Dummy Ticket from New York – How it Works
A dummy ticket from New York is a temporary flight reservation PDF used as proof of onward travel or for visa applications. When you fly into or depart from New York, immigration may ask for a confirmed exit flight. Instead of buying an expensive non-refundable ticket, you can generate a free dummy ticket with MyJet24.
United States of America Visa & Entry Details
When travelling from New York, you need to meet United States of America's entry requirements. Below are the key facts for your United States of America visa application and travel planning from New York.
How to Get a Dummy Ticket from New York
Generating a dummy ticket departing from New York takes under 30 seconds. Follow these four steps to get your free flight reservation PDF for United States of America visa applications or airport immigration checks.
DS-160 + US Consulate NYC — Complete Walkthrough for B1/B2 Visa at 845 Third Avenue (2026)
Travellers heading to or through New York fall into one of two regimes: ESTA for Visa Waiver Program (VWP) nationals — 41 countries including UK, EU, Japan, South Korea, Singapore — or B1/B2 Visitor Visa for visa-required nationalities. Both routes terminate at the same NYC immigration touchpoints: CBP at JFK/EWR/LGA on arrival, USCIS for status changes, US Consulate Manhattan for re-stamping. The US Mission in Manhattan is at 845 Third Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets, and serves residents of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut for non-immigrant visa renewals.
8-Step NYC-Routed Application Flow
US-bound airlines (Delta, United, American, JetBlue, Norse, Lufthansa, BA, Emirates) routinely verify proof of departure from the US at check-in for all ESTA/B1/B2 travellers. Without a confirmed onward flight from JFK/EWR/LGA within your visa validity, you will be denied boarding — airlines face $5,000+ penalties per inadmissible passenger under INA Section 273. Generate a free dummy ticket from NYC in 30 seconds →
Sources: DS-160 CEAC · ESTA · US Mission NYC
NYC Visa Decision Tree — ESTA vs B1/B2 vs F-1 vs J-1 vs L-1 vs O-1 vs H-1B
The US has 20+ non-immigrant visa categories relevant to NYC-bound travellers. Picking wrong wastes $185-$1,400 in fees plus 2-12 months of processing. NYC hosts the largest international workforce in the US — disproportionately served by L-1 (intra-company transfers from Wall Street/Big Tech), O-1 (creative industries), F-1 (Columbia/NYU/Cornell), and J-1 (research at Mount Sinai/MSK).
| Visa Type | Validity / Stay | Fee (USD) | Interview | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ESTA (VWP) | 2 years, max 90 days/visit | $21 | No | UK/EU/Japan tourists, short business |
| B1/B2 Visitor | 10 years (typical), 6mo/visit | $185 | Yes (first-time) | Non-VWP tourists, business meetings |
| C-1 Transit | 29 days, transit only | $185 | Yes | JFK/EWR transit (US has NO TWOV) |
| F-1 Student | Duration of study (D/S) | $185 + $350 SEVIS | Yes | Columbia, NYU, Cornell Tech, Pace |
| J-1 Exchange | Sponsor program duration | $185 + $220 SEVIS | Yes | Au pair, research scholars MSK/MSKCC |
| L-1A/L-1B Intra-Company | 1-7 years (L-1A) / 1-5 yrs (L-1B) | $205 + $460 USCIS | Yes | Multinational transfers (Goldman/JPM/etc.) |
| H-1B Speciality Worker | 3+3 years (max 6) | $205 + $460+$1,500 USCIS | Yes | Tech/finance professionals (NYC has 12% of US H-1B) |
| O-1 Extraordinary Ability | 3 years initial | $205 + $460 USCIS | Yes | Artists, scientists, athletes, models (high in NYC) |
| K-1 Fiancé(e) | 6 months, must marry in 90d | $265 + $535 I-129F | Yes | Marriage to US citizen, NYC residence |
Decision Tree by Traveller Profile
Sources: travel.state.gov · USCIS
NYC Airports — JFK / EWR / LGA / ISP / HPN / TEB Multi-Hub Routing Guide
Greater New York is served by 6 commercial airports — three primary (JFK, EWR, LGA) and three secondary (ISP/Islip, HPN/White Plains, TEB/Teterboro private). For visa-routed travel, JFK and EWR handle 95%+ of international arrivals. The matrix below maps each NYC airport to its CBP processing characteristics.
