Multimedia 2009
Radio program “Dimension Internacional”: Visas to the U.S. (Visa Lottery and FTA visas)
October 23, 2009
There are many different kinds of visas available for travel to the United States. These are non-immigrant visas. Other types of visas that are available allow people to have permanent residence in the United States and are called immigrant visas.
This year, as in years past, the U.S. State Department announced an application process for what is commonly known as the visa lottery, which offers immigration diversity visas to anyone in a qualifying country, which includes Chile . The period to submit an application for a diversity visa is through November 30th , and those Chilean citizens who wish to do so, can participate. Worldwide, there are 50,000 visas of permanent residence that are available through this program.
On the other hand, the Free Trade Agreement that was signed between Chile and the U.S., and that began in January 2004, created a new kind of non-immigrant work visa that is also not being sufficiently used – the H1B1 visa.