United States Visas were issued to 6.6 million foreign nationals visiting the United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language and to 470 thousand immigrants in 2008[1].
A foreign national wishing to enter the U.S. must obtain a visa:
- 1) If he or she is not a citizen of one of the thirty-six Visa Waiver Program The Visa Waiver Program is a program of the United States Government which allows citizens of specific countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for up to 90 days without having to obtain a visa. The program applies to the 50 U.S. states as well as the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, countries
- 2) If he or she is not a citizen of Canada The land occupied by Canada was inhabited for millennia by various groups of Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored, and later settled, along the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three or Bermuda Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about 1,030 kilometres (640 mi) to the west-northwest. It is about 1,373 kilometres (853 mi) south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and 1,770 kilometres (1,100 mi) northeast of
- 3) Or if he or she has a statutory ineligibility for visa-free travel (e.g. criminal records)
There are separate requirements for Mexican citizens[2].
There are two basic types of U.S. visas:
- Nonimmigrant visa - for temporary visits such as for tourism Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity, business A business is a legally recognized organization designed to provide goods or services, or both, to consumers, businesses and governmental entities. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies. Most businesses are privately owned. A business is typically formed to earn profit that will increase the wealth of its owners and grow the business, work Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as: "A person in the service of another under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, where the employer has the power or right to control and direct the employee in the material details of how or studying.
- Immigrant visa - for people wanting to be permanent residents in the United States without any time limitation.
In order to immigrate, one should either have an immigrant visa, or have a dual intent Dual intent is an United States immigration law concept. It generally refers to the fact that certain U.S. Visas allow foreigners to be temporarily present in the USA with lawful status and immigrant intent. This allows those visa holders, particularly H-1B professionals, 'to enter' the U.S. while simultaneously seeking lawful permanent resident visa, which is one that is compatible with making a concurrent application for permanent resident status (Green Card), or having an intention to apply for permanent residence.
Contrary to a popular misconception, a U.S. visa does not authorize the alien's entry to the United States, nor does it authorize the alien's stay in the U.S. in a particular status. A U.S. visa only serves as a preliminary permission given to the alien to travel to the United States and to seek admission to the United States at a designated port of entry.[3] The final admission to the United States in a particular status and for a particular period of time is made at the port of entry by a U.S. immigration officer. For aliens entering the U.S. in a nonimmigrant visa status these details are recorded by the immigration officer on the alien's Form I-94 An I-94 is a form denoting the Arrival-Departure Record of particular foreigners used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection . U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) uses Form I-94 also. Form I-94 must be completed at the time of entry to the United States by foreign citizens that are being admitted into the United States in a non- (Form I-94W for citizens of the Visa Waiver Program The Visa Waiver Program is a program of the United States Government which allows citizens of specific countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for up to 90 days without having to obtain a visa. The program applies to the 50 U.S. states as well as the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, countries entering the U.S. for short visits), which serves as the official document authorizing the alien's stay in the United States in a particular non-immigrant visa status and for a particular period of time. [4]
Qualification process
The process for issuing a United States visa, possibly including a Visas Mantis checkApplicants for visitor visas must show that they qualify under provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act Categories: United States federal immigration and nationality legislation. The presumption in the law is that every visitor visa applicant (except certain employment-related applicants, who are exempt) is an intending immigrant. Therefore, applicants for visitor visas must overcome this presumption by demonstrating that:
- The purpose of their trip is to enter the U.S. for business, pleasure, or medical treatment;
- They plan to remain for a specific, limited period; and
- They have a residence outside the U.S. as well as other binding ties which will ensure their return abroad at the end of the visit.
All tourist visa applicants must pay a $140 U.S. dollar The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States of America. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents interview fee (up from $131 before June 4, 2010) to a US Consulate in order to be interviewed by a Consular Officer who will determine if the applicant is qualified to receive a visa to travel to the U.S (additionally, the officer may also ask the United States Department of State The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries. The Department was created in 1789 and was the first executive department established for a Security Advisory Opinion Security Advisory Opinion or Washington Special Clearance, commonly called security clearance, administrative clearance, or administrative processing, is a process the United States Department of State and the diplomatic missions of the United States use in deciding to grant or deny a United States visa to certain visa applicants. The process, which can take several weeks to resolve). If the applicant is rejected, the $140 fee is not refunded. Amongst the items included in the qualification decision are financial independence, adequate employment, material assets and a lack of a criminal record in the applicant's native country.
The immigration visa process is even more stringent and costly. After all processing fees have been paid, most immigration visa applicants pay well over 1,000 U.S. dollars to become permanent residents in the United States and are forced to wait several years before actually immigrating to the U.S.
Classes of Visas
A-1 / A-2/ A-3
The visa that is solely available to certain group such as Ambassadors, ministers, diplomats (and their immediate families), foreign government officials or employees and their immediate families.
B-1/B-2
The most common nonimmigrant visa is the multiple-purpose B-1/B-2 visa, also known as the "visa for temporary visitors for business or pleasure." Visa applicants sometimes receive either a B-1 (temporary visitor for business) or a B-2 (temporary visitor for pleasure) visa, if their reason for travel is specific enough that the consular officer does not feel they qualify for combined B-1/B-2 status.
