I Media Visa

The I Media Visa is a temporary visa for representatives of the information media. This includes members of the press, radio, film or print media industries. It is usually valid for one year. The I Media Visa is renewable indefinitely. Working media cannot enter the US on a B Visitor Visa or on the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). They must first obtain an I Visa from a US Consulate if they will be working in the US.

I Visa Eligibility

The I Media Visa requires an applicant to show that their activities are essential to the foreign media function. Applicants who might qualify include: reporters, film crews, editors and individuals in similar occupations traveling to the US to engage in their profession.

An I Visa applicant must be engaging in qualifying activities for a media organization headquartered in a country outside of the US. To qualify, activities must be essentially informational. They must also be generally associated with the news gathering process and/or reporting on actual current events.

A US Consulate will determine whether a particular activity qualifies for the I Visa. Reporting on sports events is usually appropriate. Examples of individuals or activities that qualify include:

• Primary employees of foreign information media engaged in filming a news event or documentary.
• Members of the media engaged in the production or distribution of film will only qualify for a I visa if they will use the filmed material to disseminate information or news. In addition, the primary source and funding distribution for the project must be outside the US.
• Journalists working under contract: Individuals with a credential issued by a professional journalistic organization qualify for the I Visa if working under contract on a product to be used abroad by an information or cultural medium to disseminate information or news not primarily intended for commercial entertainment or advertising. In this instance, the I Visa requires a valid employment contract.
• Employees of independent production companies: when those employees hold a credential issued by a professional journalistic association.
• Foreign journalists working for overseas branch office or subsidiary of US network, newspaper or other media outlet if the journalist is entering to report on US events solely for a non-US audience.
• Accredited representatives of tourist bureaus that a foreign government controls, operates, or subsidizes in whole or in part; who engage primarily in disseminating factual tourist information about that country; and who are not entitled to A-2 classification.
• Technical industrial information: Employees in US offices of organizations that distribute technical industrial information.

Working Media Must Obtain an I Visa (No Entry on Visa Waiver Program)

Citizens from a Visa Waiver Program (VWP) country who enter as foreign media representatives, engaging in their profession as media/journalists, must obtain an I Visa. They cannot travel on the Visa Waiver Program. Nor can they travel on a B visitor visa. The US may deny such attempts to enter on the VWP at a port of entry.

When Can Media and Journalists Use a B Visitor Visa?

• To Attend a Conference or Meeting: Media representatives attending conferences or meetings as a participant, and who will not be reporting about such meetings either while in the US or upon their return, can travel on a B visa (Visitor Visa). The distinction in immigration law is whether they will be “engaging in their vocation” while in the US.
• Guest speaking, lecturing, engaging in academic activity: When traveling for the purpose of guest speaking, lecturing, or engaging in other usual academic activity for which they will receive an honorarium from an institution of higher education, a related or affiliated nonprofit entity, a nonprofit research organization, or a Governmental research organization, media representatives will need to travel on a visitor visa to the US. However, the speaking activity must last no longer than 9 days at any single institution. In addition, the speaker cannot receive payment from more than 5 organizations for such activities in the prior 6 months.
• To Purchase Media Equipment: Employees can use a B visa to purchase US media equipment or broadcast rights. They can also use the B to take orders for foreign media equipment or broadcast rights.
• Vacation: A foreign media journalist who does not have an I Visa can vacation on a B visa. They do not need an I Visa if they are not reporting on something newsworthy (not “engaging in their vocation”).