Dual Intent Doctrine: Certain non-immigrant visas allow a person to have dual intent when entering the U.S. Dual intent refers to a nonimmigrant who enters with a genuine intent to remain in the U.S. temporarily under his/her visa, but does allow the person to have both a short term intent to leave and a long term intent to remain permanently. Only certain visa types such as H, L, O and P visas allow for dual intent. Accordingly, if under one of these visas a person may apply for permanent residence and still maintain valid nonimmigrant status.
Extension of Stay: As the name indicates, an extension of stay is filed when a person who is currently in valid nonimmigrant visa status wishes to remain longer. Note that depending on the visa status, there are different procedures for such filing. Certain visas such as the H visa have certain maximum periods of stay and therefore only allow extensions up to a certain point.
Change of Status: This process allows a person to change from one valid nonimmigrant visa classification to another. Note that there are restrictions on certain visas which do not allow a person to merely change their status. An example of this is the J-1 visa for persons who are subject to the two year home residency requirements.
Visa Waiver Program: This program waives the requirement to apply for a B-1 (business visitor visa) or B-2 (tourist visa) for persons from certain countries, with machine readable passports. Note that if you entered the country under this program then the person is not eligible for change of status, extension of stay or adjustment of status unless it is based on an immediate relative petition. |
