As you know, in order to be allowed entering the United States of America a person must get a visa. Depending on his/her purpose of travelling, credibility and completeness of the presented documents a consular or an embassy officer will either give you green light on your trip to the US, or will present you a piece of paper with something formal written on it ( you will not be able to read it all at once because of the overwhelming feelings of disappointment and frustration)—rejecting your application. The more visa seekers know on the US Immigrant Laws and their implementation, the higher are their chances to be granted the visa they need.
Let’s start overviewing types of visas with diving all of them into two categories:
—NONIMMIGRANT VISAS
—IMMIGRANT VISAS
NONIMMIGRANT VISAS
- A: for diplomat or foreign government official
- A-2 NATO 1-6: for foreign military personnel stationed in the United States
- B-1 : for athlete, amateur or professional ( competing for prize money only)/ for business visitor/ for domestic employee or nanny ( must be accompanying a foreign national employer)
- B-2: for visitor for medical treatment/tourism, vacation, pleasure visitor
- BCC: Border Crossing Card: Mexico
- C: Transiting the United States
- CW-1: CNMI-only transitional worker
- D: Crew member
- E: Treaty trader/treaty investor
- E-3: Australian professional specialty
- F, M: for students: academic, vocational
- G1-G5 NATO: for employee of a designated international organization or NATO
- H-1B: specialty occupations in fields requiring highly specialized knowledge
- H-1B, J: Physician
- H-1B-1 Chile: Free Trade Agreement ( FTA) Professional from Chile
- H-1B-1 Singapore: Free Trade Agreement ( FTA) Professional from Singapore
- H-2A: for temporary agricultural worker
- H-2B: for temporary worker performing other services or labor of a temporary or seasonal nature
- H-3: for training in a program, not primarily for employment
- I: for media, journalist
- J: for professor, scholar, teacher ( Au pair exchange visitor)
- L: for intra-company transferee
- O: for foreign national with extraordinary ability in Sciences, Arts, Education, Business or Athletics
- P: for performing athlete, artist, entertainer
- Q: for international cultural exchange visitor
- R: for religious worker
- T: Victim of Human Trafficking
- TN/TD: for NAFTA professional worker ( Mexico, Canada)
- U: Victim of Criminal Activity
- V: Nonimmigrant Visa for Spouse and Children of a Lawful Permanent Resident ( LPR)
IMMIGRANT VISAS
Immigrant visas are divided into TREE groups:
- Immigrant visas for Immediate Relative and Family Sponsored;
- Employer Sponsored- Employment;
- Other Immigrants ( this subcategory comprises only two types of visas: Diversity Immigrant Visa ( DV) and Returning Resident Visa (SB)
Types of Immediate Relative and Family Sponsored Visas:
- F1, F3, F4, IR2, CR2, IR5: for certain family members of the U.S. citizens
- F2A, F2B: for certain family members of lawful permanent residents
- IR3, IH3, IR4, IH4: for intercountry adoption of orphan children by U.S. citizens
- IR1, CR1: for spouse of a U.S. citizen
- K-1: for fiancé (e) to marry U.S. citizen and live in U.S.
- K-3: for spouse of a U.S. citizen awaiting approval of an I-130 immigrant petition
Types of Employer Sponsored- Employment Visas ( and their preference groups):
- E-1: Priority Workers [First]
- E-2: Professionals holding advanced degrees and persons of exceptional ability [Second]
- E-3, EW-3: Professional and other workers [Third]
- S ( has many subcategories): Certain special immigrants
- C5, T5, R5, I5: Employment creation/Investors [Fifth]
- SD, SR: religious workers
- SI: Iraqi/Afghan Translators/Interpreters
- SQ: Iraqis/Afghans who worked for/on behalf of the U.S. Government
Disclaimer: the information is taken from the website of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services https://www.uscis.gov