The H3 visa permits holders of the visa to stay in the United States for a maximum of 2 years. The visa cannot be extended, and in order to reapply, the applicant must spend at least six months outside of the United States. The H3 visa permits bringing a spouse and any unmarried children under age 21 under H4 status, which does not permit them to work within the United States. The H3 visa allows the holder of the visa to travel both within the United States and outside of the country.
Applicants for the H3 visa must be prepared to demonstrate the need for the training, the lack of availability of equivalent training in their home country, and how the training will assist in their career pursuits outside of the United States.
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R1 Visa Attorney
The R-1 visa permits residence in the United States for a period of three years. This period can be extended for a maximum of two years, after which the visa expires and the holder of the visa must return to his or her native country. R-1 visa holders are permitted to change employers during their stay, but must file a new form I-129 in order to do so. The R-1 visa allows the religious worker to bring a spouse as well as unmarried children under age 21, but they are not permitted to work while in the United States.
]]>The H2B visa is a non-immigrant visa available to workers in non-agricultural fields when U.S. employers have seasonal, peak load, or intermittent needs for temporary workers. It can also be obtained when a U.S. employer has a one-time occurrence that requires additional temporary workers. Employers must also be able to prove that there is an insufficient supply of available American workers to perform these jobs, thus necessitating bringing in foreign workers.
H2B Visa Qualifications
In order to qualify for the H2B visa, applicants must have a job offer from a U.S. employer for temporary or seasonal work and must be able to show the intent to return to their home country when the visa expires. The H2B visa is not self-petitioned, meaning it must be sponsored by an employer.
Dependants (spouse and unmarried children under age 21) can be brought to the United States with the H2B visa holder under H4 status, but they are not allowed to work in the United States during that time. As many as 66,000 H2B visas can be granted per fiscal year.
]]>The H1B visa is used by foreign workers to come to the United States to work for U.S. employers on a temporary basis in “specialty occupations” (jobs requiring specialized knowledge and education including architects, doctors, engineers, computer programmers, nurses lawyers).
H1B status applicants must have at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent in a field related to their specialty occupation.
H1B visas are granted for up to three years, but can be extended to six. After the six year limit is reached, the worker cannot return to the U.S. under an H1B visa until a year has passed. A maximum of 65,000 H1B visas can be granted per year.
Although the H1B visa requires that the foreign national work exclusively for the job the visa was issued for, the H1B visa holder is free to perform an H1B transfer, and find a job with a different employer, as long as the new employment also fits the criteria of an H1B visa.
Dependants are permitted to be brought to the United States with the holder of H1B visas, but are not permitted to work unless they have acquired separate work visas.
An immigration lawyer can help you apply for a H1B visa, H1B extension, or H1B transfer.
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