Alternative Visa Options: H-3 Special Education Training Programs

This is the first in a series of blog posts profiling unusual or lesser known visa categories.  Some of these visa categories may be useful to certain foreign nationals who have never heard of them.  My hope is that someone who can benefit from these alternative visa categories will learn about them in this blog, and act accordingly.

An H-3 is a visa for a trainee.  The visa holder must be participating in a bona fide training program in the U.S.   However, not many people know that there are 50 H-3 visas per year allocated specifically for training programs in the field of special education. 

The H-3 participant in a special education training program must be coming to the United States to participate in a structured program which provides for practical training and experience in the education of children with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities.

The petition must be filed by an organization which has professionally trained staff and a structured program for providing education to children with disabilities, and for providing training and hands-on experience to participants in the special education exchange visitor program.

Unlike other H-3 visas, it is not a requirement to show that the special education training cannot be obtained in the participant’s home country.

According to USCIS, so far, none of the 50 visas for the current fiscal year have been used to date.

Tags: disability, H-3 visa, special education, training program, USCIS, visa
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