United States Visa(4) Change of Immigration Intent

In the last issue, we introduced the differences between non-immigrant visas with no immigration intent, non-immigrant visas with dual intent, and immigrant visas. So, if I have a nonimmigrant visa with no immigration intent and want to change it to a nonimmigrant visa with dual intent, or an immigrant visa, do I have to leave the United States first and then submit a new application to come back? If not, is the conversion between different visa types completely free? Or do I need to follow some special restrictions?

Today we will learn about the changes in immigration intentions.

20 Lessons on US Visas, Let Your Company Easily Enter the US. I am an American lawyer, Attorney Liu, and I will provide you with an in-depth interpretation of the legal logic behind entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley.

1. USCIS’ 90-Day Rule

To understand the change of immigration intention, the first concept to understand is the USCIS 90-Day Rule. The original English text of this rule is

Let's interpret this rule:

The first keyword of this rule is temporary visa, which refers to non-immigrant visas without immigration intention, such as business travel visas (B1/B2), student visas (F1), etc.

The second key word is if it is within 90 days after entering the United States, there is nothing much to say about this

The third key word is getting married or applying for a green card. Note that this means applying for a green card, not getting a green card. That is to say, once you submit your green card application within 90 days of entering the United States, the visa officer can directly determine that you are committing visa fraud without even looking at it.

2. Scope of application of the 90-day rule

In the last issue, we talked about three types of visas classified according to immigration tendency:

The first category is nonimmigrant visas without immigration intentions, such as business travel visas (B1/B2) and student visas (F1).

The second category is dual intent non-immigrant visas, professional and technical personnel work visas (H category), and multinational professional managers visas (L category).

The third category is immigration visa, including employment-based immigration (EB category), family immigration (FB category), etc.

2.1 Converting a nonimmigrant visa without immigration intent to an immigrant visa

Thus, we can interpret USCIS's 90-Day Rule as prohibiting the direct conversion from the first category to the third category within 90 days. This leads us to examine deeper implications."

2.2 Converting a non-immigrant visa with no immigrant intent to a non-immigrant visa with dual intent

If one converts from the first type, which is a nonimmigrant visa with no immigration intent, to the second type, which is a nonimmigrant visa with dual intent, does one not need to comply with the 90-day rule?

For example, if I have a student visa (F1), and I am hired by a company as soon as I arrive in the United States, and the company is willing to issue me a professional and technical personnel work visa (H category) or a multinational professional manager visa (L category), can I accept it immediately? Or do I have to wait 90 days?

It should be said that there is no limit in theory, but in reality, lawyers will still strongly recommend that you try to follow the 90-day rule when converting a non-immigrant visa with no immigration intent to an immigrant visa with dual intent. Otherwise, the immigration officer will still wear tinted glasses and examine your situation very strictly.

2.3 Converting a non-immigrant visa with no immigrant intent to a non-immigrant visa with dual intent

We have already seen the conversion from the first to the third, and from the first to the second. Some people ask, what about the conversion from the second to the third? In other words, does it take 90 days to convert a dual intent nonimmigrant visa to an immigrant visa?

The answer is, absolutely not.

Why? What is the 90-day rule designed to prevent? It is designed to prevent people who actually have immigration intentions from pretending not to have immigration intentions and then applying for a more difficult non-immigrant visa, but then being exposed after arriving in the United States and applying for an immigrant visa again.

What about the dual intent nonimmigrant visa? It originally allows immigrant intent. So it doesn’t matter when you apply for an immigrant visa.

This is why many international employees often use the Day-1 Green Card as a negotiation condition when negotiating salaries in the United States.

3. Visas with immigration intent cannot be changed within 90 days

What we just talked about is the scope of the 90-day rule, which means that it can be converted, but it just takes 90 days to do so. So are there some visas that are useless even after waiting for 90 days? That is, after completing the mission of the visa itself, you must leave the United States.

3.1 Type C Transit Visa

A person with a C transit visa is only allowed to stay in the United States for a short period of time in order to complete a transit (for example, transferring from one international flight to another) and must leave immediately after the short stay.

3.2 Category D Seaman/Crew Member Visa

When seamen or airline crew members enter the United States on a D visa, they are only allowed to stay in the United States for a short period of time to perform their professional duties and must leave immediately afterwards.

