Visas such as the H-1B, O-1 or TN, are made for specialized professionals to work temporarily in the United States
The United States government through the Citizenship and Immigration Service or the Department of State through its embassies and consulates, deliver a large number of work visas for immigrants each year. There is a great diversity of visas to work in the country and that foreign workers can occupy a place in the workforce, even for a short period of time.
Despite the fact that many of the visas issued do not require specialized work or previous experience on the part of the workers, there are various visa options for professionals that do require a certain specialization and/or academic degree.
In this sense, professions related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics even have special categories of visas to work in the United States. In this way they promote the importation of foreign talent to the United States.
One of the most common visas for workers is the H-1B, for professionals with specialized jobs. This category applies to workers who will provide services in a specialized field that requires certain skills and merits. More than 66,000 such visas were issued in 2021.
In this way, the H-1B visa, Specialized Work requires the theoretical and practical application of specialized knowledge in a certain area. To do this, it is necessary to have a higher degree in the specific specialization or its equivalent in the United States. College degree or higher is required to apply. In addition, it requires a labor status application through the form I-129.
On the other hand, there are the TN visas, for temporary workers, which are given to workers from Mexico and Canada as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This visa is only given to people who have a job offer from an employer and who work in professions established by said treaty, for example, in the fields of engineering, industrial design, urban planning, physics (for teaching and research), astronomy, biochemistry , among others. See the complete list at the following link: https://www.nafsa. org/_/file/_/amresource/8cfr2146.htm.
Finally, there are the O-1 visas, Persons with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement, which, as its name implies, is given to people with outstanding abilities in science, art, education, business or sports. This type of visa is divided into sub categories and the O-1st, focuses on professionals in science, education, business and athletics.
