A: Diplomatic employees and their households

B: Business visitors or tourists (one of the most common temporary visas)

C: Passengers passing through at an airport or seaport

D: Previously assigned for crew members, but eliminated in June 2004

E-1 and E-2: Investors or persons engaged in commerce

The E-2 status allows businesspeople from certain countries to work in the U.S. for a business in which the investors share the same nationality as the applicant. It provides the possibility of self-employment and an unlimited number of extensions. To qualify and individual must: 1) be a citizen of a country that has an investor treaty with the U.S., 2) be coming to work in the U.S. for a company they own or that is at least 50% owned by other nationals of their home country, 3) be either the owner or a key employee of the U.S. business. The person or company must have made a substantial investment in the U.S. business, the U.S. business must be an active for-profit business, and the person must intend to leave the U.S. when the business there is completed.

E-2 status is meant to be temporary, so that at the time of the person’s application, they must intend to depart the U.S. when business is completed. While, they are not required to maintain a foreign residence abroad, they will be asked to show they have family members, possessions, or property elsewhere in the world as an incentive for their eventual departure from the U.S. E-2 employees can also obtain E-2 status for their spouse and unmarried children under 21. The spouse may apply for U.S. work authorization. E-2 status can be extended for up to five years at a time and status stays can be extended in two-year increments.

E-3: Professionals who are Australian citizens

E-3 immigration status is very similar to H-1B status, except that it is available only to Australian citizens. The main benefit is that visa numbers are plentiful. Typically, E-3 employees are not permitted to apply for a green card.

F: Students

You have likely heard of the F-1 status for foreign-national students in the United States. F-1 OPT and later STEM OPT allow students to gain valuable work experience related to their studies. Typically, an F-1 student can only work in very limited circumstances, so Optional Practical Training (“OPT”), allows students the opportunity for temporary employment that is directly related to their major area of study. Eligible students can apply to receive up to 12 months of OPT employment authorization before completing their academic studies and/or after completing their academic studies.

Students who have earned degrees in certain science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields may apply for a 24-month extension of their OPT employment authorization if they earned a STEM degree, are employed by an employer enrolled in E-Verify, and received an initial grant of post-completion OPT employment authorization based on their STEM degree. OPT is a good option for students to gain experience in the workforce. If an F-1 OPT student is successful in the workplace, many employers choose to help the individuals change status to H-1B, described below. However, as of February 2018, the president has threatened to eliminate this immigration category.

G: Employees of international organizations such as the International Red Cross

H: Professionals, models, nurses, and cultural workers, temporary/seasonal workers, trainees (one of the most common temporary visas)

Each year, approximately 85,000 H-1B visa numbers are available to workers in occupations requiring highly specialized knowledge and to distinguished fashion models. The immigration status is commonly used by workers in high-tech industries, but it is also available to people in other specialized fields, from accountants to attorneys to librarians to dieticians and other scientific or medical workers. Unfortunately, there are not enough H-1B visa numbers to supply all the workers who want them. Nearly 200,000 individuals applied for an H-1B last year, so there certainly is no guarantee that even if an employee meets all the requirements, their application will be reviewed for a decision. However, there are several circumstances in which the applicant may have more favorable odds at obtaining an H-1B visa number.

To qualify for an H-1B status, a person must first have a job offer from a U.S. employer for duties to be performed in the U.S. The person must perform services in a specialty occupation that requires a college degree or its equivalent in work experience. The individual must also have the correct type of background for the job they are offered.

The employer must also be offering what the government considers to be the prevailing wage for that type of job in that geographic category. This is an important requirement, because it is one that is often overlooked when politicians and critics of the H-1B program complain that H-1B employees are taking jobs away from American workers and are driving down wages. In fact, employees must at least meet the wage requirements typical for that job, and many employees are paid more because of the special talents they contribute to an organization. The nearly 200,000 annual applications similarly demonstrate that there exists a real need for highly skilled, specialized workers.

