It is important to cover the crucial distinction between a non-immigrant visa and an immigrant visa. US immigration officials are very sensitive as to how you refer to yourself when coming to America. Many non-immigrant visas grant the holder to stay in the US for many years providing the holder renews their visa at the required intervals. However, no matter how long the holder stays in the US, at no time should they refer to themselves to a US immigration official as wanting to live or reside in the US on this non-immigrant visa. Section 214(b) of the INA specifically states that the holder of a non-immigrant visa holder (in most cases) can be denied entry or renewal of their visa if it can be established that the visa holder has formed the intent to permanently reside in the US.

Only a green card grants the holder to have the intent to live permanently in the US. So if you don’t have a green card you technically can’t say that you have the intent to live or in the US. Although for all intents and purposes anyone who comes into the US for an extended period, such as a year or more, takes up residence in the US, they buy or rent a home, work, pay taxes and their kids go to school etc. That’s sounds like living in the US to me, but as far as US Immigration is concerned, you are a non-resident alien. Non-resident alien means that your stay in the US is limited by the maximum duration of your visa.

So if your visa allows you to stay for intervals of one year with an indefinite renewal option, as with the O visa, you are not a resident since your application for renewal could be denied, and your right to remain in the US would come to an end even if you had, by that time, lived in the US for 10 years.

In contrast, a permanent resident, a green card holder, has the right to reside in the US for life. However, even this right can be revoked if certain rules are broken. This is why as immigration attorneys we try to progress a client’s immigration status from a non-immigrant visa (non-resident alien) to immigrant status (resident alien), and then ultimately to full citizenship in the shortest possible time.

Entertainers Visa Guide: O1