Tag Archives: h1b visa

US Visa Types List

Guest Posts, Visa Info, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Temporary Work Visas and Employment-Based Green Cards

An individual may obtain a temporary visa to work or study in the United States, or he or she may obtain lawful permanent residency (green card) through one of five employment-based preference categories. Immigration attorneys can assist you with either your temporary work visa or your employment-based green card application.

Temporary Visas for Working

The H Visa Temporary Worker

There are several types of H visas for temporary workers. Each type of visa allows the individual to perform a specific job:

  • H1B visa is for professionals who are coming to work in the U.S. in a specialty occupation (Professional visa and Fashion Models);
  • H1C is for nurses who will work in particular positions;
  • H2A is for agricultural workers;
  • H2B visa is for non-agricultural workers (Unskilled Foreign Workers);
  • H3 is for trainees; and
  • H4 visa is the accompanying visa granted to the spouse and children under 21 years of age of the worker.
  • TN Status: allows certain qualifying Canadian and Mexican citizens to temporarily work for an employer in the U.S. under NAFTA.

Learn more about the H Visa and other Temporary Worker visas through the U.S. State Department’s website

The E Visa

Only citizens and nationals of certain countries are eligible for this type of visa. A requirement for this visa is a treaty between the United States and the foreign country for trade or commerce. There are two types of E visas for working:

  • E1 visa is for an individual who is doing substantial trade with the United States; and
  • E2 visa is for an investor who is directing an investment
  • E3 visa for Australia citizens only to work in the US (E3D visa is the partner visa)

Learn more about Treaty Traders and Treaty Investors Visas through the U.S. State Department’s website

The L Visa Temporary Worker

The L visa is for temporary worker who is coming to work at a subsidiary of a foreign company. There are several types of L visas:

  • L1A visa is for a manager or an executive;
  • L1B visa is for someone with specialized knowledge;
  • L2 visa is the accompanying visa that spouses and children under 21 years of age receive with the worker.

Temporary Visas for Studying – Student Visas

Look for important News Releases from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about SEVIS

The F-1 Visa

This F1 visa allows the student to study full-time at an academic institution such as a university, private school, or language institute.

Learn more about Academic Student Visas through the U.S. State Department’s website.

The J Visa for Exchange Trainees and Workers

The J visa is for temporary workers on J1 work and travel or J1 trainees who are coming to work or train with an organization that has been approved for an exchange program under the J visa regulations.

Learn more about Exchange Visitor Visa (J Visa) through the U.S. State Department’s website.

Read about the Waiver of the Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement for J Visa through the U.S. State Department’s website.

The M Visa

This type of visa allows an individual to attend an approved course of study leading to a specific educational or vocational objective and engage in full-course of study.

Learn more about the Nonacademic Student Visa (M Visa) through the U.S. State Department’s website.

Temporary Visas for Particular Occupations – O, P, Q, and R Visas

The O Visa

The O-1: Extraordinary Ability Artists/Entertainers, Business People, Scientists, Educators, and Athletes

The O-1 visa is available to foreign nationals of extraordinary or high achievement in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics as demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim, or with regard to motion picture and television productions, a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement, and whose achievements have been recognized in the field through extensive documentation.

The O-2: Support Staff of Artists and Athletes

The O-2 visa is for an alien entering:

(1) for a specific event or events;
(2) who is an integral part of such actual performance;
(3a) has critical skills and experience with principal alien, which are not of a general nature or which cannot be performed by other individual; or
(3b) in the case of a motion picture or television production, has skills and experience with the O-1 alien that are not of a general nature and which are critical and the alien is essential to the successful completion of the production; and
(4) has a foreign residence that the alien has no intention of abandoning.

The P Visa for Athletes and Artists

This visa applies to an internationally recognized athlete performing at a major athletic event as an individual athlete or as part of a group or team and for an artist or member of internationally recognized entertainment group. There are several types of P visas:

  • P-1 is for an athlete and athletic teams and entertainment groups;
  • P-2 is for artists and entertainer reciprocal exchange;
  • P-3 is for artists and entertainers integral to performance.

