Non-Immigrant Visas
The United States grants many types of non-immigrant visas to those who intend to visit the country. Following are some of the types of nonimmigrant visas:
H-1B Visas
H-1B visas authorize the temporary employment of qualified individuals who would not otherwise be authorized to work in the United States. The H-1B program was developed for employers seeking to hire non-immigrant aliens as workers in specialty occupations or of distinguished merit and ability. The purpose of the H-1B provision is to assist employers unable to find U.S. employees with the required skills and abilities. Workers hired on H-1B visas are only allowed to work in this country temporarily — initially for 3 years with the possibility of a 3-year extension. Additional extensions may be possible under certain circumstances.
L-1 Visas
Employers who want to qualify for an L-1 visa application must have a qualifying relationship with a foreign company — be it as a parent company, branch office, subsidiary, or affiliate. Collectively these are referred to as qualifying entities or qualifying organizations. There are several ways in which a corporate relationship can be proved to the U.S. government. For one thing, the new employer of the U.S. office must have had previous employment for a one year period (365 days) as a manager, executive, or worker with specialized knowledge in the foreign entity. For another, he or she must continue working in a U.S. office under the ownership and control of that company. Evidence the government may require as proof of the individual’s and the company’s status includes: business licenses, annual reports, and articles of incorporation. In addition, the employer must be able to prove that adequate physical space has been obtained to house the U.S. office of the company, such as a lease, bill of sale, or mortgage.
F-1 Visas
An F-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa for individuals who wish to study in the U.S. If you are a citizen of another country, you must apply for an F-1 visa before entering a U.S. university, college, high school, private elementary school, conservatory, language-training program, or other academic institution. There is a time restriction on an F-1 visa which allows the student to remain in the U.S. only for as long as he or she is enrolled in the designated academic program (which may involve renewals of the student visa). Once the academic program ends, the individual has 60 days to remain in, and prepare to leave, the United States.
E-1 Visas
The E-1, another non-immigrant visa, is also known as a treaty trader visa. It allows foreign nationals of a nation with which the U.S. maintains a treaty of commerce and navigation to enter into the U.S. in order to carry out substantial trade. For the purposes of the E-1 visa, “trade” includes commercial transactions in goods, services, and technologies for industries such as banking, insurance, transportation, communications, tourism, advertising, accounting, and design and engineering.
Substantial trade refers to a continuous flow of large amounts of international trade involving numerous transactions. While there is no minimal monetary value demanded under the law, the government evaluates such visas partially in terms of the amounts of money involved. Over the long run, however, more importance is placed on the number of transactions than on the value of each. Principal trade between the United States and the treaty country is considered to exist when over 50 percent of the total volume of international trade is between the U.S. and the trader’s treaty country.
O-1 Visas
In order to obtain an O-1 visa, you have to be able to prove exceptional ability in your field. The O-1 visa has been established to expedite travel and residence in the U.S. for individuals recognized as notables in their field of endeavor. There are two types of O-1 visas, A and B.
O-1A Visas are given to outstanding achievers in education, business or athletics (not the performing arts). Your exceptional status may be evidenced by an international prize or award (like the Nobel Prize), membership in an association of outstanding achievers, or publication of a recognized work of major significance in art, science, business, or another area of scholarly research.
O-1B Visas are given to individuals with extraordinary ability in the arts, including the film or television industry. To obtain and O-1B visa you must be able to show that you are essential to the completion of a particular performance that cannot be readily performed by a U.S. worker.
The amount of remuneration you generally obtain for your services may feature in the decision as to whether you qualify for an O-1 visa. There are other O visas (2 and 3) available to those who accompany such experts as assistants or as close family members.
R-1 Visa
An R-1 visa is granted as a short-term visa to those who have been offered jobs as religious workers in the U.S. A designated religious worker may be a priest, rabbi, minister, Buddhist monk, an imam or anyone ordained in a recognized religion. There is also a subcategory of religious workers that includes missionaries, cantors, religious counselors or translators, fundraisers, and others who come under the umbrella of an organized religion.
The visa, once granted, is valid for as long as the religious worker works for the employer who sponsored him or her. If the individual leaves that job, he or she must apply for another type of visa. R-1 visas are typically granted for up to 30 months with possible extensions of up to a total of five years. Interestingly, the worker granted an R-1 visa can travel in and out of the U.S. with impunity as long as the visa is valid, and time spent out of this country is not counted as part of the restricted U.S. residency.
B-1 Visa
The B-1 non-immigrant visa is intended for individuals who want to remain in the U.S. for a specific activity and for a limited period of time. In order to obtain a B-1 visa, you will have to be able to substantiate your claim that you will only stay in the country for a maximum of six months and that you have definite plans to return to your country of origin. Such evidence may include: a ticket for return travel, property ownership, close family ties to your home country, documentation that your purpose for being in the U.S. is of limited duration or evidence that you must return home for some significant event. In order to obtain a B-1 visa, you must also prove that you have sufficient funds to sustain you for as long as you remain in the U.S.