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Are you thinking about getting a visa so you can travel to America? If so, you have a number of visa options. Read on to find out what are some of the most common types of visas you can apply for.

Tourist Visa/Business Visa

If you want to go to the United States for tourism or business purposes, then you have two types of visas you can apply for. One of them is the B-1 visa and the other is the B-2 visa. The B-1 visa allows those travelling for business purposes to take part in activities such as business conventions or negotiate contracts and things of that nature.
A B-2 visa is common and it is for pleasure or medical reasons. With this visa, you can visit friends, family and visit for tourism purposes. You can also receive medical treatment. Sometimes these two visas are combined as one.

You do have to show immigration officers that your purpose for travel is for tourism or for one of the other things previously mentioned. You also have to prove you have enough money to support yourself while in the country and you will return back to your country, which you can can by showing them your return ticket. Remember, you cannot take up employment when you have a B-1 or B-2 visa.

Work Visas

There are a number of work visas you can apply for. If you want to work in America on a temporary basis, then you’ll need to apply for a specific visa. Different visas allow people to do different things. Some of the most popular work visas include the H1B visa, which is a visa for those who have received a BA in a specific specialty.

Another visa is the H-2A, which is for seasonable agricultural workers, while the H2-B visa is for unskilled and skilled workers. Also, there is an H-3 visa that is meant for trainees, which means you can receive training in a field from a company for up to 2 years. The training can be paid, but you can’t use the visa to find productive employment.

Student Visas

There are a few different types of student visas available, but if you want to be approved for one, then you will need to be accepted by a program or a school. When you’re accepted, you will be provided with documents that you need to submit when the time comes to apply for a student visa. This means you want to keep the documents in a safe place.

The F-1 Visa is for those who want to come to America to study in an approved school or in an English language program, but the program has to be approved. If your course is expected to last for more than 18 hours per week, then you’ll want to apply for an F-1 Visa. The visa does limit you to 12 months, so this means you can study for 12 months at the school you are approved for.

There’s the M-1 Visa too. You can apply for this if you want to come to the US for vocational training. It is a visa for those who want to take up non-academic training.

Do You Need a Visa?

It’s worth pointing out that visitors from certain countries and who are only visiting for no longer than 90 days might not need a visa. There is a visa waiver program, which allows visitors from approved countries to travel to America without a visa. However, a visitors from an approved country will still need to apply for what is known as an ESTA.

ESTA is short for Electronic System Travel Authorization. You need to have an ESTA if you are going to America via plane or sea. If you do not have it, then you might not be allowed to enter America.

Getting a visa for America may not be as hard as you think it is. However, it might be a good idea to hire an immigration attorney if you want to apply for a visa that allows you to stay and work in America for extended periods of time. A qualified immigration attorney can make the entire process of getting a visa much easier.