I Visa for Members of the Foreign Media, Press, and Radio
The I visa is a nonimmigrant visa for persons who are working for foreign media and who have their home office in the foreign country, and who want to travel to the United States to temporarily engage in their profession.
Persons qualifying for the I visa include members of the film, radio, press and print industries whose activities are essential to the foreign media function, e.g. reporters, editors or film crews. The activity which the I visa applicant intends to engage in needs to be associated with the news gathering process, reporting on current events (e.g. employees of information media engaged in filming a documentary or a news event; journalists who hold a valid employment contract with a foreign information or cultural medium to gather information or news not primarily for advertising or commercial entertainment; accredited representatives of foreign tourist bureaus who engage primarily in providing factual tourist information about that foreign country; foreign journalists working for a foreign branch or subsidiary of some U.S. media outlet if they intend to come to U.S. to provide information on U.S. events solely for a foreign audience). Foreign media representatives from the countries that participate in the Visa Waiver Program who intend to engage in their profession as media journalists need to obtain a media visa to come to the United States.
Family members (spouses and children under the age of 21) of the I visa applicants who wish to join the principal applicant and reside in the United States for the duration of the principal applicant’s stay, need to apply for a media visa.
