Millions of foreign nationals visit the United States every year. Other foreign nationals come to live in the U.S. permanently. Although visitors are welcome, the U.S. Government needs to conduct checks in order to keep both foreign visitors and U.S. citizens safe. The U.S. Government believes in secure borders and an open door visitor policy for those individuals that are qualified to legally enter the country.

A foreign national wishing to enter the U.S. must obtain a visa if he or she is not a citizen of one of the twenty-seven Visa Waiver Program countries, or if he or she is not a citizen of Canada or Bermuda. There are two basic types of U.S. visas. They can be either a nonimmigrant visa for temporary stay, or an immigrant visa for permanent residence. There are separate requirements for Mexican visitors, which can be viewed here.

The most common nonimmigrant visa is the tourist visa also known as the "B-2 visa for temporary visitors for pleasure" The immigrant visa is for permanent residents that legally live and work in the U.S. These subjects are issued a "United States Permanent Resident Card", also known as a "Green Card" (I-551)[http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/residency/index.htm.

Qualifying for a United States visa

Applicants for visitor visas must show that they qualify under provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The presumption in the law is that every visitor visa applicant is an intending immigrant. Therefore, applicants for visitor visas must overcome this presumption by demonstrating that:

• The purpose of their trip is to enter the U.S. for business, pleasure, or medical treatment;
• They plan to remain for a specific, limited period; and
• They have a residence outside the U.S. as well as other binding ties which will insure their return abroad at the end of the visit.

All tourist visa applicants must pay a $100 interview fee to a US Consulate in order to be interviewed by a Consulate officer who will determine if the applicant is qualified to receive a visa to travel to the U.S. If the applicant is rejected, the $100 fee is not refunded. Amongst the items included in the qualification decision are financial independence, adequate employment, material assets and a lack of a criminal record in the applicant's native country.

The immigration visa process is even more stringent and costly. After all processing fees have been paid, most immigration visa applicants pay well over $1,000 to become permanent residents in the United States and are forced to wait several years before actually emigrating to the U.S.

The extensive wait period is due primarily to the abundance of illegal immigrants that illegally reside and work in the U.S. Most illegal immigrants in the U.S. bypass the entire immigration process and illegally reside and work in the U.S. Those individuals that arrive in the U.S. with only a tourist visa become illegal when they obtain employment in the U.S. Other individuals become illegal upon illegally crossing the border, entering into the U.S. and subsequently obtaining illegal employment thereafter. Both practices defeat the U.S. Immigration process. The end result is that the illegal immigrant benefits at the expense of the law-abiding, foreign national visa applicant who is punished by continuing to live and work in his or her native country, waiting for their opportunity to do what the illegal immigrant already has done.

Visas