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Comment by peferron | Hacker News Reader

> H1B's are immigrant visas

No, H-1B visas are explicitly nonimmigrant visas for temporary workers. [1]

> They terminate in greencards after one renewal

No, they don't. You can apply for a GC, but there's nothing automatic about the process, and the GC is not guaranteed to be approved either.

[1] https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-worker...

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No. It's dual-intent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_intent

The term Immigrant Visa in US immigration specifically refers to a visa that would confer permanent residency (i.e. green card) upon entry to the US. H-1B is definitely not one. It is a non-immigrant visa. Immigration intent, e.g. “dual intent” that you are referring to is distinct from the fact that H-1B is a non-immigrant visa. It simply refers to whether you are eligible for the non-immigrant visa if you have a predisposed intent to immigrate permanently in the future. For example, if you are applying for a non-immigrant visa with non-immigrant intent like F-1, you are asserting that you do not intend to permanently immigrate at the time of your application. Dual intent visas do not have such restriction, thus you can apply for a green card without jeopardizing your eligibility for a dual-intent non-immigrant visa, but that does not mean the non-immigrant visa comes with the privilege or path of immigration in and of itself or confers any such benefit.

H1-B are non-immigrant visas in the sense they are temporary. However, they are dual-intent which means you can pursue permanent residency while in H1-B status.

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