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Non-Immigrant Visas
If you wish to enter the US for a temporary period of time, a non-immigrant visa allows you to travel to a US port of entry and request permission from the Department of Homeland Security to visit for a specific purpose. That purpose might be work, school, a conference, or to visit friends and family in the US.
¿Cuáles son las diferencias entre una visa de inmigrante y de no inmigrante?
Una visa de no inmigrante, por su parte, solo permite que una persona ingrese al país temporalmente, mientras que el titular de una visa de inmigrante puede ingresar y quedarse de forma permanente. Al ingresar con una visa de no inmigrante, se considera que el titular de la visa está legalmente obligado a ingresar a los EE. UU. por un período específico y temporal de estadía autorizada con la promesa de salir de los EE. UU. al vencimiento de ese período.
What Are the Differences Between an Immigrant and Non-Immigrant Visas?
A non-immigrant visa is different from an immigrant visa in that the non-immigrant visa only allows a person to enter temporarily, whereas an immigrant visa-holder can enter and stay permanently. In entering on a non-immigrant visa, the visa holder is viewed, and legally bound, to enter the US for a specific, temporary period of authorized stay with a promise to depart the US at the expiration of that period of authorized stay.
What Are the Types of Visas That Can Be Applied for?
THE MOST COMMON TYPES OF NON-IMMIGRANT VISAS ARE:
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Visit our page on other non-immigrant visas to learn more about other options.
Visa Status and Length of Stay
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The length of time someone can stay in the US depends on the type of visa and, more importantly, on the discretion of the Customs and Border Protection officer who inspects and admits the person at the border. A person admitted in one status may be allowed to change their status in order to stay longer or to perform different activities. For example, college students may want to change their status to an employer-sponsored
non-immigrant visa after they graduate and seek employment (assuming their employer will sponsor them).
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