This category of USA visas is offered to qualified foreign trainees who enter the United States with the purpose of participating in an established occupational training program. The visa anticipates that the alien will not be entering the USA for the purpose of engaging in productive employment even though some degree of productive employment may be permissible so long as it is incidental to the training and is otherwise inconsequential in nature.

USA immigration regulations dictate that the United Staes company must file a preliminary petition with the United States Citizenship

and Immigration Services to participate in an established training and educational program.

If the company does not have its own approved and fully structured in-house training program, then it will have to seek the assistance of one or more blanket agencies which have already been authorised by the United States Information agency to sponsor the entry of qualified persons.

The H-3 visa is issued for the duration of the training program which usually means an outside limit of two years. It is possible however, to extend the visa beyond this duration.