A visa is government approval for a person to visit a country for a certain purpose.  The request is made in advance and if approved, papers are given to the person making the request to visit for that purpose.  Not every country makes you get a visa to visit, but the United States makes many visitors get one before they are allowed to come here.

  You don't need to want to be an immigrant to need a visa.  Visas are required often for just visits.  Below are some of the visas and their categories.  To know if you need a visa, visit the Immigration and Naturalization Service website.
 

A-1, A-2, A-3       Ambassadors, public ministers, diplomats or consular officers
                          assigned to represent their country in the U.S., their immediate families and
                          servants.
B-1                     Temporary business visitors
B-2                     Temporary visitors for pleasure
C-1                     Aliens in transit through the U.S to a third country
D                        Crewmen of aircraft or sea vessels
E-1                     Treaty trader, spouse and minor children
E-2                     Treaty investor, spouse and minor children
F-1                      Students pursing academic courses of study
F-2                      Spouse and minor children F-1
G-1                      Representatives of international organizations like the United Nations and
                            the World Bank, their family, staff and servants
H-1B                    Specialty occupations
H-2A                    Agriculture temporary workers
H-2B                     Non-agriculture temporary workers
H-3                       Temporary trainees, special education
H-4                       Spouse and minor children of H-1, H-2 and H-3 visa holders
I                           Representatives of foreign information media, and their family
J-1                        Exchange visitors
J-2                        Spouse and minor children J-1 visa holders
K-1                       Alien fiancé or fiancée of U.S citizen and minor children
L-1                       Temporary intracompany transferees
L-2                       Spouse and minor children of L-1 visa folder
M-1                      Students enrolled in vocational educational programs
M-2                      Spouse and minor children of M-1 visa folder
N-1  through 7       NATO visa folders
O-1 through 3        Extraordinary aliens, essential support and family
P-1  through 3        Athletes, Entertainment
Q                          Culture exchange
R-1                        Religious workers
R-2                        Spouse and minor children of religious workers

Each nonimmigrant visa has an expiration date according to the law that follows
for the particular category. Most visas can be extended for a number of times.
 
 
 
 

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