CLASSIFICATIONS

The Immigration and Nationality Act provides several categories of non immigrant visas for a person who wishes to work temporarily in the United States. There are annual numerical limits on some classifications, which are shown in parentheses.

H-1Bclassification applies to persons in a specialty occupation, which requires the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge requiring completion of a specific course of higher education. This classification requires a labor attestation issued by the Secretary of Labor (65,000). This classification also applies to Government-to-Government research and development, or co production projects administered by the Department of Defense (100);

H-2Aclassification applies to temporary or seasonal agricultural workers;

H-2Bclassification applies to temporary or seasonal nonagricultural workers. This classification requires a temporary labor certification issued by the Secretary of Labor (66,000);

H-3classification applies to trainees other than medical or academic. This classification also applies to practical training in the education of handicapped children (50);

Classification applies to intra-company transferees who, within the three preceding years, have been employed abroad continuously for one year, and who will be employed by a branch, parent, affiliate, or subsidiary of that same employer in the U.S. in a managerial, executive, or specialized knowledge capacity;

O-1classification applies to persons who have extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or extraordinary achievements in the motion picture and television field;

O-2classification applies to persons accompanying an O-1 alien to assist in an artistic or athletic performance for a specific event or performance;

P-1classification applies to individual or team athletes, or members of an entertainment group that are internationally recognized (25,000);

P-2 classification applies to artists or entertainers who will perform under a reciprocal exchange program;

P-3classification applies to artists or entertainers who perform under a program that is culturally unique (same as P-1); and

Q-1classification applies to participants in an international cultural exchange program for the purpose of providing practical training, employment, and the sharing of the history, culture, and traditions of the alien's home country.