3.3 K-1 Fiance Visa

A K-1 visa holder must marry his or her sponsor (a U.S. citizen) within 90 days of entering the U.S. If the marriage is not completed within 90 days, the K-1 visa holder must leave the U.S. It is not possible to switch to another nonimmigrant visa type (such as an F-1 student visa or an H-1B work visa).

3.4 M-1 Professional Student Visa

As we briefly introduced before, the M-1 visa is a student visa for chefs, hotel management, etc., so this type of visa is called a professional student visa, or a short-term student visa. Students holding this visa must leave the United States after completing the course and cannot convert to an F-1 academic student visa.

3.5 J-1 Visa

Many people should know that the J-1 exchange visitor visa has a two-year service period limit, which means that not only must you return to your home country immediately after completing the J1 mission, but you must also stay in your home country for two years before you can return to the United States for other reasons.

Lawyer Liu, what you said is too far away from our lives. We will never use it in our lifetime. Okay, let's talk about something closer to everyone's life. Have you heard of the business travel visa (B1/B2)?

What did you say? Can a business travel visa (B1/B2) not be converted after 90 days? According to the US Immigration Service, if a business travel visa (B1/B2) is to be converted into another visa type in the United States during its validity period, it will be subject to very strict review.

You said that Lawyer Liu is wrong. I heard that someone came to the United States on a business tourist visa (B1/B2) and then changed to another visa.
Yes, today we talked about all the visas that cannot be converted after 90 days in the last part. It is not absolute. Even the two-year service period of J1 can be exempted, right?

20 Lessons on US Visas, Let Your Company Easily Enter the US. I am an American lawyer, Lawyer Liu, and we will see you next time.

United States Visa(3)Immigrant Intent | Can dual intent immigration visas allow for immigration intent?

In the last issue, we introduced three types of visas: non-immigrant visas, immigrant visas, and permanent visas (green cards). In fact, when it comes to this part, we have to say that the fundamental reason for the different types of visas is actually immigration intent. Is it true that only immigrant visas can have immigration intent, but non-immigrant visas cannot have immigration intent? What are the differences in immigration intent between different types of visas? What is a dual intent visa?

Today we will introduce the concept of Immigrant Intent.

20 Lessons on US Visas, Let Your Company Easily Enter the US. I am an American lawyer, Attorney Liu, and I will provide you with an in-depth interpretation of the legal logic behind entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley.

1. Immigrant Intent is only applicable to Nonimmigrant Visa

To understand the issue of Immigrant Intent, we must first understand that when we talk about whether or not we have an immigrant intent, we are only talking about a nonimmigrant visa, which may sound a bit confusing.

It may be easier to understand the other way around. If it is an Immigrant Visa, then there is no need for Immigrant Intent. It is a done deal, with clear evidence that you want to immigrate, right? There is no question of whether you have an intention or not.

Or if you must classify, I have invented a term, Pure Immigrant Intent visa. You can understand that immigrant visas only have pure immigrant intent, without the wavering dual intent, and even less non-immigrant intent.

But everyone should remember that the term "Pure Immigrant Intent" did not actually exist originally. It is just to help everyone understand the concept of "Immigrant Intent".

Okay, now let’s start to break down the concept of real immigrant intent.

2. The concept of Immigrant Intent

Let’s first look at the concept of Immigrant Intent.

Immigrant Intent means that the visa holder has the intention to eventually settle in the United States and apply for a green card when entering the United States.

It should be noted that the default setting of a Nonimmigration Visa, the basic factory setting, should not have an immigration intention, so you can think that a Nonimmigration Visa should originally be a visa without Immigration Intent, that is to say, the visa holder must indicate his/her intention not to immigrate when applying for a visa and entering the country, that is, he/she will return to his/her home country after the end of the stay period in the United States. When applying, the visa officer will assess whether the applicant has the intention to return to his/her home country, or whether he/she has sufficient binding force to return to his/her home country . This requires the applicant to provide various proofs, such as stable family relationships, property, work or academic arrangements, etc., to prove that he/she does not have an immigration intention.

Huang Xiaoming's application for studying in the United States was rejected many times in "Chinese Partners", which is a vivid portrayal of the strict examination of the immigration intention of F-1 student visa applicants by the US Immigration Service. Especially at that time, the economic development gap between China and the United States was even greater. The US Immigration Service was worried that Chinese students would work under the guise of studying abroad, and would not want to come back after arriving in the United States. Therefore, the US Immigration Service hopes to see that you have a strong family background in China, and it would be best if your parents can arrange a job for you.