The Q-1 Visa

This visa applies to a foreign national entering the U.S. for the purpose of obtaining practical training, employment, and the sharing of history, culture, philosophy, and traditions of the alien’s home country.

The R-1 Visa

R-1 visa is for a foreign national with a religious profession, occupation, or vocation, for example, minister, professional holding degree or foreign equivalent degree, cantor, monk, evangelist, or nun.

Employment Based and Investor Immigrant Preferences

Employment-based immigration for lawful permanent residence falls under five preference cateogories:

Different criteria apply to each of these categories and substantial document preparation is required to successfully obtain residency based upon one of the employment-based immigraton categories.

Check the current Visa Bulletin priority dates for each of the employment-based categories, since not all categories have a current priority date.

Guest Author

Ruchi Thaker

Why Is US Immigration Policy Used As A Tool of Fear?

Immigration News, , , ,

Well the issue of immigration is debated all around the US every day and is always among the Top 10 issues in Congress and a headline issue of every day. While it certainly not as emotional an issue as the abortion and Roe v Wade debate in the US it is not that far behind.

Why?

Well Immigration essentially comes down to the core issue of race and thus how many people of other races and nationalities does the US want to allow into its current racial mix at any point in time. Thus when looked at from that perspective it is easy to see how it used a tool of propaganda on all sides to further an agenda they may have. For as we all well know Race according to many was (and to some today still is) the major devicive issue in the US in its history

History

With each new racial group that came to the US there was negative feeling towards them by the local populations at time. Whether it be the Chinese who came to California during the Gold Rush, the Russians and Eastern Europeans that came following the Soviet Revolution, the Italians and Jews who came late in the 19th and early in the 20th century or the Irish a few generations before that following famine back home, no group has been immune from being ostracized by the mainstream at the time.

So this issue goes well beyond the Africans who came to these shores as slaves, the Latinos from the South who are viewed as lowering the standard of living and wages by many locals or the Indians who are supposedly taking all the jobs from hard working Americans today.

In each generation, politicians and community leaders have sort to exploit the newest groups at the time who have yet to form into powerful enough numbers to have a strong voice to stand up to the majority groups. They are the easy target to blame for a bad economy, lack of jobs, crime and anything else that may stick if voiced often enough

What Is The Reality?

I have spent a lot of words in a lot of posts writing about the successes of the Immigrant worker both now and in the past and how the US is what it is today because of a robust and open Immigration policy coupled with personal freedoms that most nations only dream of.

However history has taught us that once a group or a nation becomes satisfied, closed off and ceases to be dynamic it no longer grows and is eventually surpassed by other societies where this is happening. From Egypt to Greece to Rome to the Mongols to the more recent colonial empires headed by the Great British Empire have all fallen victim to this curse.

In the end most of the Empires history will record that their primary source of decline from being the pre-eminent nation of their time was due to mostly problems from within. So while wars later in their history like the World Wars of the 20th century for the British or the attacks from the Barbarians and others to the Romans help precipitate their fall, it was only possible because of the sense of self indulgence, selfishness and infighting within and thus no forward thinking.

So while the US today seems to publicly view Arab terrorists as the greatest threats to its security and 2 emerging powers from Asia in China and India as its greatest threats to economic superiority, the real threat is within.

When Teddy Roosevelt declared many parts of the US like Yellowstone as National Parks, when Carnegie helped build the US rail system, a humble mayor from NY decided on a street grid for Manhattan with a Central Park in the middle and men like Ford, Bell and Edison created things and ideas that would last long after they were gone, investment in future was paramount.

Today it is just ensuring quarterly earnings are met for companies or that mid term elections are won every 2 years with short term promises. The truth is that if General Electric the company Edison founded was assessing his trying over a 100 times and years to eventually invent the light bulb today, it might scrap the project much earlier as too risky to meet a quarterly earnings number.

So next time you hear a conversation or a news bulletin about Immigration reform, it is not just whether Illegal Immigrants have a path to citizenship or how many Indians make up the H1B visa numbers, it is really a discussion about the future of the entire United States and its place in the world.

As is enscribed on the Statue of Liberty and the fact that over 100 million US citizens (one third) are descendants of Ellis Island, a more open and understanding policy towards Immigration will ultimately pay dividends for all of the US.

CJ