Temporary, or “non-immigrant,” visas allow individuals to enter the United States for a specific purpose and for a limited period of time. What type of non-immigrant visa you need to get depends largely on what you would like that visa for. There are many different types of these visas available, so many that Immigration Attorneys often refer to them all as being an alphabet soup of immigration, and each one comes with it’s own rules and regulations. Let us help you find the right type of visa for you by contacting us today.
Some of the more popular non-immigrant visa categories include and for more information on them please follow the link:
- Non-Immigrant Workers (including the H1-B, E-1, E-2, E-3, L1, L2, and O1 visas)
- Visitors Visas (including the B-1 and B-2 visas and the Visa Waiver Program)
- Students and Exchange Visitors (the F-1, M-1, J-1 visas)
Many, though not all, non-immigrant visas have corresponding visas available to the spouse and children of the primary visa holder also known as a derivative visa. If your visa allows for it, your wife and or child can join you without applying for a visa in their own right. However in some cases it should be noted that they will have to apply for a visa separately and distinct from your application. It should also be noted that some derivative visas will allow that derivative beneficiary to work while others do not.
If you are outside the United States you will apply for these type of visas at the consulate outside the United States however if you are in the United States and still in valid status you may be eligible to apply for a Change of Status to the new non-immigrant visa type.
The alphabet soup of non-immigrant visa’s available:
A-1. For ambassadors, public ministers, or career diplomats, and their spouses and children.
A-2. For other accredited officials or employees of foreign governments, and their spouses and children.
A-3. For personal attendants, servants, and employees of A-1 and A-2 visa holders, and their spouses and children.
B-1. For visitors who wish to travel for business reasons.
B-2. For visitors who wish to travel for pleasure or medical treatment.
B-1/B-2. For visitors who wish to engage in both business and pleasure.
C-1. For foreign travelers in immediate and continuous transit through the U.S.
D-1. For crew members who need to land temporarily in the U.S. and who will depart aboard the same ship or plane that they arrived on.
D-2. For crew members who need to land temporarily in the U.S. and who will depart aboard a different ship or plane that they arrived on.
E-1. For individuals who are citizens of a country that maintain a treaty of commerce and navigation with the US to come to the US to engage in international trade. As dependents a visa is available for their spouses and children.
E-2. For individuals who are citizens of a country that maintain a treaty of commerce and navigation with the US to come to the US to make a ‘substantial’ investment in a U.S. business. As dependents a visa is available for their spouses and children.
E-3. Australian professionals coming to the United States to perform services in a specialty occupation (similar to an H-1B, but with a separate allotment of 10,500 visas). Spouses and children may accompany the E-3 visa holder.
F-1. For academic or language students.
F-2. For spouses and children of F-1 visa holders.
F-3. For citizens or residents of Mexico or Canada commuting to the U.S. to attend an academic school.
G-1. For designated principal representatives of foreign governments coming to the U.S. to work for an international organization, and as dependents a visa is available for their spouses and children.
G-2. For other accredited representatives of foreign governments coming to the U.S. to work for an international organization, and as dependents a visa is available for their spouses and children.
G-3. For representatives of foreign governments and their immediate family members who would ordinarily qualify for G-1 or G-2 visas except that their governments are not members of an international organization.
G-4. For officers or employees of international organizations and their spouses and children.
G-5. For attendants, servants, and personal employees of G-1 through G-4 visa holders, and their spouses and children.
H-1B. For persons working in specialty occupations requiring at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent in on-the-job experience, and distinguished fashion models.
H-1C. For nurses who will work for up to three years in areas of the U.S. where health professionals are recognized as being in short supply.
H-2A. For temporary agricultural workers coming to the U.S. to fill positions for which a temporary shortage of U.S. workers has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
H-2B. For temporary workers of various kinds coming to the U.S. to perform temporary jobs for which there is a shortage of available, qualified U.S. workers.
H-3. For temporary trainees coming for on-the-job training unavailable in their home countries.
H-4. For spouses and children of H-1, H-2, or H-3 visa holders.
I-1. For bona fide representatives of the foreign press coming to the U.S. to work solely in that capacity, and their spouses and children.
J-1. For exchange visitors coming to the U.S. to study, work, or train as part of an exchange program officially recognized by the U.S. Department of State.
J-2. For spouses and children of J-1 visa holders.
K-1. For fiancés or fiancées of U.S. citizens coming to the U.S. for the purpose of getting married.
K-2. For minor, unmarried children of K-1 visa holders.
K-3. For spouses of U.S. citizen petitioners awaiting USCIS approval of their immigrant visa petition and the availability of an immigrant visa, who’d like to enter the U.S. and apply to adjust status, as a supposedly shorter way through the system. (This visa is almost never used, as it tends to actually save no time and cost more.)
K-4. For unmarried children of K-3 visa holders.
L-1. For Intracompany transferees who work as managers, executives, or persons with specialized knowledge.
L-2. For spouses and children of L-1 visa holders.
M-1. For vocational or other nonacademic students, other than language students.
M-2. For spouses and children of M-1 visa holders.
M-3. For citizens or residents of Mexico or Canada commuting to the U.S. to attend vocational school.
N-8. For parents of certain special immigrants.
N-9. For children of certain special immigrants or N-9 visa holders.
NATO-1, NATO-2, NATO-3, NATO-4, and NATO-5. For representatives, officials, and experts coming to the U.S. under applicable provisions of the NATO Treaty, and their immediate family members.
NATO-6. For civilians accompanying military forces on missions authorized under the NATO Treaty, and their immediate family members.
NATO-7. For attendants, servants, or personal employees of NATO-1 through NATO-6 visas holders, and their immediate family members.
O-1. For persons of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics.
O-2. For essential support staff of O-1 visa holders.
O-3. For spouses and children of O-1 and O-2 visa holders.
P-1. For internationally recognized athletes and entertainers, and their essential support staff.
P-2. For entertainers coming to perform in the U.S. through a government-recognized exchange program.
P-3. Artists and entertainers coming to the U.S. in a group to present culturally unique performances.
P-4. For spouses and children of P-1, P-2, and P-3 visa holders.
Q-1. For exchange visitors coming to the U.S. to participate in international cultural exchange programs.
Q-2. (aka Walsh visas) For participants in the Irish Peace Process Cultural and Training Program
Q-3. For spouses and children of Q-1 visa holders.
R-1. For ministers and other workers of recognized religions.
R-2. For spouses and children of R-1 visa holders.
S-5. For people coming to the U.S. to supply information to U.S. authorities about a criminal organization.
S-6. For people coming to the U.S. to provide information to U.S. authorities about a terrorist organization.
T-1. For individuals who have been victims of trafficking in persons.
T-2, T-3. For the spouses and children of victims of trafficking.
TN. Trade visas for Canadians and Mexicans.
U-1. For people who have suffered “substantial physical or mental abuse” as a result of certain U.S. criminal violations including domestic violence and who are assisting law enforcement authorities.
U-2, U-3. For spouses and children of U-1 visa holders.
V. For spouses and children of U.S. lawful permanent resident petitioners who have already waited three years for the approval of their visa petition or for an immigrant visa to become available, so long as their visa petition was submitted on or before December 21, 2000.
