Difference between Immigrant and Non-Immigrant Visas
Many people come to the United States for many reasons such as either for just visiting only or safety or quality of life, and planning to return to their home countries. However, immigrant can be defined as if someone is coming to the U.S. to stay here permanently based on their eligible categories and become a lawful permanent resident (LPR). But their visas have numerical limitations set by U.S. Congress, and immigrant visa slots are based on the number of people who are allowed to immigrate, or move permanently, to the U.S. every year. The State Department’s visa bulletin shows immigrant visas have numerical limitations per year.
The section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), determines the types of individuals who may apply for an immigrant visa and the numbers of available immigrant visas such as family petitioned immigrants; employment petitioned immigrants; diversity lottery visas (DV) etc. For example, based on family petitioned category, person who wishes to obtain LPR through their family eligible category starts with becoming beneficiary of a family-based petition of U.S. citizen (USC- petitioner) or through LPR petitioner. The USC/LPR must file the family petition through USCIS. Once a petition is approved, the beneficiary must pass the visa interview at their home country. Then, they can reside the U.S. as a legal resident. Please note that the family petitions are categorized as immediate relatives (IR) and family preferences. However, U.S. citizens can file the immediate relative (IR) category for their spouse, parents and their children and no visa limitations. Other than (IR) category stated above, all categories have visa limitations.
For the non-immigrant, the people who is coming to the United States based on a temporary visit and planning to return to their home countries. Non-immigrants include people who come to the U.S. as example: tourists (B2 visa), non-immigrant business visas, students (F1 visa), and exchange students (J1 visa) etc. Generally, the non-immigrant visa holders are expected to depart the U.S. before their visa status is expired. For some circumstances, they can file their visa extension through their sponsor.