In the movie "Beijing Meets Seattle", the scene where Tang Wei, who is already pregnant, wraps her belly with a cloth and pretends to be single in front of the immigration officer is a reflection of the strict restrictions on the immigration intent of applicants for B-1/B-2 visas. B-1/B-2 visas are valid for six months in total. If you are already four or five months pregnant, then you must have come to the United States to give birth and then stay here illegally. Then you do not meet the non-immigrant intent requirements of B-1/B-2 visas.

Typical non-immigrant visas include the following:

•          Business/Tourist Visa: B-1/B-2 Visa

•          Student Visa: F-1 Visa

•          Exchange Visitor Visa: J-1 Visa

B1/B2 has been introduced before and is for business travel within six months.

F1 is a student visa, and you can return to your home country after completing your studies and obtaining your degree.

Some of our friends may have heard of J1, which is called a visiting scholar. This visa requires not only returning to the home country after completing the visiting scholar program, but also staying in the home country for 2 years to serve the motherland, which is what we often call a 2-year service period. Only then can you come to the United States with another visa.

Therefore, it can be seen that the non-immigrant visa itself has strict restrictions on the applicant's immigration intention, and there cannot be any immigration intention.

3. Dual Intent Visa

From this, everyone should understand why we hear about the Dual Intent visa.

It refers to a type of visa that allows applicants to stay in the U.S. for a short period of time and allows the holder to apply for a green card while in the U.S. It is important to note that Dual Intent is still a type of nonimmigrant visa. Once again, it is not necessary to discuss the issue of Immigrant Intent for Immigrant Visas, because it is obviously for immigration purposes, and it is not an intention, but solid evidence. Only Nonimmigrant Visas need to discuss Immigrant Intent.

The so-called dual intent adds the factor of immigrant intent to the non-immigrant visa, which is not supposed to have immigrant intent. This makes the Nonimmigrant visa, which is supposed to have only a single intention of returning to one’s home country, become a dual intent state of wanting to both return to one’s home country and stay in the United States.

It feels a bit like quantum mechanics.

This type of dual intent visa is mainly suitable for professionals and executives who need to live and work in the United States for a long time.

Typical dual intent visas include:

•          Visa for Professional and Technical Personnel: H-1B Visa

•          Multinational Manager Visa: L-1 Visa

•          Extraordinary Ability Visa: O-1 Visa

After understanding these concepts today, we can draw another picture. 

If you are interested, you can contact us by email. My email address is in the information bar below the video. You can find us to get the form document.

You said, "Lawyer Liu, if I want to change from one visa to another, does that mean I have to go back to my home country first and then apply for a new visa?

In the next issue, we will introduce the conversion of Immigrant Intent.

20 Lessons on US Visas, Let Your Company Easily Enter the US. I am an American lawyer, Lawyer Liu, and we will see you next time.

United States Visa(1)What is the difference between a visa and a green card?

Every day, people talk about applying for visas or green cards. So what is the difference between a visa and a green card? We know that H-1B is a visa and L-1 is a visa. So is EB1-A a visa? And is EB-5 a visa? We all know that H-1B visas allow work. So if I want to study for a degree while working with an H-1B, do I need to apply for an F-1? I found that the countless videos on the market that talk about US visas have never explained these issues clearly. I decided to launch 20 lectures on US visas, so that entrepreneurs can understand the various types of US visas in a comprehensive way and find the one that best suits you and your team among the various types of visas.

20 Lessons on US Visas, Let Your Company Easily Enter the US. I am an American lawyer, Attorney Liu， and I will provide you with an in-depth interpretation of the legal logic behind entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley.

1. The difference between a green card and a visa

Let’s talk about the first question first. What is the difference between a visa and a green card? Yes, many people have spent a long time applying but still don’t understand whether they are applying for a visa or a green card.

1.1 Scope

Visas cover a wider range than green cards, so why is this series called "20 Lectures on US Visas" instead of "20 Lectures on US Green Cards"? The scope of visas is much wider than that of green cards. There is only one type of green card, but there are dozens of types of visas.

1.2 Inclusion Relationship

A green card is actually a type of visa. What is a visa? A visa is a type of "entry permit," the document that allowed Tang Monk to obtain Buddhist scriptures in the West. Most visas are short-term, temporary entry permits, while a green card is a long-term, permanent entry permit. So a green card is a special type of visa. For example, if we go to big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, we first apply for a temporary residence permit, which is similar to a visa. But if we want to stay for a long time, we also need a household registration, which is similar to a green card.

