if you are going to united states for business meeting or may be visiting your favourite stunts in universal studio but you are from third world country, not a u.s. citizen or not a greencard holder then you need non-immigrant visa for temporary visit, normally, b1/b2 visa.
this is my experience in applying b1/b2 visa from u.s. embassy in jakarta. back then, before the 
ninetees, b1/b2 visa was only a two-color (or three?) ink stamped on your passport. i have that one.
i don't know what year exactly they changed but when i applied my h1b visa in the 
mid-ninetees i got printed visa glued to my passport.
these days it has new design.
for some reason, my memory doesn't serve me well. i don't remember how did i apply my previous visas. the only thing i remember is that i went to the same place near gambir station in jakarta. of course the procedures are different now. what i have here is what i did on october 2006. it is not the greatest how-to, and it is not a cheat sheet.
first, you have to email u.s. embassy in jakarta for appointment. your email explains your purpose and date of visiting u.s., don't forget to mention your name, your passport number and expiry date. send it, oh sorry, the email address is JakVisa1@state.gov. keep your eye on your inbox for a day or two. the replied email from embassy tells you the procedures step by step, interview time, what to prepare and what items to bring with you.
basically you have to bring:
- your valid passport,
- money, for application fee (rp 900 000),
- hard copy, completely filled out of electronic application form, ds-156 and ds-157 for male aged 16-45. you must apply on-line from http://jakarta.usembassy.gov/consular/GENFORMS.html
- photograph, 5cm x 5cm,
- proof of identity,
- all other supporting documents you can bring: invitation letter,sponsor letter, old passport, previous u.s. visa, or anything about america that will help you. it is highly recommended to bring the original letter, not an email print-out.
now, you are set, ready for interview.
note on the photograph. the size is uncommon, at least for indonesian, so if you creative enough and have the resources you can improvise from the almost fit picture you have. my suggestion is, like what i did, in the evening before interview go to globe photo in jalan sabang. just mention "foto visa amerika" and they know what todo. it costs you rp 35 000, and 30 minutes of waiting time.
for those who don't know, i'd like to share with you the atmosphere of the embassy while i was there. here's my chronological experience:
06:28 arrived in front of embassy, my appointment was 07:00 but about 50 people already in the line, i walked to the end of line, but still more people coming behind me, made the line longer.
07:23 two ladies from embassy did a quick document check on each person in the line to see if they applied using electronic form. those who didn't apply on-line were suggested to go to "warnet".
07:31 moved to next queue line, six person at a time. standing next to the wall at right side of the gate. direct sunshine and no shades, arghhh... jakarta is hot, now's getting hotter.
07:34 security check, one guard swiped our belonging with wet cotton. don't ask me what was that. then i had to show my passport and the forms to another security guard.
07:39 entered the gate and one young officer came to make sure that we filled "n/a" in the blank answers, filled the ktp number correctly or kitas number for foreigner who live in indonesia, also checked if the size of photo is correct. i overheard that one japanese guy behind me was told to go to one photo center in jalan sabang because 
his photograph has not the exact size. wow! after that i went to cashier window and paid rp 900 000, yes, rupiah bill, the cashier doesn't accept u.s.$.
07:48 at "loket 1" window a local lady collected my forms and passport and in return she gave me a yellow post-it with a group number writen on it (mine is 10). then i sat on the bench in front of security/scanning room.
08:02 in the security/scanning room, had to leave unnecessary belongings during interview, like cellphones, i-pods, camera etc. the security asked for id (ktp or sim), listed all the stuffs (i only had a cellphone) and gave me tag. the things and documents that are important for interview went through x-ray scanner and i walked through metal detector.
08:07 went in to interview room. this room is air-conditioned and there are some rows of chairs, but all seats were taken so i stood up waiting for next turn.
08:46 finger printing, from the loudspeaker said "group 10 on window 12". there, scanned index fingers only, left and then right. after that i saw empty chair, i sat down on that chair, and wait again.
09:12 interviewed, my group (number 10) was called to approach window #11. a white lady interviewed me. it depends on the person who is doing this, it could be a rigid conversations, or you might have one with jokes and a lot of smile, but basically the questions are: reason of visiting, how long, then cross checked information on the forms and any supporting documents you have. somehow it looks like they want to make sure that after visiting u.s. you are going back to your country, make sure that you don't have intention to stay as illegal immigrant, make sure that you are not looking for job, etc.
09:23 "ok, your application is approved and you can come back on monday", she said to me. which means my visa is ready in four working days from that day. cool.
i went out from the interview room, walked to security window, the small window on the left side after exit turnstyle. there, i turned in my tag and had my cellphone back.
done!
so, are you going to apply?
good luck.
