Temporary Workers

Persons going to the United States with the intention of working there temporarily require a nonimmigrant work visa. Persons entering the United States on a visitor or business visa are not permitted to work.

The United States does not issue work visas for casual employment. In general, work visas are based on a specific offer of employment from a U.S. employer.  In order to apply, applicants must be able to provide their USCIS I-129 receipt numbers.  Applicants are not required to provide original I-129 petitions or I-797 forms.

The most common categories of nonimmigrant work visas are:

• Temporary Work Visa (H) - This visa is for prearranged professional or highly skilled employment for a temporary period, or to fill a temporary position for which there is a shortage of U.S. workers, or to receive training from an employer. The employment or training must be approved in advance by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in the United States on the basis of an application filed by the prospective employer. For more information, please click here.

• Intra-company Transferee Visa (L-1) - The visa allows a multinational business having offices in several countries to transfer managerial and executive personnel to the United States. The employer must first receive an approval from USCIS in the United States for the transfer of the employee before a visa application can be submitted. For more information, please click here.

Application Procedures: For information on applying for this visa, please see “How to Apply.”

Fee: As of June 4^th, 2010, the Department of State increased the Machine-Readable Visa (MRV) fees to ensure sufficient resources in meeting the increasing cost of processing non-immigrant visas (NIVs). The new MRV fees are $150 for H, L, O, P, Q and R visas (the petition-based visas) and $140 for the non-petition-based visas. Until Citibank is able to collect the $150 fee at its offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, petition-based visa applicants have to pay the extra $10 fee when showing up for the interviews at the U.S. Embassy Ha Noi, Rose Garden Building, 170 Ngoc Khanh Street.

Please note that the extra $10 fee is only payable in U.S. dollars cash, or by the following credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express. The Embassy does not accept checks or Vietnamese Dong.

Due to new security regulations, some applications may require additional clearance and longer processing. Since the application process cannot be accelerated, please apply well in advance of your travel date, and do not purchase plane tickets until you have received your visa. Applicants should refrain from calling the Embassy to inquire about the status of their application. Visa applicants should never assume their application will be automatically approved.