Puerto rico

Thinking about a place in which we would like to spend our holidays, we often “rack our brains”, sorting through thousands of Internet resources, guides and the opinions of acquaintances. In one place beautiful nature, incredible snow-white beaches, five-star hotels with excellent service, but ticket prices are so “biting” that you are unwillingly trying to come up with something else. In another place, everything is rather modest, there are not very many sights or dizzying natural beauty, but the price tag is spinning wildly before your eyes, luring you to get another tour to a “good place”.

So what to do? I, as a tourist who has seen quite a few different islands, will help in choosing. Ladies and gentlemen, I bring to your attention a wonderful, quiet and calm country of Puerto Rico!

This small, but extremely hospitable state is ready to receive every tourist, and it does not matter how experienced you are. It will be fun for everyone: little fidget babies, energetic young people, and experienced mature tourists. Hot sunny atmosphere, water activities, Spanish flavor, mind-fogging food … Will there still be! In this article, I will explain why Puerto Rico will be your next destination.

Visa and border crossing
Like any other trip, ours begins with a visa. Puerto Rico, although considered a “free state,” is entirely and completely dependent on its influential US neighbor. Well, if you became the lucky holder of a valid American visa or, more interestingly, you are a loyal US citizen, then the path from Moscow to San Juan will be a couple of weeks shorter. Unfortunately, there are not many of us, so I will share with you experience on how to get an American visa in Moscow.

The first step is to visit the website of the US Consulate. You can find a link to the site here. In the left column, find the item “Applying for a non-immigrant visa” and then “Applying for a visa”. On this wonderful page there are three main tasks that we have to solve, by all means:

Payment of the consular fee. For a tourist visa it will be necessary to pay 160 USD. Be careful: the visa fee is not refundable, even in case of refusal to issue a visa. Payments are made by Russian Standard Bank, and at the end of the process, you can receive a receipt for payment by mail, which should be printed out and taken with you to the consulate.
Filing an application DS-160 online. This application is required for every citizen who wants to obtain a US visa. Here I will give you some tips that will help a lot:
Be sure to prepare all the documents BEFORE you start filling out the questionnaire (passport data, information about the place and address of work, phone numbers of your parents, etc.). Any information available. A certain amount of time will be allocated for the design of all points. If you do not have time to fill out all the questions, then you have to fill out everything anew, which, frankly, is not at all fun.
Be prepared to answer the most ridiculous, at first glance, questions: “Are you going to transport, sell or distribute weapons, drugs, etc.?” Or “Have you ever been in sects or banned organizations?”. Honestly, such questions occupy the lion’s share of the entire questionnaire, confusing, so at some point I really want to joke the cross next to the answer “yes” … Be careful! Answer all questions exclusively “no”, otherwise instead of the coveted stamp in your passport you will receive a lifelong ban on entering the country.
Prepare the photo in advance in electronic form, as it will be needed when filling out the questionnaire. And here she is! The finish line, of course.
Appointment for an interview. Here you will be asked to choose a suitable day and time for visiting the Consulate. At the very end, you will receive a confirmation of the interview record, which you also need to print and bring with you. On the site you can change the day and time of the interview if necessary.

Tip: it’s best to choose a time close to the discovery itself. Drive to the Consulate 15-20 minutes earlier than the time allotted to you, as the queue starts to be collected in advance and there is a chance that you can go through the whole interview a little faster. Also, immediately think about where you can leave your tablet or any other electronic devices, especially charging! With them you just can’t get inside! If you do not have the opportunity to leave things somewhere or with someone while you are inside, then an inconspicuous young man is standing right next to the Consulate. He takes away everything that cannot be carried inside. At the end, you can take everything back for a small fee (it depends on the level of your generosity). Regarding telephones, I can also immediately tell you one detail: at the entrance, the phone will have to be handed over to the locker inside the Consulate. At the end of the interview, you can also pick him up in a special window near the entrance to the building.