US Immigration Visas Overview

Generally, all U.S. visas fall into two broad categories: Immigrant Visas and Non Immigrant Visas. An Immigrant Visa (commonly known as a U.S. "Green Card") is required by a foreign citizen who desires to reside permanently in the U.S. Obtaining "Green Card" status is not the same as becoming a U.S. citizen. Immigrant Visa classifications are broken into Family Based and Employment Based Preferences.

With the Exception of the Immediate Relative category of the Family Based immigrant visa classification, all Immigrant Visa Categories have limitations on the number of visas which may be issued annually. Still further, there are per country limitations placed on the number of visas which may be drawn per year by citizens of individual countries in order to ensure fairness in the distribution of immigrant visas.

There are no yearly or country limitations placed on the number of immigrant visas available for Immediate Relatives (the spouse, minor children and the parents) of U.S. Citizens. As such, an immigrant visa is immediately available to these individuals. As is the case in all visa categories, processing of appropriate filings and supporting documents must be completed first in order to obtain legitimate U.S. visa status.

However,based upon the above described limitations, at the current time, each of the Family Based preference categories are oversubscribed, meaning that the number of preference petitions approved and outstanding exceed the number available for issuance. As such, a priority date system is maintained which marks an immigrant petition's place in line for issuance of a immigrant visa. Most Family based preference categories now have backlogs in excess of three years. All Employment based preference categories are current except for several specific countries, notably India and China.

A Non Immigrant Visa is required by a foreign citizen who wishes to enter the United States for a temporary period of time for business or pleasure, and who intends to timely depart for his/her home country or a third country at the end of his/her authorized stay. There are over twenty different types of Non Immigrant visas which are designed to fit particular circumstances, and this web site presents brief descriptions of the most common of these visa categories.