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Obtaining a Nonimmigrant Visa

Nonimmigrant visas, such as tourist and student visas, permit you to enter the U.S. for a short time.

If you're planning a short trip to the United States, you must, with certain exceptions, obtain a "nonimmigrant" (temporary) visa. Below we summarize who qualifies for the various types of visas. For details, including how to apply for a visa, see U.S. Immigration Made Easy, by Ilona Bray (Nolo).

Types of Nonimmigrant Visas

You must choose the specific purpose of your trip (such as tourism or going to school) and apply for a specialized visa that authorizes that activity and no other. Each type of nonimmigrant visa is identified by a letter-number combination, as well as a name. You may already be familiar with the more popular ones: B-2 visitors, E-2 investors, F-1 students, and H-1B employees. See the chart below for a complete list.
 
Summary List of Nonimmigrant Visas

A-1. Ambassadors, public ministers, or career diplomats, and their immediate family members.

A-2. Other accredited officials or employees of foreign governments, and their immediate family members.

A-3. Personal attendants, servants, employees, and the immediate family members of A-1 and A-2 visa holders.

B-1. Business visitors.

B-2. Visitors for pleasure or medical treatment.

C-1. Foreign travelers in immediate and continuous transit through the U.S.

D-1. Crewmen who need to land temporarily in the U.S. and who will depart aboard the same ship or plane on which they arrived.

E-1. Treaty traders working for a U.S. trading company that does 50% or more of its business with the trader's home country.

E-2. Treaty investors working for a U.S. company with 50% or more of its investment capital coming from the worker's home country.

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. Academic or language students.

F-2. Immediate family members of F-1 visa holders.

F-3. Citizens or residents of Mexico or Canada commuting to the U.S. to attend an academic school.

G-1. Designated principal resident representatives of foreign governments coming to the U.S. to work for an international organization, and their staff members and immediate family members.

G-2. Other accredited representatives of foreign governments coming to the U.S. to work for an international organization, and their immediate family members.

G-3. 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. Officers or employees of international organizations, and their immediate family members.

G-5. Attendants, servants, and personal employees of G-1 through G-4 visa holders, and their immediate family members.

H-1B. 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-2A. Temporary agricultural workers coming to the U.S. to fill positions for which a temporary shortage of American workers has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

H-2B. Temporary workers of various kinds coming to the U.S. to perform temporary jobs for which there is a shortage of available, qualified American workers.

H-3. Temporary trainees coming for on-the-job training unavailable in their home countries.

H-4. Immediate family members of H-1, H-2, or H-3 visa holders.

I. Bona fide representatives of the foreign press coming to the U.S. to work solely in that capacity, and their immediate family members.

J-1. 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. Immediate family members of J-1 visa holders.

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