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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, 37 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

As part of the visa application process, you may be required to provide 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.
Please note that the ACM does not issue formal letters of invitation to any ACM-sponsored conferences.

To request a visa support letter, register for the conference and then email your request to supportletters@acm.org.
The request should include the following information:

  1. Your name as it appears on your passport
  2. Current postal mailing address
  3. The name of the conference you wish to attend (PLDI 2019)
  4. Your Registration Confirmation Number (Registration typically opens 3 months prior to the conference)
  5. If you have a paper accepted, provide title and indicate if you are ‘sole’ or ‘co-’ author

Visa support letter requests are handled in the order they are received. You should allow 7-10 business days to receive it. They are issued via e-mail and the original is mailed to your postal address.

Please note that support letters will only be sent to participants who have registered and paid for the conference. Should participants withdraw from the conference after the issuance of a support letter, the consulate will be notified of the withdrawal accordingly.