| Airport | Main Intl Carriers | Global Entry / Mobile Passport | Avg CBP Wait | Terminal Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JFK (Kennedy) | All major intl + Emirates/Qatar/Singapore | Yes — all 6 terminals | 45-90 min standard, 5-15 GE | T1, T4, T5, T7, T8 active (T2/T3/T6 closed) |
| EWR (Newark) | United hub, Lufthansa, Air India | Yes — Terminal B + C | 30-75 min standard | Closer to Manhattan via NJ Transit |
| LGA (LaGuardia) | Domestic only (rare intl from CA/Bahamas) | Yes (Term B FIS) | 15-40 min (lower volume) | Closest to Midtown, no transatlantic |
| ISP (Long Island MacArthur) | Domestic only | No | N/A (domestic only) | Southwest hub, Long Island commuters |
| HPN (White Plains) | Domestic + private jets | No | N/A | Westchester County |
| TEB (Teterboro) | Private aviation only (US Customs FBO) | N/A | FBO-based, minimal wait | Most popular NYC private jet hub |
Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, Mobile Passport Control
Sources: CBP Global Entry · TSA PreCheck
US Consulate Manhattan at 845 Third Avenue — Visa Re-Stamping + Interview Prep
The US Mission to the United Nations operates the visa unit at 845 Third Avenue (between 51st and 52nd Streets, Midtown East). NYC residents needing visa renewal CANNOT renew at 845 — first-time and even renewal visas must be processed at US Consulates in your home country or at neighboring US Consulates abroad (Toronto, Mexico City, Tijuana). 845 Third handles: ESTA-related issues, lost passport replacements, US citizen services, emergency consular cases.
B1/B2 Interview Questions — Most Common at US Consulates Serving NYC Residents
If your prior B1/B2 visa expired less than 48 months ago, you may qualify for Interview Waiver (drop-off only, no interview). Renewal can be done at most US Consulates worldwide — many NYC residents fly to Toronto (CA) for faster turnaround, since Manhattan does NOT process visa renewals. Wait times at Toronto vary 1-3 weeks vs Mumbai/Chennai 8-12 months.
Sources: US Mission NYC · Visa Wait Times
Foreign Visa Applications FROM NYC — Schengen, India, China, UK Consulates in Manhattan
NYC hosts more foreign consulates than any other US city — 120+ countries with diplomatic missions on the Upper East Side, Midtown, and along Fifth/Park Avenue. If you're an NYC-based traveller heading to a third country, this section maps the application channels.
| Destination | Application Channel | NYC Location | Fee (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| France / Spain / Italy / Schengen | VFS Global NYC | 580 5th Avenue (Diamond District) | $45 + visa €90 |
| Germany / Austria / Switzerland (Schengen) | Embassy direct (no VFS) | German Consulate 871 UN Plaza | $96 visa direct |
| UK (ETA + Standard Visitor) | VFS Global UK | 11 East 26th Street | $25 + UK visa £127 |
| India (e-Visa + Standard) | VFS Global India | 219 East 44th Street + drop-off centers | $30 + visa $25-125 |
| China (L Tourist + Z Work) | CVASC NYC | 520 12th Avenue (Hell\'s Kitchen) | $60 service + $140-185 visa |
| Russia | Russian Visa Centre (ILS NYC) | 75-20 Astoria Boulevard, Queens | $33 + visa $160 |
| Brazil | VFS Brazil | 575 Lexington Avenue | $40 + e-Visa $80 |
| Australia (eVisitor / ETA) | ImmiAccount online direct | No NYC office needed | FREE (eVisitor) / $20 ETA |
Sources: VFS Global NYC · NYC Consulate Directory
I-94 Arrival Record + CBP NYC Field Office — Status Verification
Every non-citizen entering the US receives an electronic I-94 Arrival/Departure Record auto-generated by CBP at JFK/EWR. The I-94 — NOT your visa stamp — determines how long you can legally stay in NYC. The visa stamp says "valid until 2034" but I-94 might say "admit until: 6 months from entry". Most overstay cases come from misreading visa vs I-94 expiry.
