1. How do I come visit the United States?
2. How do I come work in the United States?
3. How do I come study in the United States?
4. Can I change my status once I am in the country?
5. My stay has expired, but my visa is still good. Can I travel and come back to the US?
6. Can my company sponsor me for permanent residence if I am out of status?
7. When will section 245(i) come back?
8. What do I do if I am laid off before my labor certification process is over?

1. How do I come visit the United States?

If you are just coming to visit, you need a B visa. The US consulate will want to see that you have sufficient financial resources to visit the United States without working. The consulate will also need to see that you have sufficient ties to your home country so that you will return home after your visit to the United States is over.

Visitors from counties in the Visa Waiver Program are allowed to come on B status for up to 90 days without a visa, but they may not change to another nonimmigrant status once they are here. to top

2. How do I come work in the United States?

In most cases, you will need to be sponsored by a US organization to come work in the United States. Only after you have a job offer can a lawyer help you with the immigration papers.

The most common nonimmigrant employment visas are the E (treaty traders and investors), H-1B (professionals), H-2B (temporary/seasonal workers), L (intracompany transferees), O (extraordinary ability), P (artists and entertainers), R (religious workers) and TN (NAFTA) visas.

The J visa allows people to come to work as part of training or exchange programs. If you don't fit into one of the other categories, you may qualify for a J. Certain organizations, such as the Association for International Practical Training or the American Immigration Law Foundation are authorized to sponsor people for J visas. Depending on the situation, J visas may require you to spend two years in your home country before changing to another status or applying for permanent residence. to top

3. How do I come study in the United States?

To study in the United States, you need a student visa such as the F-1 (academic student) or the M-1 (vocational student). To qualify for a student visa, you need to show the ability to pay the school's tuition as well as to support yourself during the course of study. Schools generally have a designated officer to help with foreign student visas. to top

4. Can I change my status once I am in the country?

In most cases, it is no problem to change from one nonimmigrant status to another, as long as you file the application before your stay has expired. If your stay has already expired, it may still be possible if you can show that the delay was due to extraordinary circumstances beyond your control. If you filed timely, you will be in legal status while your application is pending, even after your stay expires.

Visa waiver participants, holders of K visas and holders of J visas with the two-year home-stay requirement are ineligible to change their status. to top

5. My stay has expired, but my visa is still good. Can I travel and come back to the US?

If you have overstayed, you may run into serious problems if you travel. Remember that your visa determines whether you can enter the United States, while your stay tells you how long you can remain. If you do not depart the United States by the end of your stay (assuming you have not filed for a change or extension of status), your visa is automatically canceled.

Moreover, if you remain more than six months out of status and then leave, you will be barred from coming back to the United States for thee years. If you have been out of status for more than a year, you face a ten-year bar. to top

6. Can my company sponsor me for permanent residence if I am out of status?

If you have overstayed or you entered without inspection, you will not be granted permanent residence. The exception is if you are grandfathered under section 245(i), a law that allowed people out of status to apply if they paid a fine of $1000. You may be grandfathered if you or your parent or spouse were the beneficiary of a family petition or labor certification filed by the previous deadline of April 30, 2001. to top

7. When will section 245(i) come back?

No one knows. It depends entirely on the US Congress. to top

8. What do I do if I am laid off before my labor certification process is done?

You may have to start the process over with a new employer. However, if your I-485 has been pending for six months or more and you go to work in the same or similar occupational classification as the job for which the labor certifcation was made, you can continue with the same process. to top