Many people may refute me when I say that a green card is also a visa. Let me bring up the most obvious point. Although we say that a green card is permanent, it is actually only valid for 10 years. It’s just that when you renew it after 10 years, as long as you haven’t committed any serious crimes, you can basically get it. And if a person really has committed a serious crime, the United States can revoke your green card, but your U.S. citizenship will not be revoked because a person is a serial killer. So a green card is actually still a visa.

It should be said that visa in a narrow sense refers to visas other than green cards, or visa in a narrow sense refers to temporary visas, and visa in a broad sense refers to all types of visas including green cards, that is, it includes both temporary visas and permanent visas.

1.3 Applicable Scenarios

No matter what type of visa, there is a fixed applicable scenario. F student visa is suitable for study; J exchange visit visa is suitable for cultural exchange; H and L visas allow holders to work under a specific employer, but the green card is a comprehensive visa that can cover all aspects of a person's study, life, and work in the United States.

2. Why is the green card called a green card?

Here is a question: why is the green card called a green card instead of a blue card, yellow card, or red card? That’s because the green card is really green. This is an example of a green card. It’s quite green, right?

In addition to the commonly used expression "green card", permanent residency in other countries also has similar informal names or expressions, such as Canada's Maple Leaf Card, Australia's Golden Ticket, and New Zealand's Silver Fern Card. However, it can be found that except for the US green card, the other types have not been heard of much, so it can also be seen that the US green card is of high value.

3. What rights does a green card have?

So why is a green card or permanent residency so valuable and attractive?

Green card holders enjoy almost the same benefits as American citizens in the United States (such as social security, education, medical care, etc.). Of course, there are still some areas where green card holders cannot provide, including

•          Political rights: Green card holders do not have the right to vote and cannot run for election themselves.

•          Freedom of entry and exit: Green card holders who stay overseas for more than one year may be considered to have abandoned their green card status.

•          Family immigration application: Green card holders can only apply for green cards for their spouse and unmarried children, but cannot apply for family immigration for their parents, married children or siblings.

•          Risk of deportation: If a green card holder violates a serious law, his or her green card can be revoked. This also confirms from another perspective what we said earlier that the green card is still a type of visa.

Now that we know the difference between a visa and a green card, we have made a comparison table. If you are interested, you can contact us by email. My email address is in the information bar below the video. Find our document to get the form.

20 Lessons on US Visas, Let Your Company Easily Enter the US. I am an American lawyer, Lawyer Liu, and we will see you next time.

United States Visa(2)issue of Immigrant visas and non-immigrant visas | Is a green card a type of visa?

I want to apply for an outstanding talent visa in the United States. Should I apply for O-1 or EB-1A? Actually, both are outstanding talent visas. I want to apply for a transnational professional manager visa in the United States. Should I apply for L-1 or EB-1C? Actually, both are transnational professional manager visas. It seems that EB-1A is more powerful than O-1, but why do I have to wait in China after applying for EB-1A, while I can work directly in the United States after applying for O-1? These EBs sound like they are not the same as H, O, etc. What is the difference between them?

The reason for this is that some visas are non-immigrant visas, while some visas are immigrant visas. Today we will talk about the differences between these different types of visas.

20 Lessons on US Visas, Let Your Company Easily Enter the US. I am an American lawyer, Attorney Liu, and I will provide you with an in-depth interpretation of the legal logic behind entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley.

1. Broad and narrow categories of visas

In the last issue, we said that visa in a narrow sense is a visa other than a green card, or in other words, visa in a narrow sense is a temporary visa, and visa in a broad sense is all types of visas including a green card, that is, it includes both temporary visas and permanent visas.

In this issue, we will go deeper into the classification.

Visas can be defined at three levels: the broadest, broad and narrow definitions .

1.        The broadest definition of visa includes all types of visas, including non-immigrant visas, immigrant visas, and green cards, and permanent visas are green cards. This definition of visas is rarely used in daily life. When most people mention visas in daily life, they often refer to the following.

2.        In a broad sense, visas do not include green cards, but all other visas, including immigrant visas and non-immigrant visas. This is also the most common reference when we hear people say "visa" in daily life.

3.        In a narrow sense, visa does not include green cards or immigrant visas, but only refers to non-immigrant visas, such as student visas and work visas. This term is also used more frequently in daily life.