How to Retrieve Your I-94 in NYC
Sources: I-94 Portal · CBP JFK
US Visa Documents + 2×2 inch Photo Specs + I-134 Affidavit of Support Matrix
Wrong photo specs (~12% of US visa refusals) and INA Section 214(b) "presumption of immigrant intent" (~70% of refusals) are the two main rejection drivers. The matrix below maps every NYC-relevant visa to its document set + the unique US 2×2 inch photo standard (different from every other major country).
| Document | ESTA | B1/B2 | F-1 / J-1 | L-1 / H-1B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| e-Passport (chip required for ESTA) | ✅ MANDATORY chip | ✅ (chip optional) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Photo 2×2 inch (51×51 mm) | — (app) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Onward / return flight from NYC | ✅ at boarding | ✅ | — (D/S) | — (I-797) |
| NYC accommodation proof | Recommended | ✅ | University housing | Lease/letter |
| Bank statements (last 3-6 mo) | — | ✅ ($3,000+ recommended) | ✅ (cost of attendance proof) | — (employer-sponsored) |
| Employment letter (home country) | — | ✅ (ties to home) | — | — (US employer) |
| I-797 USCIS Approval Notice | — | — | — (I-20 / DS-2019) | ✅ |
| I-134 Affidavit of Support (if applicable) | — | Optional (NYC sponsor) | Optional | — |
| Travel insurance (recommended) | Strongly recommended | Strongly recommended | Mandatory (J-1 only) | Via US employer |
US Photo Specs — 2×2 inch (51×51 mm) Standard
- Size: 2×2 inches = 51×51 mm SQUARE (unique to US — NOT 35×45 Schengen, NOT 45×35 UK, NOT 43×55 Dubai, NOT 33×48 China)
- Background: Pure white or off-white. Plain background — no patterns, no shadows
- Face coverage: Face occupies 50-69% of frame, eyes between 1⅛ to 1⅜ inches from bottom edge
- Expression: Neutral or natural smile, mouth closed, eyes fully open
- No glasses since November 2016 (including prescription)
- Head covering: Religious only — full face/forehead visible
- Recency: Taken within last 6 months
- File format (DS-160 upload): JPG, 600×600 to 1200×1200 px, ≤240 KB, color (not B&W)
- NYC photo studios: CVS/Walgreens/FedEx Office passport photos (~$15-20). Costco Members \$5.99. Avoid smartphone selfies — algorithm rejects ~40%.
Sources: DOS Photo Requirements · Form I-134
USCIS Federal Plaza NYC — Naturalization, Green Card, AOS Pathways
The NYC USCIS Field Office at 26 Federal Plaza (Lower Manhattan) is the busiest field office in the US — processing ~120,000+ cases annually. NYC field office handles: N-400 naturalization interviews, I-485 Adjustment of Status (AOS), I-751 removal of conditions on green card, I-130 family petitions, asylum interviews, and biometrics for most NYC-resident applications.
USCIS NYC Field Office Locations
| Office | Address | Handles |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Plaza (NYC) | 26 Federal Plaza, 9th Floor, Manhattan | N-400, I-485 AOS, I-751, biometrics |
| Long Island City ASC | 28-46 41st Avenue, Queens | Biometrics only (less wait time) |
| Garden City (Nassau) | 711 Stewart Avenue, Long Island | N-400, I-485 (Long Island residents) |
| Newark (NJ — covers NYC commuters) | 970 Broad Street, Newark NJ | N-400, I-485, biometrics |
N-400 Naturalization at NYC USCIS — 2026 Timeline
- Filing: N-400 online via myUSCIS account. Fee \$760 (online) or \$760 paper. Fee waiver via I-912 for low-income.
- Biometrics: 2-4 weeks after filing. Long Island City ASC typical for NYC residents.
- Interview: 10-14 months at Federal Plaza. English + civics test (100 questions, must answer 6 of 10 correctly).
- Oath Ceremony: 2-12 weeks after approval. Group ceremonies at Brooklyn Federal Court (225 Cadman Plaza East) or NYC Federal Plaza.
- Total typical timeline: 12-18 months filing → citizenship.
Sources: USCIS Field Plaza NYC · myUSCIS
B1/B2 + ESTA Refusal — INA 214(b), 221(g), AAO Appeals, Federal Court Action
The US has no codified appeal right for B1/B2 visa refusals (unlike Schengen Article 32 or UK Admin Review). Section 214(b) is a presumption every applicant must overcome — if the consular officer doubts non-immigrant intent, the application is refused. Below: the recourse landscape for NYC-bound travellers.
