Abundant US Visa options go unused

There are several unexplored visa options that expectant immigrants to the US, especially from the Asian countries can use.

Visa Options other than the extensively used H1b and F1 need to be utilised, as the US immigration officials have now adopted stringent scrutiny procedures for visa applications, said Douglas Osterloh, a US-based attorney specialising in immigration laws.

Yearly, US has a quota of 66,000 H2b visas, meant for those who are going for a non-specialist or vocational job. This does not require a graduate course as eligibility, he said. "In effect, even if it is a high school pass out who wants to go US to work, he can do so easily with an H2B visa." Such options are rarely utilized as applicants lack awareness, he added.

Also, graduates intending to pursue their practical training (up to one year duration) in the US can get a J1 visa, he said, adding that several other visa options like R1 visa for jobs in religious institution, O1 visa for openings in arts/science and M1 visas for vocational courses are available.

Applicants who intend to obtain a job and convert their visa need to be cautious about sticking to the visa rules.

Osterloh was speaking at a workshop on visa application procedures for students and professionals wishing to go US. Information technology advisor to the AP government, T H Choudary and chief executive officer of VisaPro, Venkat Ramineni also spoke. Workshop was jointly organised by VisaPro and Center for Telecom Management Studies.

Online system to keep track

Much has changed in the way visa applications are processed and scrutinized by the US immigration department after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack.

An online database, called student and exchange visiot information system (Sevis) has been created to keep track of updated information about the non immigrant students.