Most people who come to the U.S. are required to have a visa. But having a visa doesn’t guarantee that you will be admitted once you arrive in the U.S.; that decision is at the discretion of government officials at the border, according to the U.S. State Department.
There are more than 20 kinds of visas issued to immigrants and non-immigrants, and they differ based on the person’s reason for traveling to the U.S. The most frequently granted visas are for business travelers, a B1 visa; tourists, a B2 visa; and students, an F1 visa.
The government annually awards 50,000 visas to winners of the diversity visa lottery, designed to draw people from countries that don’t have a large presence here. This visa allows for permanent residency and eventually U.S. citizenship.
But some travelers arrive without visas or other documentation in hand. These people often are victims of trafficking or political or religious persecution who apply for asylum here.
Citizens of certain countries are not required to have visas to enter the U.S. in most cases. These countries include Canada, France, Germany, Sweden, Spain and the United Kingdom.
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Migration terms
– Smuggling generally involves a willingness on the part of the individual to be illicitly taken across borders, often for political or economic reasons.
– Trafficking involves coercion or fraud and disproportionately affects women and children, who are held against their will and forced to work, often as prostitutes, according to human rights observers.
