Non-immigrant status and Visa, What's the difference?

A Visa is the document placed in your passport by the U.S. Consular official. This document permits you to enter the United States. It may be valid for 6 months or a year or longer. You may be able to use it to enter the U.S. many times or just one time. If your Visa expires while you are in the United States, it does not mean that you are out of status or "illegal".

Non-immigrant status is granted when you arrive in the United States. The INS officer at the point of entry (airport or border) will issue a Form I-94. This Form will indicate your non-immigrant status, H-1B, J-1 or for dependents H-4 or J-2. He/she will also indicate an expiration date. For H-1B holders, this is usual the expiration date on your approval notice. For J-1 holders, the Form I-94 will be marked D/S for Duration of Status. This means that you are entitled to remain in the U.S. for the duration of your J-1 status. For physicians sponsored by ECFMG for residency training, the maximum duration of status is the time needed to complete your training program or 7 years, whichever comes first. For researchers, the duration is 3 years with a possible 6 month extension to complete the ongoing activity. Therefore, it is a Visa which gets you to the point of entry in the U.S. and the Non-immigrant Status which allows you to remain in the U.S.

Maintaining your Non-immigrant Status

• H-1B Temporary Workers
  
  Your stay in the United States may be valid for an initial period of 1 to 3 years and the possibility of extension for another 1 to 3 years. Approximately, 2 months prior to the expiration date on your Form I-94, the Cleveland Clinic will need to submit a request for extension to the INS on your behalf. If you are a research fellow in the Lerner Research Institute, this will most likely be done by your department administrator. If you are a resident or researcher in a clinical department, your H-1B extension will be prepared by the Graduate Medical Education Department. You will be contacted at the appropriate time. Extensions are contingent upon continued reappointment to your position at the Cleveland Clinic. Please note that the H-1B status is employer specific. You will be authorized to work at the Cleveland Clinic. You may not use that status to work for a different employer. The new employer would need to file a "change in previously approved employment" on your behalf.
• J-1 Physicians in Residency/Clinical Fellowship Programs
  
  Since your Form I-94 does not indicate an expiration date, your non-immigrant status is valid until the end date on your Form IAP-66. You are granted a 30 day grace period from the end date to either extend your status or make departure arrangements. You are not permitted to work during the 30-day grace period.
  
  Each year approximately 3 to 4 months prior to the expiration date on your Form IAP-66, you will be paged to report to the Graduate Medical Education Department (GME) to complete an ECFMG Sponsorship Continuation Form. You must respond promptly. Do NOT wait 3 or 4 weeks to report to the office. GME will submit the application to ECFMG on your behalf and respond to any inquiries from ECFMG. When your new IAP-66 arrives, you will be paged to pick it up. If you do not have a new Form IAP-66 by the time the old one expires, you will be put on a leave of absence without pay (benefits will continue) until the new Form arrives.
  
  This is your non-immigrant status, you are responsible for assisting the GME department in filing for extension in a timely manner.
• J-1 Researchers
  
  Your Form IAP-66 is sponsored and issued by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Therefore, the processing time is much shorter, about 1 week. When your appointment is due to expire, the administrator in your department will submit a request to renew your appointment. At that time, the GME Department will issue a reappointment letter and a new Form IAP-66 for the next year. Please note that the maximum time permitted under the research scholar category is 3 years with a possible 6 month extension to complete an ongoing project. If you transfer to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation from another institution, any time spent at the other institution in the J-1 research scholar category will be counted toward the maximum 3 years duration. If you have completed 3 years at a different institution and wish to come to the Cleveland Clinic for 6 months, it will not be permitted. The 6 months is for extensions of the same activity for which you originally entered the United States.