H-3 Trainee Visa allows you to enter the US in order to get training from a US company. The trainee visa is intended to help immigrants get on-the-job training that is not available in their originating country. For immigrants, the H3 visa is an opportunity to live and work in the US while also getting valuable training and skills building. For US companies, the H3 visa program is a chance to attract skilled new workers on a temporary basis.
The trainee visa is a temporary visa with many restrictions. For example, holders of the visa can only work for the company approved by the visa. As well, the main purpose of the employment must be training. Most trainee visa holders can remain in the US for up to two-years, although many visa holders are granted much shorter periods of stay than this. Once the training is over, the visa holders must leave the US.
Many industries qualify for H3 visa programs: agriculture, communications, government technology, and finance. In fact, most industries (with the exception of medical training) qualify. In order to qualify for an H3 visa, the training you are applying for must not be available to you in your home country and the training you receive in the US must help you get employment back home.
Unlike other US visa programs, there is no cap or limit on the trainee visa. This means that the US can issue as many of these visas as there are qualified applicants. Immediate family members and dependants – unmarried children and spouses – of H3 visa holders may get H-4 Visa visas. H-4 visas allow dependants to travel and live in the US but do not allow them to work in the US.
To get an H3 visa program, you must be able to show that you will not be taking a position that is usually occupied by a citizen or permanent resident of the US. You must also show that the employment you will do is imperative to training. The training must not be a graduate program or medical training and must prepare you for work in your home country. That is, you cannot use a trainee visa to become qualified to work in the US.
You may also qualify for an H3 visa as a Special Exchange Visitor. This means that you will look to gain training in educating disabled children. As a Special Exchange Visitor with an H3 visa, you may remain in the US for training for up to 18 months and you must maintain a permanent residence in your home country. Only 50 Special Exchange Visitors are permitted to enter the US with H3 visas each year.