Visa Types
Cultural Exchange Visitors
Participants in an international cultural exchange program designed to provide practical training, employment, and sharing of the participant’s native culture require Q cultural exchange visas.
The employer/sponsor in the United States begins the Q visa process by filing a Form I-129 Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.
How do I qualify for the visa?
Before a petition may be filed with the USCIS, the following criteria must be met:
The cultural exchange program:
- must take place in a school, museum, business, or other establishment where the public is exposed to aspects of a foreign culture as part of a structured program;
- must incorporate the cultural component as an essential and integral part of the participant’s employment and training, and must be designed to exhibit the attitude, customs, history, heritage, philosophy and/or tradition of the alien’s country of nationality; and
- must require the cultural component as part of the alien’s employment and training.
The organization:
- must demonstrate that it has the ability to conduct a responsible international cultural exchange program and has the financial ability to remunerate the participant and offer him/her wages and working conditions comparable to those accorded local domestic workers similarly employed.
The applicant:
- must be at least 18 years of age;
- must be qualified to perform the stated service or labor or receive the specified type of training; and
- must have the ability to communicate effectively about his/her culture.
A Q visa petition is approved for the length of the program, or for fifteen months, whichever is shorter. The holder of a Q visa who has spent fifteen months in the United States may not be issued a visa or be readmitted under the Q visa classification unless he/she has resided and been physically present outside the United States for one year.
What happens once the petition has been approved by USCIS?
If a Q petition has been approved in your name, then you will be required to apply for a visa before traveling to the United States. The Form I-797 Notice of Action by itself is not sufficient for travel to the United States; it must also be accompanied by the appropriate visa.
Spouses, Children, & Partners
There is no derivative visa category for spouses and children of the beneficiary of a Q petition. Spouses and/or children who wish to accompany the Q visa holder to the United States for the duration of the program are required to qualify for visas in their own right. If they wish to work, they require work visas; if they wish to study, they require student visas. Those who have no intention of working or studying, may apply for tourist (B-2) visas. If the spouse and/or child will not apply for visas at the same time as the principal applicant, they will be required to furnish a copy of the principal applicant's visa with their application.
More information for unmarried partners and common-law spouses.
Please note that we can give no assurances in advance regarding the issuance of visas. Therefore, please do not make final travel plans or purchase nonrefundable tickets until a visa has been issued.