Top Refusal Codes
Recourse Options After Refusal
Sources: DOS Visa Denials · USCIS AAO
NYC Visa Resources — Tools, Hotel, Onward Ticket Cross-Links
Your NYC visa or ESTA application is complete once you have all 4 supporting elements — dummy ticket from JFK/EWR/LGA, hotel booking, valid 2×2 inch photo, and the relevant visa stamp or ESTA approval. Use the free MyJet24 tools below.
Internal Cross-Links
Frequently Asked Questions — NYC Visa Application
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What Our Users Say
Real feedback from travelers who used MyJet24 for their visa applications
"Got my passport back yesterday. Spain visa approved. Seven working days. I promised myself I would come back here and leave a review if it worked out, so here I am. First Schengen application. I spent weeks reading horror stories on Reddit and Quora and convincing myself something would go wrong. Nothing went wrong. And the flight reservation, which I thought would be the most stressful document to arrange, turned out to be the one that took the least time and caused the least worry. Thank you. Genuinely."
"Schengen visa number seven using MyJet24 reservations. Italy twice, France three times, Spain twice. Never once questioned by any consulate. I stopped thinking about flight reservations as a task somewhere around application number four. It takes less time than making coffee. The fact that I used to block lakhs on refundable tickets and wait weeks for refunds feels genuinely embarrassing in hindsight."
"Picture it. Jakarta traffic. 8:47am. I am in the back of a Grab car fourteen minutes from the Italian embassy. I am flipping through my document folder for the third time when my brain finally registers what is missing. No flight reservation. It is at home. On my laptop. Which is on my bed. Which is forty minutes away in Kemang. My hands are slightly shaky. I pull up MyJet24 on my phone. Fill in the details. Get the PDF. Email it to myself. Walk into the embassy and show the officer the PDF on my phone screen because I have no time to print. She squints at it, writes something down, hands my folder back. Four days later: approved."
"I sat on my bedroom floor at midnight with my VFS appointment twelve hours away, laptop open, genuinely close to tears because the travel agent had closed for the day and I had no flight reservation. Then I found this site. Three minutes later I had one. I just sat there holding my phone looking at the PDF. That feeling of going from completely stuck to completely sorted in three minutes is something I will not forget for a while."
"Works. Booking reference is real. Nairobi embassy did not blink. Moving on."
"Ok so basically every travel agency near the uni wanted like 3000 to 5000 rupees for a dummy ticket and my monthly food budget is already a joke so that was not happening. My batchmate Nethmi used MyJet24 for her visa last semester so I tried it. Colombo to Frankfurt return. Done. The booking reference thing was legit when I checked. Took the printout to the German embassy. Got the visa. Nethmi gets full credit for the recommendation. MyJet24 gets credit for existing. My wallet gets credit for not losing another 5000 rupees."
"My husband wanted to book actual flights before the visa was approved. I said that is insane, what if they refuse us and we are stuck with nonrefundable tickets to Paris. He said they offer refundable fares. I said have you seen what refundable fares cost on Air France in July. We argued about it for a week. Then my sister sent me the MyJet24 link and said you are both overthinking this. She was right. Generated two reservations, submitted them, got the visas, then booked the actual flights on a sale fare that was half the price of the refundable ones my husband wanted. I have not let him forget this."
"I have tried three different dummy ticket services over the past two years. One charged me $18 and the booking vanished within six hours. Another gave me a PDF that looked like it was made in Microsoft Paint. MyJet24 is the first one where the output actually resembles what you get when you book directly on an airline website. Not identical, but close enough that nobody at VFS Dubai looked at it twice. Four stars because I still think a confirmation with the airline logo would look more polished, but honestly that is me being picky."
"UPDATE: Coming back to change this from four stars to five. When I first wrote this review three weeks ago I was still waiting for the visa and was nervous about the reservation expiring before the embassy looked at my file. It did not. Visa came through yesterday for all four family members. The reservations were long expired by then but that does not matter because the embassy checks them at the time of submission, not weeks later. So if you are worried about the same thing I was: relax. File it and forget it."
