Visa Options for Workers

Here is a summary of employment-based nonimmigrant and immigrant visa classifications.

The main nonimmigrant temporary worker classifications include:

● CW-1 (CNMI-Only transitional worker)

● E-1 (Treaty traders and qualified employees)

● E-2 (Treaty investors and qualified employees)

● E-2C (Long-term foreign investors in the CNMI)

● E-3 (Certain "specialty occupation" professionals from Australia)

● H-1B (Workers in a specialty occupation)

● H-1C (Registered nurses working in a health professional shortage area)

● H-2A (Temporary or seasonal agricultural workers)

● H-2B (Temporary non-agricultural workers)

● H-3 (Trainees other than medical or academic. This classification also applies to practical training in the education of handicapped children.)

● I (Representatives of foreign press, radio, film or other foreign information media)

● L-1A (Intracompany transferees in managerial or executive positions)

● L-1B (Intracompany transferees in positions utilizing specialized knowledge)

● O-1 (Persons with extraordinary ability in sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics and motion picture or TV production)

● O-2 (Persons accompanying solely to assist an O-1 nonimmigrant)

● P-1A (Internationally recognized athletes)

● P-1B (Internationally recognized entertainers or members of internationally recognized entertainment groups)

● P-2 (Individual performer or part of a group entering to perform under a reciprocal exchange program)

● P-3 (Artists or entertainers, either an individual or group, to perform, teach, or coach under a program that is culturally unique)

● Q-1 (Persons participating in an international cultural exchange program for the purpose of providing practical training, employment, and to share the history, culture, and traditions of the nonimmigrant’s home country.

● R-1 (Religious workers)

● TN (NAFTA temporary professionals from Mexico and Canada)

There are also five immigrant visa categories that allow you to permanently live and work in the United States:

● EB-1 (persons of extraordinary ability)

● EB-2 (persons who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees)

● EB-3 (professionals, skilled workers, and other workers)

● EB-4 (certain religious workers, employees of U.S. foreign service posts, retired employees of international organizations, noncitizen minors who are wards of courts in the United States, and other classes of noncitizens)

● EB-5 (business investors who invest $1.8 million or $900,000 (if the investment is made in a targeted employment area) in a new commercial enterprise that employs at least 10 full-time U.S. workers)

May a non-immigrant get married in the U.S.?

Can an individual who is present in the United States get married while in the U.S. on a non-immigrant visa (such as a B1 or B2 visas)? The short answer is yes. There are no laws or regulations prohibiting visitors from getting married in the U.S. In fact, there have been a number of individuals who came to the U.S. on a non-immigrant visa, got married in the U.S., and returned to their home country.

Complications arise when you wish to remain in the U.S. after getting married. The B1 and B2 visas are non-immigrant visas, but in order to remain permanently in the U.S. you would need an immigrant visa. In order to do this, you could either return to your home country and apply for an immigrant visa from your country of origin, or you could attempt to do an adjustment of status while in the U.S. However, an adjustment of status requires proving to immigration officials that you originally came to the U.S. with non-immigrant intent and that your intentions changed while you were in the U.S. If on the other hand it is shown that you originally came to the U.S. with the secret intention of getting married, this could be considered immigration fraud, which could make you permanently ineligible to enter the U.S. It may be difficult to show non-immigrant intent if the marriage happens close to arrival date, because that would appear as if obtaining the non-immigrant visa was a deliberate attempt to avoid the queue of the fiancée visa or spousal visa process.

If you get married on a non-immigrant visa and then return to your home country, there is no such problem. However, a person with a multiple-entry non-immigrant visa who attempts to re-enter the U.S. after getting married may face additional scrutiny upon re-entry. In this case, you must convince officials that you do not plan to permanently move to the U.S. at this point in time, and you must show evidence that you plan to continue living in your home country for now and ultimately apply for your immigrant visa there. For example, you may show that you still have ties to your home country (e.g. you still have a job, a home, or significant personal property in your home country).

Proclamation Suspending Entry of Immigrants During the COVID-19 Outbreak

SUMMARY: It only APPLIES to those who

(i)    are outside the United States on the effective date of this proclamation;

(ii)   do not have an immigrant visa that is valid on the effective date of this proclamation; and

(iii)  do not have an official travel document other than a visa (such as a transportation letter, an appropriate boarding foil, or an advance parole document) that is valid on the effective date of this proclamation or issued on any date thereafter that permits him or her to travel to the United States and seek entry or admission.

The suspension and limitation on entry SHALL NOT APPLY to:

(i)     any lawful permanent resident of the United States;

(ii)    any alien seeking to enter the United States on an immigrant visa as a physician, nurse, or other healthcare professional; to perform medical research or other research intended to combat the spread of COVID-19; or to perform work essential to combating, recovering from, or otherwise alleviating the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, as determined by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or their respective designees;  and any spouse and unmarried children under 21 years old of any such alien who are accompanying or following to join the alien;

(iii)   any alien applying for a visa to enter the United States pursuant to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program;

(iv)    any alien who is the spouse of a United States citizen;

(v)     any alien who is under 21 years old and is the child of a United States citizen, or who is a prospective adoptee seeking to enter the United States pursuant to the IR-4 or IH-4 visa classifications;

(vi)    any alien whose entry would further important United States law enforcement objectives, as determined by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or their respective designees, based on a recommendation of the Attorney General or his designee;

(vii)   any member of the United States Armed Forces and any spouse and children of a member of the United States Armed Forces;

(viii)  any alien seeking to enter the United States pursuant to a Special Immigrant Visa in the SI or SQ classification, subject to such conditions as the Secretary of State may impose, and any spouse and children of any such individual; or

(ix)    any alien whose entry would be in the national interest, as determined by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or their respective designees.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-suspending-entry-immigrants-present-risk-u-s-labor-market-economic-recovery-following-covid-19-outbreak/?utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0FUk83XMTQKjdc4n0UYkLW4PeVJ9vufi3mDJqtH9Gu8W7RhKb1Y7GdWWM