to have your bags inspected or may refer you for a manual hand search of your bags. Any search more intrusive than a bag search is rare and is usually indicated only if some sort of probable cause has been established through questioning or during the bag search to suggest suspicious activity.
After Customs
As noted above, all inbound citizens, nationals, and visitors must pass through immigration and customs at their first point of entry, regardless of whether they have connections to other destinations inside the US. Many major hubs have special arrangements for travelers with connecting flights such as a bag drop, check-in counter or security checkpoint just for the use of connecting passengers (you will need to re-clear security because you had access to your bags while passing through customs). Some hubs do not, meaning that you may need to proceed to domestic check-in with regular domestic passengers.