Temporary Work Visas

US Nonimmigrant Visa Attorney

Temporary worker visas are for individuals seeking to enter the United States temporarily for a specific purpose. Nonimmigrants enter the United States for a temporary period of time, and once in the United States, are restricted to the activity or reason for which their nonimmigrant visa was issued.

Temporary worker visas are for persons who want to enter the United States for employment lasting a fixed period of time, and are not considered permanent or indefinite. Each of these visas requires the prospective employer to first file a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). An approved petition is required to apply for a work visa. Most temporary worker visas are employer-specific, some are location–specific.

To work in the United States temporarily as a lawful nonimmigrant, temporary workers must qualify for the available visa category based on the planned employment purpose. Each temporary or nonimmigrant visa has specific requirements that must be met in order for an individual to qualify for the visa.

Temporary worker visa categories

• E-1 Visa: Treaty Trader—For nationals of a treaty country to engage in international trade in the US.
• E-2 Visa: Treaty Investor—For nationals of a treaty country to engage in business in the US after investing a substantial amount of capital in a US business.
• H-1B Visa: Person in Specialty Occupation—To work in a specialty occupation. Requires a higher education degree or its equivalent. Includes fashion models of distinguished merit and ability and government-to-government research and development, or co-production projects administered by the Department of Defense.
• H-2A Visa: Temporary Agricultural Worker—For temporary or seasonal agricultural work. Limited to citizens or nationals of designated countries, with limited exceptions, if determined to be in the United States interest.
• H-2B Visa: Temporary Non-agricultural Worker—For temporary or seasonal non- agricultural work. Limited to citizens or nationals of designated countries, with limited exceptions, if determined to be in the United States interest.
• L-1A Visa: Intracompany Transferee Executive or Manager—Enables a US employer to transfer an executive or manager from one of its affiliated foreign offices to one of its offices in the US.
• L-1B Visa: Intracompany Transferee Specialized Knowledge—Enables a US employer to transfer a professional employee with specialized knowledge relating to the organization’s interests from one of its foreign offices to one of its offices 9in the US.
• O Visa: Individual with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement—For persons with extraordinary ability or achievement in the sciences, arts, education, business, athletics, or extraordinary recognized achievements in the motion picture and television fields, demonstrated by sustained national or international acclaim, to work in their field of expertise. Includes persons providing essential services in support of the above individual.
• P-1 Visa: Individual or Team Athlete, or Member of an Entertainment Group—To perform at a specific athletic competition as an athlete or as a member of an entertainment group. Requires an internationally recognized level of sustained performance. Includes persons providing essential services in support of the above individual.
• P-2 Visa: Artist or Entertainer (Individual or Group)—For performance under a reciprocal exchange program between an organization in the United States and an organization in another country. Includes persons providing essential services in support of the above individual.
• P-3 Visa: Artist or Entertainer (Individual or Group)—To perform, teach or coach under a program that is culturally unique or a traditional ethnic, folk, cultural, musical, theatrical, or artistic performance or presentation. Includes persons providing essential services in support of the above individual.
• TN Visa: TN NAFTA Professionals—North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) created special economic and trade relationships for the United States, Canada and Mexico. The TN nonimmigrant classification permits qualified Canadian and Mexican citizens to seek temporary entry into the United States to engage in business activities at a professional level.

Only a few nonimmigrant classifications allow you to obtain permission work in this country without an employer having first filed a petition on your behalf.  Such classifications include the nonimmigrant E-1, E-2, E-3 and TN classifications, as well as, in certain instances, the F-1 and M-1 student and J-1 exchange visitor classifications.

Gerald Goulder is an experienced North Carolina immigration lawyer helping individuals and businesses in North Carolina and throughout the United States and around the world with nonimmigrant temporary employment visas and employment-based immigrant visas for permanent residence (“green card”). US immigration law is federal law. This enables Goulder Immigration Law Firm to assist individuals and companies throughout the U.S. and around the world.

For solutions to your US work visa plan or circumstance, whether it is for a temporary work visa or for permanent residence through employment, call immigration attorneyGerald Goulder at Goulder Immigration Law Firm (336) 808-1119 or ask him a question using this online email form:

Employer-Based Work Visas
Temporary Work Visas
Visas for Investors
Physicians/Healthcare