International travel has become far more complicated then it was 20 years ago. With time more and more people have found it possible to travel freely, and the world has truly become a smaller place. The US is perhaps the most desirable country to travel and immigrate to. If you are looking to obtain an American visa then here are a few tips to help you simplify your task. Before you apply for any visa you should first determine what the purpose of your visit is i.e. educational, vacation, immigration or some other reason.



Once you know the purpose of your visit you should then find the exact visa you need to apply for, there are various types of visas available for the US. Below is a list of the major types of visas available for the US:

B1/B2

If you are travelling to the US for a business trip or a vacation then the B1/B2 visa is what you need to apply for. The B1/B2 visa is the perhaps the simplest to get and is a ?temporary? visa. The B1 visa is granted for a business visit and the B2 is granted for vacation or tourism purposes. The duration for the B1 visa can vary and a person holding a B1/B2 visa cannot work without upgrading the visa.

H-1B

Also termed as a work visa, the H-1B is perhaps the most controversial of American visas. The H-1B is effectively a means for a company to acquire overseas workforce for their US based operations. There is myth that a company has to show a valid reason for hiring an overseas employee, and that an H-1B visa is only granted when the US government ascertains that the job position could not have been filled by a US citizen. The truth is that a company is only required to hire a US citizen in ?good faith? and a company can choose to hire an overseas worker in spite of workforce being available in the US. Today the H-1B visa is the most coveted visa in the US and every year thousands of people enter the US using the H-1B visa.

L-1

The L-1 visa is usually reserved for intra company transfer of employees between countries. The L-1 is available to only executive/managerial (L-1A) or specialized knowledge capacity (L-1B) positions. There are various criteria that underline what constitutes an international manager and what constitutes a valid knowledge transfer. Usually the only way to get this visa is to work for a large MNC in a management or technical position.

TN-1

Only Mexican and Canadian citizens are eligible to apply for the TN-1 visa. The TN-1 is designed to allow people from Mexico and Canada to come work in the US without much trouble. Due to the proximity of both Mexico and Canada to the US, the US government has created the special TN-1 visa.

V and LIFE act

The V visa is for immediate family members of US citizens, and is usually assigned to spouses/family members of US citizens that are not American citizens themselves.

There are other visas like the K visa also available, if you are applying for an American visa you should fist determine what kind of visa to apply for. There is a common myth that a person cannot apply for more than one type of visa, however this is not true. A person can apply for more than one visa depending on his requirements, however applying for more than one visa usually raises a few flags and you should avoid applying for more than one visa. If you are not sure which visa to apply for or still have no idea what you need to do to get an American visa, it is not a bad idea to do some research on sites like www.how-to-get-an-american-visa.com or you can hire a consultant for further advice.