Effective August 31, 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Department of Consular Affairs) restructured the Non-Immigrant visa categories. The current 17 categories have been reduced to seven, with the goal of simplifying the framework, eliminating overlap, and improving efficiency in processing applications. This adjustment does not alter eligibility criteria or applicants’ rights. Moving forward, applications must be filed under one of the following categories: F (Official); B (Business), combining B, B-A, IM, IB and EX; ED (Education), combining ED, ED-A, R, R-A and RS; M (Mass Media); O (Others), combining O, O-A and O-X; L-A (Labour); or O L-A.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].
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