We have also drawn a table here to compare non-immigrant visas, immigrant visas and green cards. Now you must feel that this is information overload. Let us first introduce these three concepts separately, and then everyone can look at this table.

If you are interested, you can contact us via email. My email address is in the information bar below the video. You can find us to get the form document.

2. Non-immigrant visa

As the name suggests, a non-immigrant visa is a permit for a short-term stay in the United States without the purpose of immigrating to the United States.

2.1 Not for the purpose of immigrating to the United States

This should be quite clear. I am here to study and work. After completing my studies, I will return to my home country and will not stay in the United States for long.

2.2 Short-term stay

This short-term stay is not really short. For example, the B-1/B-2 business travel visa is indeed short, only 6 months.

As for the F1 student visa, it takes 4 years to study for an undergraduate degree, and it may take 5 or 8 years to study for a master's or doctoral degree. This is already quite long.

As for work visas, H1-B is 3+3 for a total of 6 years, and L-1 is 1+2+2+2 for a total of 7 years.

So the short-term non-immigrant visa is not very short.

The following list shows all the types of non-immigrant visas in the United States. Let’s go through them briefly.

The first one is the B-1/B-2 business travel visa, which everyone knows. Whether it is parents coming to the United States for tourism or Chinese companies sending employees to the United States for short-term inspections, this is used.

E trade and investment visa, among which E2 is the most widely used. You may wonder why I have never heard of this kind of visa. This is because it is only open to companies included in the US trade treaties, so Chinese citizens cannot use it.

The following F and M are both student visas, but we usually hear about F and have never heard that M is also a student visa, because M is mainly for chefs, technicians, hotel managers and so on.

H technical personnel visa is a typical work visa. All the high-tech programmers who come to big American companies are H-type. You say, Lawyer Liu, why do I hear that programmers need to apply for EB-2, EB-3 and PERM? What are those? In fact, H, EB-2 and EB-3 are all technical personnel, but H is the non-immigrant visa version, and EB-2 or EB-3 is their immigrant visa version.

L is a multinational manager. This is also a work visa. A large Chinese company will send a senior executive to the United States to work for several years. At this point, some people are wondering, "Lawyer Liu, why did I hear that EB-1C is also a multinational manager?" Yes, both are multinational managers, but L is a non-immigrant visa, which means that with L, you will return home after work, while with EB-1C, you are aiming for a US green card. Then some people say, "Can't I just apply for EB-1C?" It's not that simple. We'll talk about it later.

O visa for outstanding talents, science or art, this is still a work visa. Same question, here some people are wondering, Lawyer Liu, I heard that EB-1A is also outstanding talents. Yes, both are outstanding talents, but L is a non-immigrant visa version, that is to say, OL, you go back after work, EB-1C is for the US green card. Some people say, I can just apply for EB-1AC, it's not that simple, we will talk about it later.

There are also P, R, T, K and so on, which are all for religions, athletes, cultural ambassadors and so on. They are quite far from our lives, so we won’t elaborate on them. It is enough for everyone to know that there are many types of non-immigrant visas.

3. Immigrant visa

Now let's quickly get into the immigrant visa category .

An immigrant visa can be understood as the waiting process before getting a green card. In other words, the biggest difference between an immigrant visa and a non-immigrant visa is that although an immigrant visa is closer to a green card, the immigrant visa itself gives the applicant only the right to wait.

You are wrong, Lawyer Liu. I know that so-and-so started a company in the United States and hired more than a dozen people during his EB-1C period. That’s because he also has an L-1

If you say someone is still working for a company in the U.S. during their EB-2 or EB-3 period, it’s because they still have an H-1B or O-1

We will have a more detailed explanation of the difference in the next issue. In this issue, we will focus on introducing various types of immigration visas.

According to the US immigration law, there are three types of US immigrant visas with quota restrictions : Family Based (FB), Employment Based (EB), and Diversity Visa (DV).

You said, "Lawyer Liu, that's not right. I heard there are refugees and so on. Why are they not included in your classification?" Pay attention to this place. I said that there are "quota-limited" immigrant visas, that is, quota immigrant visas. I will keep it a secret here because we will talk about immigrant visas without quotas later.

20 lectures on US visas, let your company easily set foot on the US map. I am American lawyer Lawyer Liu, see you next time.

Blog Post Title Four

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.