From: e422sk@tamuts.tamu.edu (Kalara Sunny)
Subject: abcd of nonimmigrant visa (1991)
Organization: Texas A&M University, College Station
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 04:40:10 GMT


This is something I put to gether in early January 1991. Becasue of
the  strong interest I thought it may still be useful to post the
outdated version. Stay tuned for the updated version in mid August.







  	A-B-C-D of nonimmigrant Visa
__________________________________________________________________________

  	I am sure, all of us at one time or other, have poured this
alphabet soup of F-1, H-1 and J-1 in our cups. 

Here is a quick taste of alphabet soup of nonimmigrant visa.

After a short discription of when a particular visa is applicable, I have
denoted the level of difficulty that one might encounter in applying
under that category. (Assuming that all the relevant papers are in order
relative difficulty of 0 means 'automatic' approval and 10 means very very
difficult {in my humble opinion})


A : Diplomatic visa
  
  A-1	Ambassadors, consular officials and other high ranking officials
  	of diplomatic mission (and their immidiate family)
  A-2	Less important officials (this visa is based on reciprocity)
  A-3	Attendent, cooks, service personels and alike

  		Level of difficulty A-1 0
  			            A-2 1
  				    A-3 1  Must be renewed every year

B  : Temporariy visitor's visa

  B-1	For temporary bussiness visitors, consultants also for training
  	of employees of a foreign company
  B-2	For pleasure travel, temp. visitors , immidiate family of B-1

  		Level of difficulty  B-1  5
  			             B-2  5 for people aged 55+
                                          6 for people 40+ to 55
  					  7 for others
  					  9 for unmarried woman 
C : Transit Visa
  
  C-1	Continuous transit in Us
  C-2	Transit to UN
  C-3	Transit to and from foreign consulate
  		Level of difficulty  C-1   varies; with proper documents 3
  				     C-2   2
  			             C-3   3
 		Maximum stay 29 days; No visa change is allowed

D  : Crewman

  Airline and ship crew
  		Levle of difficulty D 3

E  : Treaty related

  E-1	For companies which are continuing substantial trade between US
  	and their own country (Formal treaty necessary)
  E-2	For aliens that have substantial sum invested and come to direct
  	operations (Formal treaty between two states necessary)
  
  		India does not have a trade treaty with US. Indian citizens
  		are ineligible for E visa

F : Students

  F-1	Students at accredited University
  F-2	Spouse/children of F-1
  		Level of difficulty Varies by year and where you apply
  				average F-1 5
  				        F-2 6
G : Emplyoee of international organizations

  G-1	High ranking officials of international organization
  G-2	Other representative of international organization
  G-3	Aliens who are authorized for G-1 or G-2 but whose government has
  	not been recognized by US.
  G-4	Officer and employee of international organization
  G-5	attendents, servants of international organization
  		Level of difficulty G-1 0
  				    G-2 2
  				    G-3 ?
  				    G-4 4
  	                            G-4 4
H : Aliens of distinguished abilities, trainees

  H-1 :Temporary worker of distinguished abilities
  H-2 :Temporary services for which eligible persons can not be found in US
  H-3 : Trainee
  H-4 : Immidiate family of H-1/2/3
  		Level of difficulty H-1 4
  			            H-2 5
  				    H-3 4 (physicians are excluded from getting
  					   this visa)
  				    H-4 3
New classification of H-1B also exists. for nurses (?)  ::This info needs
  		      H-1A for farm workers (?)         ::to be corrected.
Maximum stay 5 yrs +1 year for extraordinary circumstances
All bets are off after october 1st 1992. 

I : Foreign press
  I-1 Foreign press, radio, tv and other information media
  I-2 spouse/children of I-1
  		Level of difficulty ?? (Unknown)

J : Exchange visitors

  J-1 Student, scholar, teacher etc
  J-2 immidiate family of J-1
  		Level of difficulty J-1 5
  			            J-2 4
Maximum time depends on whether it is student/scholar/teacher J-1
Varies from duration of study +1 year to max of 3 years for teachers
And don't forget the 2yrs residency requirment.
K : Fiance of american citizen

  K-1 Fiance of american citizen
  K-2 Children of K-1
Must marry with in 90 days.
This classification is being phased out.

L : Intercompany transfer
  
  L-1 Multinational co. transfer
  L-2 family of L-1
There is also 'Blanket L-1'(L-1B) for very large co.
  	Level of difficulty Varies  L-1 5 for small firm
  				    L-1 2 for large firms
  				    L-1 0 for very large co.

M: Students

M-1  For students in vocational schools as opposed to traditional acedemic inst.
M-2  family of M-1
  		Level of difficulty ??

N : NATO visa (?)
N-1to N-5 classification exists

FOLLOWING are the new classifications introduced within the last year.

O : Individual of extraordinary ability
  O-1 Extraordinary ability in science, arts atheletics
  O-2 indivudals entering for the sole purpose of assisting O-1 (coaches etc)
  O-3 family of O-1/2

H-1 requires a job, O-1 doesn't. International fame and peer group consultation
is required. Level of difficulty ????

P : Athletes and entertainer

P-1 : International level athlete
P-2 : Exchange athletes and entertainers (recidency requirment of 3 mo.)
P-3 : Athletes and entertainer of culturally unique programme.
P-4 : family of P-1/2/3

Q : International culture programme
  Q-1 For participation of designated international culture programme
  Q-2 family of Q-1
Limited to 15 months of stay

R : Religious occupations
  Religious occupation has been eliminated from H-1 classification. New R
  classification requires two years of membership in the religious organization
  prior to application. Max. stay of 5 years.

There are also other miscellaneous nonimmigrant visa provisions that have
not been classified yet. For example there are 100 visas set aside for 
particiapation in to co-operative project in research. There are also
special visas for countries which have free trade agreement with US (like
Canada) I presume state
department uses these soft visas to suit its purpose.


Please check out the compendium article :"Humor, XYZ of nonimmigrant visa"

  					           - Sunny Kalara
  						     Physics Dept.
  					             Texas A&M University
  						     College Station TX 77843
                                                            &
  				                      Houston Advanced
  								research center
  						      The woodlands Tx 77381
Disclaimer : I am not a lawyer and I don't play one on TV either. This article
is for general informational purpose only. For specific question please
contact your local bar assocoation or your friendly INS official.
Remember, INS officials are from the government, they are there to help you :-).

For corrections pl. send a note to Kalara@tamphys.bitnet
  				   Kalara@phys.tamu.edu
For flames, send a message to Blackholes@tamphys.bitnet.