NON-IMMIGRANT WORKER OVERVIEW (TEMPORARY)

There is a wide range of temporary visas, used for many different purposes, with validity periods ranging from a few days to several years. The USCIS must approve some in advance before being reviewed and issued by the State Department; others are only reviewed by the State Department. Visas may be granted to the principal applicant and to his or her dependents (spouse and minor children).

There is a difference between a visa and a status, although both are referred to in the same manner and with the same alphabetical designation (based on the respective section of the Immigration and Nationality Act). A visa is simply a document in the person’s passport. It serves as a “ticket” to ensure that a foreign national can board the airplane to the U.S. A person’s visa status is the category in which he or she is admitted to the United States and also determines the period of time he or she may remain. An individual’s visa status is granted by the USCIS once the applicant arrives at the border or a port of entry, and can be changed or extended by the USCIS at one of its remote Service Centers. Many of the following categories allow the status holder to work in the United States.

The different temporary visa categories are:

A: Diplomatic employees and their households
B: Business visitors (B-1) or tourists (B-2)
C: Aliens in Transit (pass-through at an airport or seaport)
D: Crewmember (air or sea)
E: Treaty investor or treaty trader. Click here for a a list of countries where USA has a treaty of commerce and investment.
F: Students
G: Employees of International Organizations (IMF, OPIC, OAS, International Red Cross, etc.)
H: Temporary Workers. Can be Professionals (H-1B) , nurses (H-1C), agricultural workers (H-2A), temporary or seasonal workers (H-2B), or trainees (H-3). Click here for more detail on eligibility of H-1B Visas.
I: Representatives of international media
J: Exchange visitors (educational exchange students, au pairs, graduate medical trainees, practical training students, professors and researchers, short-term scholars, camp counselors)
K: Fiancés and fiancées; spouses of U.S. citizens married abroad
L: Intracompany transferees (executives, managers, persons with proprietary knowledge ). Click here for more detail on these types of visas.
M: Language and vocational students
N: NATO employees
O: Extraordinary ability aliens: An O-1A is an alien coming temporarily who has extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business or athletics (not including the arts, motion picture or television industry). An O-1A is an alien coming temporarily who has extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business or athletics (not including the arts, motion picture or television industry). An O-2 is an alien coming temporarily, solely as an essential and integral part of the artistic or athletic performance of an O-1 artist or athlete because he or she performs support services that are essential to the successful performance of the O-1. No test of the U.S. labor market is required.
P: Athletes, entertainment groups (such as orchestras) and support personnel:
A P-1A is an alien coming temporarily, to perform at a specific athletic competition as an individual or as part of a group or team participating at an internationally recognized level of performance. A P-2 is an alien coming temporarily to perform as an artist or entertainer, individually or as part of a group, under a reciprocal exchange program between an organization in the United States and an organization in another country. A P-3 is an alien coming temporarily to perform, teach or coach, individually or as part of a group, in the arts or entertainment fields in a program that is culturally unique.
Q: Cultural exchange visitors (example: Smithsonian Folklife Festival participants)
R: Religious workers: An R-1 is an alien who for at least two years has been a member of a religious denomination having a bona fide nonprofit, religious organization in the United States, coming temporarily to work solely: 1. As a minister of that denomination; 2. In a professional capacity in a religious vocation or occupation for that organization; 3. or in a religious vocation or, occupation for the organization or its nonprofit affiliate.
S: Criminal informants
T: Victims of international trafficking in persons
TN: NAFTA Professionals. Click here for more information on this Visa.
U: Victims of criminal activity
V: Spouses and minor children of permanent residents who are waiting for green cards.