Getting to the USA

United States visa policy permits citizens of Canada and Bermuda to travel to the U.S. without a visa.

The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) allows citizens of participating countries to travel to the US without a visa for 90 days. Currently, 40 countries participate in the VWP. To travel, you must have authorization through ESTA prior to boarding. ESTA is the automated web-based system to determine eligibility to travel without a visa to the US. Visit the ESTA page.

All other visitors to the US require a non-immigrant visa. For more information visit the Visas page.

If you need a visa, please start the process as soon as possible, as wait times are unpredictable.

Getting a Visa Support Letter

The Association for Computing Machinery does not issue formal invitation letters for visas to attend ACM sponsored conferences. We can however issue a visa support letter.

ACM is able to provide visa support letters to attendees as well as authors with accepted papers, posters, or members of the conference committee.

For visa support letters, refer all requests to supportletters@acm.org. Please allow up to 10 business days to receive a letter. All requests are handled in the order they are received. The information below should be included with the request:

  • Your name as it appears on your passport
  • Your current postal mailing address
  • The name of the conference you are registering for. Only accepted authors may request a visa support letter prior to registering for the conference.
  • Your registration confirmation number
  • If you have any papers accepted for the conference, please provide the title and indicate whether you are the “sole author” or a “co-author”
  • Authors may indicate their paper title. If no paper, speakers can provide the title of their presentation

ACM does not provide letters for transport of vendor or presenter equipment. ACM suggests shipping the materials insured to the conference facility.