"Two adults, two kids, four separate reservations needed for VFS Karachi. I made a spreadsheet to track the application documents for each family member. The flight reservation was the only row that filled itself in under five minutes per person. Every other row on that spreadsheet took hours. All four bookings had their own references, all four checked out. Two weeks later, four visas in four passports. The spreadsheet is now a template for next time."
"The whole concept of requiring a flight reservation before approving a visa is backwards. You are asking me to plan a trip I might not be allowed to take. The airline will not refund me if the visa is refused. The embassy knows this. Everybody knows this. But the requirement exists, so you play the game. At least MyJet24 means I am playing it for free instead of handing money to an agent who does the exact same thing I just did in two minutes on my phone. Lagos consulate interview went fine. Officer could not have cared less about the flight document."
"My brother has been in Toronto for six years. Six years. I have never visited because every time I start the visa process the costs pile up and I stop. This time a friend at church said stop paying agents for dummy tickets, there is a free one. I did not believe her. But she was right. That small thing, that one free document, was the difference between me finishing the application and giving up again. I am writing this from Pearson Airport. I made it."
"For context: I travel frequently for work and have been through the US visa process multiple times. The flight reservation has always been the lowest-value, highest-annoyance part of the paperwork. MyJet24 eliminates that friction point entirely. The output is clean, the booking reference validates against the airline system, and the turnaround is measured in minutes, not hours. I have recommended it to several colleagues. Each of them had the same reaction I did: why did nobody tell me about this sooner."
"Everything about the actual ticket was good. My problem is that I generated it at 2am Manila time and then could not sleep because I kept wondering if I had entered my middle name correctly. There is no way to edit or regenerate without starting over completely. I ended up generating a second one just to be safe. Both worked. But a simple edit button or a preview screen before final generation would save people like me a lot of unnecessary 3am anxiety."
"Let me tell you about the agent on Gulshan Avenue. He sits behind a glass counter, types your name into the same kind of website I found in two seconds on Google, clicks a button, prints a page, and charges you 4,500 taka. Four thousand five hundred taka for something that took him forty five seconds. I know because I watched him do it for the person before me in the queue. I walked out, went home, did it myself on MyJet24, and have been angry about almost paying that man ever since. The French embassy in Dhaka approved my visa in twelve days. The agent had nothing to do with it."
"Submitted my Spain application through VFS Lagos this morning. I do not know if the visa will be approved yet. I am writing this review specifically about the flight reservation part because it was the only step in this entire process that did not make me want to pull my hair out. Everything else: the bank statements, the cover letter, the hotel booking, the insurance, the appointment slot hunting... painful. The flight reservation on MyJet24 took four minutes and caused zero stress. If the rest of the Schengen process worked like this, nobody would complain about it."
"When you work remotely and move countries every few months, visa applications become part of your routine the way grocery shopping is part of other people's routines. You learn which parts actually matter (bank statements, cover letter, insurance) and which parts are just procedural box-ticking (flight reservation). The flight reservation is a box to tick. MyJet24 ticks it. I have used it from Cape Town, Lisbon, and Bangkok at this point. Same result every time. It is not exciting. It is just reliable. And when you are mid-move with seventeen tabs open, reliable is everything."
"B1/B2 interview at the Amman embassy. The officer asked one question about my travel dates. I pointed to the MyJet24 printout. He moved on. Entire interaction around the flight: five seconds. Visa approved. There is nothing complicated about this. You need a document, this gives you one, it is real, it works."
"I am the kind of person who reads the entire terms and conditions page before clicking accept. So naturally I spent twenty minutes examining the MyJet24 website before I trusted it enough to enter my passport number. Then I spent another fifteen minutes cross checking the booking reference on the airline website, then on CheckMyTrip, then on a third verification site I found on Reddit. Everything matched everywhere. The Canadian embassy in Ankara processed my visa without asking about the flight. Four stars because my personality will not allow me to give five stars to anything I have not used at least three times."
"I originally used MyJet24 because I did not want to pay for a dummy ticket. That was the only reason. But what actually impressed me was how the PDF looked. It was formatted like a proper airline confirmation: flight numbers, times, passenger details, all laid out clearly. The Italian embassy in Hanoi accepted it without a word. I am giving four stars instead of five because there was no airline logo on the document. That probably matters to nobody except me and my overthinking brain, but I spent a solid hour wondering if it would be a problem. It was not."