TEMPORARY VISAS

This page explains how you can obtain a temporary visa to visit, study or work in the United States. It contains a number of articles and links explaining the various types of temporary visas. It explains the difference between a "visa" and a "status". It provides you with the procedure for obtaining a visa abroad as well as detailing the process of obtaining an extension of stay and a change of status in the U.S. It links to the online visa appointment system for U.S. Consulates in Canada and Mexico.

• Visitors for Business or Pleasure ("B-1/B-2") - (CIS)
  • * Visitor Visas to the U.S. (State Department)
  • Visa Waiver Program (State Department)
  • Tips for Treaty Traders ("E-1") and Investors ("E-2") - State Department
  • Treaty Traders ("E-1")
  • Students ("F-1")
  • Temporary Professional Workers ("H-1B")
  • Temporary Skilled and Unskilled Workers ("H-2B")
  • Foreign Journalists ("I")
  • Exchange Visitors ("J-1")
  • Fiancees of U.S. Citizens ("K-1")
  • Intracompany Transferees ("L-1")
  • Persons of Extraordinary Ability ("O")
  • Athletes and Entertainers ("P")
  • Religious Workers ("R")
  • Victims of Human Trafficking ("T")
  • Canadian and Mexican Professionals Under NAFTA ("TN")
  • Duration of Mexican Border Crossing Cards Extended to 30 Days

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• Online Visa Appointment Reservation System (Canada/Mexico)

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• State Department Announces End of Revalidation of Visas in the U.S. (6-23-04)
• Visa Revalidation
• Waivers and Classes of Aliens Ineligible to Receive Visas
• Denials of Visas

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With three exceptions, Immigration Act of 1990 prohibits alien crewmen from working as longshoremen while docked in ports in the U.S.

The first exception allows alien crewman to load or unload hazardous cargoes for which the U.S. Department of Transportation has issued appropriate safety and environmental regulations.

The second exception allows alien crewman to work as longshoremen where this is the prevailing practice. This may be demonstrated by a collective bargaining agreement which covers at least 30% of the longshoremen, and which allows foreign crewman to engage in such practices. Where there is no such agreement, the ship owner must file an attestation with the U.S. Department of Labor. The attestation must be filed at least 14 days before the work is to be performed, and must state that: (1) the activity is permitted at the local port; (2) there is no strike or lockout; (3) such action is not intended to influence the outcome of a labor election; and (4) a notice of the attestation has been provided to the bargaining representative of longshoremen in the local port. Such attestations must be renewed on a yearly basis. Penalties may be imposed for a material misrepresentation or for an employer's failure to meet a condition of the attestation.

The third exception covers alien crewmen where the ship on which they work is registered in a country, and is owned by nationals of a country, each of which does not prohibit crewmen from performing longshore activities aboard U.S. vessels in its ports.

The act also bars aliens from working aboard air and sea carriers during the course of a labor dispute unless the employer shows that the alien was employed prior to the labor dispute and is continuing to work in the same capacity.

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