Immigrant Intent
In the U.S. visa system:
- Immigrant intent means that you intend to use your visa to remain in the U.S. permanently.
- Nonimmigrant intent means that you do not intend to use your visa to remain in the U.S. permanently.
The following U.S. visa types examples of nonimmigrant visas:
B-1, B-2, ESTA (WB or WT), F-1 and F-2, J-1 and J-2, O-1 and O-3, TN and TD.
If you apply to a U.S. consulate for a nonimmigrant visa or to USCIS requesting a change of status to a nonimmigrant status:
- You cannot legally, at the time of the application, intend to remain in the U.S. permanently.
- The question of your immigrant intent will almost certainly come up. If you cannot prove to the U.S. consulate or USCIS that you do not have immigrant intent, they will deny your application for that reason alone.
It is difficult to prove a negative intention such as not intending to use your nonimmigrant visa to remain in the U.S. permanently.
However, U.S. law:
- Assumes that you intend to use your nonimmigrant visa to remain in the U.S. permanently unless you can demonstrate to the U.S. consulate or USCIS that you do not intend to do so, and
- Places the burden of demonstrating that you do not have immigrant intent on you, the visa applicant.
To demonstrate that you do not have immigrant intent, you should be prepared to present documents to the U.S. consulate or USCIS showing that you…
- Have strong family, social, and professional ties to your home country
- Own property in your home country
- Have investments or business interests in your home country
- Have an on-going professional job in your home country
- Have a primary residence in your home country
There is no official list of documents to present. Presenting these specific documents is not mandatory and presenting them does not mean the U.S. consulate or USCIS will necessarily approve your visa application.
In addition, the U.S. consulate and USCIS can consider the following information about you to determine whether you have immigrant intent:
- Have you maintained a primary residence outside the U.S.?
- Have you ever overstayed a U.S. visa?
- Have you ever applied for U.S. Permanent Resident status (green card holder)?
- Do you have immediate family members (parents or siblings) who are U.S. citizens or Permanent Residents (green card holders)?
- Have you ever had an H-1B or H-4 visa?
- If you were subject to the 2-year home country residency requirement of the J-1 regulations, have you obtained a U.S. government waiver from the requirement? (Applying for or receiving a U.S. government J-1 waiver can be taken as a sign of immigrant intent.)
U.S. consulates and USCIS understand that younger applicants for nonimmigrant visas, such as students, may not have had the opportunity to establish strong ties to their home country.
Nonetheless, if you apply for a nonimmigrant visa, the question of your nonimmigrant intent will almost certainly come up at the U.S. consulate or USCIS.
If you apply for a nonimmigrant visa or status, and the U.S. consulate or USCIS determines that you have immigrant intent, they will deny your visa application for that reason alone.
Visa application denial for immigrant intent is sometimes referred to as 214(b) denial to refer to the section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that addresses immigrant intent.
If your visa application is denied for immigrant intent, the U.S. consulate or USCIS may allow you to submit additional documents or information to show that you do not intend to remain in the U.S. permanently on the visa.
The U.S. government considers H-1B and H-4 visas to be “dual intent” visas—meaning that H-1B and H-4 visa applicants can intend to remain in the U.S. permanently through the Permanent Resident process.
If you apply for an H-1B or H-4 visa, the question of immigrant intent rarely, if ever, comes up at the U.S. consulate or USCIS.
But because H-1B and H-4 visas are dual intent visas, if you recently had an H-1B or H-4 visa, the U.S. consulate or USCIS can use that fact to determine that you have immigrant intent during a nonimmigrant visa application process.