J1
Main article: J1 visaThe Exchange Visitor Program is carried out under the provisions of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961. The purpose is to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries by means of educational and cultural exchanges. International educational and cultural exchanges are one of the most effective means of developing lasting and meaningful relationships. They provide an extremely valuable opportunity to experience the United States and its way of life. Foreign nationals come to the United States to participate in a wide variety of educational and cultural exchange programs. The Exchange Visitor Program is administered by the Office of Exchange Coordination and Designation in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. In carrying out the responsibilities of the Exchange Visitor Program, the Department designates public and private entities to act as exchange sponsors. Sponsoring organizations facilitate the entry of foreign nationals into the United States as exchange visitors to complete the objectives of one of the exchange visitor program categories, which are:
• Au pair • Camp Counselor • Student, college/university • Student, secondary • Government Visitor • International Visitor (reserved for U.S. Department of State use) • Alien physician • Professor • Research Scholar • Short-term Scholar • Specialist • Summer work/travel • Teacher • Trainee
H-1B
Main article: H-1B visa The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa in the United States under the Immigration & Nationality Act, section 101(15)(H). It allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. If a foreign worker in H-1B status quits or is dismissed from the sponsoring employer, the worker can find another employer, apply for aThe H-1B classification is for professional-level jobs that require a minimum of a bachelor's degree in a specific academic field. In addition, the employee must have the degree or the equivalence of such a degree through education and experience. Before the H-1B petition can be filed with USCIS USCIS is charged with processing immigrant visa petitions, naturalization petitions, and asylum and refugee applications, as well as making adjudicative decisions performed at the service centers, and managing all other immigration benefits functions performed by the former INS. Other responsibilities include: the employer must fill a "Labor Condition Application" (LCA) with the Department of Labor demonstrating that it is paying the required wage for this position in the geographic region where the job is located. The required wage for the position is the higher of the "actual wage" that is paid to other employees in this position or the "prevailing wage" which can be determined using nearly any source, including the employer's own wage survey.
When the employer submits the LCA, the law specifically limits the approval process so that LCAs may only be rejected if they be "incomplete or obviously inaccurate" (8 U.S.C. 1182 (n)). An employer may claim anything is the prevailing wage and the LCA is certain to be approved. In F.Y. 2005 <<1% of LCAs were rejected. In cases where the prevailing wage source is not valid (e.g. a national survey rather than a local one or a survey of entry level wages rather than one for the occupation and location) or where the prevailing wage is misstated (e.g. fabricated or using the 25th percentile wage) the LCA routinely will be approved.
Contrary to popular myth, there is no requirement whatsoever that employers must prove they could not find U.S. workers before hiring H-1B workers. In the case of "H-1B-dependent employers" (usually those with more than 15% of their workers on H-1B visas), the law requires these employer to recruit U.S. workers in "good faith" (8 U.S.C. 1182(n) (1)(G)). However, there is no effective enforcement mechanism in place.
As a general rule, a person who is in one nonimmigrant status may not change status or change employers in that status until he or she applies with USCIS for such a change, and such change is granted. However, a provision called "H-1B portability" permits certain individuals already in the United States in H-1B status to commence employment for a new employer once a new employer's H-1B petition is filed with USCIS.
In order to obtain an H-1B visa, the employer must show that it will pay the higher of the prevailing local wage or the wage it pays other U.S. citizens who have similar education and experience. The employer is not required to prove there are no American workers available to perform the work. However, some economists saw H-1B expansion as an assault on the American middle class that benefited the wealthy and made it impossible to maintain traditional American standards of living, or provide incentives to improve productivity as rapidly as nations like Japan with more restrictive immigration policies.
The companies who hired workers on H-1B visas often argue that the U.S. lacks enough skilled American workers to do the specific work needed by the company. Many economists argue that hiring these foreign workers provides more benefits to the U.S., and otherwise the recruiting companies would simply offshore the entire operation. It was claimed this would likely prove worse for the U.S. economy as a whole, because in the first scenario foreign national workers living in the United States would at least spend money in the United States, while the multi-national corporations that would purportedly export the jobs to overseas locations would probably not pass down as much of the savings to the U.S. consumer who purchased for them.
L-1 Intracompany Transferee
The L-1 classification is for international transferees who have worked for a related organization abroad for at least one year in the past three years that will be coming to the United States to work in an executive or managerial (L-1A) or specialized knowledge capacity (L-1B).
To qualify as an international executive, the employee must meet the following requirements:
- Direct the management of the organization or a major component or function;
- Establish the goals and policies of the organization, component, or function;
- Exercise wide latitude in discretionary decision-making; and
- Receive only general supervision or direction from higher-level executives, the board of directors, or stockholders of the organization.
To qualify as an international manager, the employee must meet the following requirements:
- Manage the organization or department, subdivision, function or component of the organization;
- Supervise and control the work of other supervisory, professional or managerial employees, or manage an essential function within the organization, or a department or subdivision of the organization;
- The authority to hire and fire, or recommend hire/fire and other personnel actions (such as promotion and leave authorization), or if no employees are directly supervised, functions at a senior level within the organizational hierarchy or with respect to the function managed; and
- Exercises discretion over the day-to-day operations of the activity or function for which the employee has authority.
To qualify as a specialized knowledge transferee, the employee must meet the following requirements:
- Possess knowledge of the company product and its application in international markets; or
- An advanced level of knowledge of processes and procedures of the company.
An employee has specialized knowledge if the knowledge is different from that generally found in the particular industry. Possible characteristics of an employee who possesses specialized knowledge including knowledge that is valuable to the employers competitiveness in the market place; knowledge of foreign operating conditions as a result of special knowledge not generally found in the industry; has worked abroad in a capacity involving significant assignments which have enhanced the employer's productivity, competitiveness, image or financial position; possesses knowledge which normally can be gained only through prior experience with that employer; or possesses knowledge of a product or process which cannot be easily transferred or taught to another individual.
etravelblackboard.us
On the 19th of June, United Airlines sent out memos to an unknown number of travel agencies through the United States informing them that from the 20th of ...
WTAAA condemn United Airlines credit card fee transfer Travel Daily News International
all 164 news articles »
