The Alphabet Soup of Visas

At Antonini & Cohen, we work with many consumers who’re acquiring short-term visas for themselves or for relations. However there are nearly as many visas as there are letters within the alphabet—thus, the “alphabet soup” of visas. Immigration attorneys work with purchasers to kind via this soup, petitioning for the visa that most accurately fits their state of affairs, or serving to purchasers higher perceive the makes use of and limitations of a selected visa. 

Right here’s the alphabet soup of visas, from A to W. 

A – A visas, or diplomatic visas, are for international authorities officers, their households and typically their private staff. 

B – B visas are one of the widespread sorts, they usually embody guests for enterprise (B-1) and tourism (B-2). The enterprise visa isn’t for these coming into the U.S. to work, nonetheless. As an alternative, it’s for people seeking to attend conferences, seminars or coaching periods.  

C –The transit visa is for folks passing via america on their method to one other vacation spot. 

D – D visas are for air or sea crewmembers passing via america. Mostly, we’ll see this visa related to individuals who work on cruise ships. Nevertheless, D visas do include some complicating components for these in search of to acquire inexperienced playing cards via marriage, making it important to talk with an immigration lawyer should you’re making an attempt to alter your standing.

F – F visas are for college kids and their households. We name this the “gateway visa” for acquiring different varieties of work visas in a while. F visas usually don’t embody work choices, although there may be some flexibility, together with the chance to take part in internships.  

G – This visa is for workers of worldwide organizations, just like the Worldwide Committee of the Purple Cross. 

H – H visas, meant for short-term staff, are one of the widespread sorts. They embody visas for professionals (H-1B), nurses (H-1C), agricultural staff (H-2A), seasonal staff (H-2B) and trainees (H-3). There’s even a specialised visa meant for professionals from Chile or Singapore (H-1B1) as a part of a free commerce settlement. 

I – The I visa is for representatives of the worldwide media. 

J – An Antonini & Cohen favourite, the J visa is an alternate visa meant to facilitate people coming to america, gaining expertise, creating bonds and taking what they realized again dwelling once more. It’s a large class, together with some worldwide alternate college students, international medical doctors in search of graduate medical coaching, professors and researchers, students, camp counselors, people within the hospitality trade and au pairs. You will need to perceive that almost all J visas require the international nationwide to return dwelling for 2 years earlier than transitioning to a different visa sort. 

Ok – Ok visas are for fiancés and fiancées of U.S. residents (Ok-1), their youngsters (Ok-2), spouses of U.S. residents (Ok-3), and their youngsters (Ok-4).  

L – L visas are for intracompany transfers of managers and executives (L-1A) or staff with specialised information (L-1B). These visas are difficult to acquire, particularly these primarily based on specialised information. To efficiently obtain an L-1B visa, it’s important to present that your information is exclusive to the corporate you’re employed for and that your job couldn’t simply be taken on by a U.S. citizen. 

M – The M visa is for college kids of language or vocational colleges. 

N – The N visa is for the dad and mom or youngsters of particular immigrants.

O – O visas are for folks with extraordinary means within the arts, sciences, athletics, training or enterprise (O-1) and their help personnel (O-2). We jokingly name it the “I’m so nice visa,” as it’s important to reveal that you’re on the very prime of your discipline. It does supply an effective way to get round a few of the limitations of different visa sorts. 

P – The P visa is for athletes, leisure teams and orchestras, in addition to their help groups. 

Q – The Q visa is a particular number of alternate visa for international nationals coming into the U.S. to take part in cultural festivals or alternate packages. 

R – A standard visa sort amongst Antonini & Cohen purchasers, the R visa is for non secular staff. 

S  – The S visa could also be granted for these offering essential info to the U.S. authorities concerning organized crime or terrorism. It requires a authorities entity’s sponsorship. 

T  – There are two, unrelated varieties of T visas. The primary, the TN visa, is a piece visa for folks from Mexico or Canada. The second, the T visa, is for victims of human or labor trafficking. This visa requires the participation of regulation enforcement and may present safety for victims. 

U  – The U visa is for the victims of sure varieties of severe crime. It may be useful in defending victims and providing them some safety as they work with regulation enforcement.

W – The WB visa is a waiver for enterprise vacationers. The WT visa is a waiver for vacationer visas. Each enable international nationals from sure nations to enter the U.S. with out a visa. 

Understanding the provisions of your visa is essential. If you happen to plan to transition to a distinct sort of visa, or should you’re seeking to acquire a visa for relations overseas, please name us at (404) 850-9394 or go to us on-line.

Nisha Karnani

Nisha Ok. Karnani was born in the UK to Indian dad and mom and immigrated to america as a baby. She earned her Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Economics from the College of North Carolina in 1998 and her Juris Physician from the College of North Carolina Faculty of Regulation in 2001.

Ms. Karnani has practiced immigration regulation completely since being admitted to the Georgia Bar in 2001. She was an Affiliate Lawyer with Cohen & Associates starting in 2001, a agency which merged and have become the Antonini & Cohen Immigration Regulation Group in 2013. As a Associate at Antonini and Cohen, Ms. Karnani represents purchasers in employment and household immigration on points. She additionally represents victims of home violence and different crimes in numerous immigration issues.