Media Worker Visa (I) is a non-immigrant visa designed for temporary travel to the United States for media citizens to pursue professional activities.
If you are a professional journalist, work in the media, and your office is located outside the United States, this type of visa will suit you. You can be a journalist, reporter, cameraman, crew member, presenter, editor, etc. That is, you can visit the United States on this type of visa only for the purpose of carrying out labor duties. Their essence should consist in various actions aimed at an information product covering ongoing events, including sports and cultural ones.
List of all media specialties that can apply for a Category I visa:
- journalists and correspondents who work on the basis of a service contract, as well as persons who have certificates issued by official journalistic associations. The created information product must be informational or news in nature and not intended for entertainment, marketing;
- operators, reporters, and technicians involved in the filming process;
- representatives of foreign TV channels involved in the creation and promotion of a film financed from foreign sources. A visa is issued only if its content is news or informational;
- employees of production agencies authorized by official journalistic organizations;
- agents of foreign travel companies who travel to the United States to spread information about a foreign country to American tourists.
- employees of branches and representative offices of American media located in other states provided that they prepare material about the facts of politics and economics;
- workers of foreign mass media disseminating production and technical information.
The list also includes freelance reporters. They can apply for this visa if they have a valid certificate issued by an official journalistic association, an agreement with a specific mass media for the provision of services. Freelance reporter functions should not be entertaining. Professional photographers can also obtain an I visa if they are paid by a company outside the United States.