Besides temporary status and employment authorization, H-1B employees can obtain legal status for their spouse and unmarried children under 21. H-1B status can be extended for a total of six years, and even longer if the company has started the green card process. H-1B status is considered “dual intent,” meaning employees can simultaneously apply for permanent residence—a big advantage.

I: Representatives of international media

J: Exchange visitors, such as students, graduate medical trainees, professors and researchers, short-term scholars, camp counselors

K: Fiancés, fiancées, spouses of U.S. citizens married abroad

L: Certain employees of international companies

L-1 immigration status allows managers, executives, or specialty knowledgeable employees of international companies to obtain work authorization to work for the U.S. office of the same company. Unlike H-1B status, there are no limits L-1 visa numbers. Similar to H-1B status, the L-1 is also a dual intent status, which allows L-1 workers to apply for permanent residency while at the same time holding nonimmigrant status.

A person qualifies for L-1 status if they have been employed outside of the U.S. by a company having the required legal relationship to the U.S. petitioning employer for at least one continuous year out of the past three years, and the person is transferred to the U.S. to work as a manager, executive, or specialized-knowledge worker. The U.S. company to which the person is transferring must be a parent, branch, subsidiary, affiliate, or joint venture partner of the person’s non-U.S. employer. The non-U.S. company must remain in operation while the person has the L-1 status and be physically located outside of the U.S. It may be a foreign division of a U.S.-based business or it may have originated in a country outside of the U.S.

An individual with L-1 status may obtain L-2 status for their spouse and unmarried children under age 21. The individual’s spouse is also permitted to work in the U.S. L-1 status can be extended for a maximum of 5-7 years. This category is one of the best options, especially because it may lead quickly to a green card.

M: Language and vocational students

N: NATO employees

O: Persons with extraordinary skills who are recognized nationally or internationally

O-1 status is reserved for individuals with extraordinary ability who are well-known in their particular field and coming to the U.S. to work in their area of expertise. O-1 status is available to persons of proven extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics. To be considered a person of extraordinary ability, the individual must have sustained national or international acclaim. Similarly, if the person works in motion pictures or television productions, the applicant must have a demonstrated record of extraordinary achievement.

To meet O-1 standards, the person must be able to show that they have extraordinary ability and that they have received sustained national or international acclaim. This can be demonstrated if they have received a major, internationally recognized award, or if they have accomplished at least three of the following: 1) received a national recognized prize or award for excellence; 2) membership in associations that require outstanding achievements of their members in the individual’s field of expertise, as judged by recognized national or international experts; 3) published material in professional or major trade publications or major media about the individual and his or her work; 4) participated as a judge of the work of other’s in the individual’s field; 5) made an original scientific, scholarly, or business-related contribution that is of major significance in the field; 6) authored scholarly articles in professional journals or major media; 7) been previously employed in a critical or essential capacity for an organization with distinguished reputation; or 7) command or have commanded a high salary or other outstanding remuneration for the person’s services.

O-1 applicants in the arts, must only be recognized as “prominent” their field of endeavor. The person can demonstrate his or her recognition with documents showing that he or she has been nominated for or has received significant national or international awards or prizes, such as an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, or Director’s Guild Award. Alternatively, the individual can demonstrate other evidence. Examples of such evidence includes, but is not limited to: a lead role in a film, a record of major commercial or critically acclaimed success, or evidence of a high salary or other substantial remuneration for services.

O-2 status is available to those who work as essential support personnel of O-1 athletes and entertainers, but are not available in the fields of science, business, or education. The O-2 worker must also have critical skills and experience with the particular O-1 worker that is not general in nature and cannot be performed by a U.S. worker. Furthermore, O-3 status is available to accompanying spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21.

P: Athletes, entertainment groups

Q: Cultural exchange visitors

R: Religious workers

S: Criminal informants

T: Victims of international trafficking in persons