Some of the questions in the form feel intrusive. They are not ours: they are the questions the US authorities ask on the official application, and we cannot leave them out.

Your name, date and place of birth and passport details have to match your passport character for character. This is the single most common cause of a problem, and it is why we check them against your passport photo rather than trusting the typing.

The authorities want to know where you will be. Your hotel counts, as does a rental, or the name and address of the person you are visiting.

If you genuinely do not know yet, say so rather than inventing something. There is an accepted way to record that a contact is not yet known, and an invented address is a false declaration.

Someone who is not travelling with you, who could be reached if something happened. A parent, a sibling, a friend, a colleague. They are not contacted for any other reason.

Current employment, or your situation if you are retired, studying or not currently working. There is no right answer here and none of the options counts against you.

The official form asks for them, including for children. If a parent is unknown or deceased, there is a way to record that.

This one is optional. You may give the accounts you use, or state that you have no online presence. Leaving it blank is allowed and is not treated as a refusal to answer.

A set of direct questions about health, criminal history, previous visa refusals and travel to certain countries. Only you can answer them, and we never answer them for you. There is a separate article explaining what they cover.

Tell us rather than guessing. An answer you invented to get through the form is a false declaration on an official application, and the consequences of that land on you, not on us.