A visa is a document that certifies that one is authorized to enter a country from another country for the duration and purpose mentioned in the document. Generally, it is a stamp that is put in place in the passport of the person allowing him to enter the country. The stamp clearly mentions the conditions associated with the authorization such as status of the immigrant, duration of stay, purpose of visit, and if the same visa can be utilized for another visit, and so on. There are different types of visas depending upon the nature of immigrants as well as their purpose of visit, and two important types are visitor visas and tourist visas. There are obvious differences in these visas that will be discussed in this article.
Key Takeaways
- Tourist visa, as the name implies, is a document that one requires to be able to enter a country where he intends to go for a limited period for the purpose of traveling. This visa clearly states that the immigrant must not engage in any kind of business activities.
- A visitor visa, on the other hand, is for a person who intends to remain in the country for a myriad of reasons that may be specified on the visa stamp such as visiting a friend or family, medical treatment, business, etc. There are two types of visitor visas issued by the US namely B1 and B2 where B1 is for business and B2 is for pleasure or medical treatment.
- A visitor visa is for a longer duration than a tourist visa. Both are non-immigrant visas in the sense that the person does not get any citizen rights while he is in the US and has to get an extension of the visa after every 6 months. Applicants of either type of visa have to demonstrate that they have a permanent residence in their country of origin.
