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Explore visasI-129Overview

Q-1International cultural exchange participant

For people 18 or older coming to the U.S. to work or train in an approved cultural exchange program that shares the culture of their home country.

At a glance

How you apply
A qualified employer (or its designated agent) files Form I-129 with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Once it is approved, you apply for the visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate, if you need one
Checked Oct 18, 2026[1]
How long you can stay
For the length of the approved program or 15 months, whichever is shorter. USCIS says you then have 30 days to leave the U.S.
Checked Oct 18, 2026[1,2]
Can family come
Not in Q status. Q-1 has no status for a spouse or children; a family member who wants to come must qualify for a different visa on their own, such as a B-1/B-2 visitor visa
Checked Oct 18, 2026[1,3]
Can you work
Yes, but only for the employer (or employers) whose approved petition gave you Q-1 status, and you are not required to apply for a separate work permit (Employment Authorization Document, EAD). Work outside the specific program violates your Q-1 status
Checked Oct 18, 2026[2,3,4]
Visa application fee
$205 per person for a Q category visa. The employer's USCIS fees are listed under Fees
Checked Oct 18, 2026[5]

What Q-1 is

Q-1 is a temporary status for people taking part in an international cultural exchange program approved by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The program exists to provide practical training and employment, and to share the history, culture and traditions of your home country with the United States.[1,2]

Who qualifies

  • You must be at least 18 years old when the petition is filed, be qualified to perform the service or labor or receive the type of training stated in the petition, and be able to communicate effectively about the cultural attributes of your country of nationality to the American public. If you were admitted in Q-1 status before, you must also have resided and been physically present outside the U.S. for the immediate prior year (see the questions below).[2]
  • You must be a genuine nonimmigrant (bona fide nonimmigrant) with a residence outside the U.S. that you have no intention of abandoning. By law (section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, INA), a Q visa applicant is presumed to be an intending immigrant until they show the consular officer, when applying for the visa, and the immigration officers, when applying for admission, that they qualify for nonimmigrant status.[2,3,9]
  • Q-1 is employment-oriented, but a cultural element must be an essential and integral part of your duties. Your work or training may not be independent of the program's cultural component; it must serve as the vehicle for that component, and the sharing of your country's culture must result from your work or training with the employer in the U.S.[1,2]

The employer and the program

  • Only a qualified employer or its designated agent can file the petition. A qualified employer is a U.S. or foreign firm, corporation, nonprofit organization or other legal entity (including its U.S. branches, subsidiaries, affiliates and franchises) that administers a designated international cultural exchange program. A designated agent must be employed by that employer on a permanent basis in an executive or managerial capacity, and must be a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident, or a person given temporary residence under INA section 210 or 245A.[1,2,3]
  • The program must take place in a school, museum, business or other establishment where the American public, or a segment of the public sharing a common cultural interest, is exposed to aspects of a foreign culture as part of a structured program. Activities in a private home or an isolated business setting that the public cannot directly access do not qualify. The cultural component must be designed, on the whole, to exhibit or explain the attitude, customs, history, heritage, philosophy or traditions of your country of nationality, and it may include structured instruction such as seminars, courses, lecture series or language camps.[1,2]
  • With the petition, the employer must show that it maintains an established international cultural exchange program; has designated a qualified employee to administer the program and serve as liaison with USCIS; is actively doing business in the U.S. (regularly, systematically and continuously providing goods or services, with employees, not merely through an agent or office); will offer you wages and working conditions comparable to those of local workers similarly employed; and has the financial ability to pay the participants. USCIS lists program brochures, curriculum or catalogs as evidence of the program, and the most recent annual report, business income tax return or other certified accountant's report as evidence of the ability to pay.[1,2,10]

From petition to visa

  1. Employer files Form I-129

    The employer files one Form I-129 that asks USCIS both to approve the cultural exchange program and to give Q-1 status to the participants named in it; the participants are considered only if the program is approved. The petition is marked Q-1 in the classification block, can name up to 25 participants, and must say at which U.S. consulate each participant will apply for the visa (or, for a participant who does not need a visa, the port of entry).[2,3,10]

  2. USCIS decides

    USCIS notifies the employer and the U.S. consulate(s) when it approves a petition (and, for a participant who does not need a visa, the port of entry where that participant will apply for admission); the approval notice lists the participants, their classification and the petition's period of validity. If USCIS denies the petition, the employer is told the reasons and its right to appeal, and a petition for several participants may be denied in whole or in part.[2]

  3. Apply for the visa

    You then apply for the visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate, if you need one. An approved petition does not by itself make you eligible for the visa: the consular officer must be satisfied that you qualify, and State Department guidance tells officers to confirm at the interview that the facts in the petition are true. A Q visa can be issued up to 90 days before your approved status begins, but you can use it to seek entry only starting 10 days before the start date shown on your Form I-797 approval notice.[1,3,11]

Length of stay, extensions and revocation

Your total stay in the U.S. in Q-1 status cannot exceed 15 months. Within that limit, DHS can extend your stay, but a new petition must be filed and approved for each extension. If you change employers, the new employer must file a petition, and your total stay is still limited to 15 months.[2,3]

The employer must immediately tell USCIS about any change in your employment that would affect your eligibility. The approval is automatically revoked if the employer goes out of business, withdraws the petition in writing, or ends the approved program before its expiration date. USCIS sends the employer a notice of intent to revoke, in whole or in part, if it finds, for example, that you no longer work or train as the petition specifies; the employer may submit evidence in rebuttal within 30 days of receiving the notice.[2]

Fees

USCIS amounts from Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26; visa fees from 22 CFR 22.1
ItemAmountWho pays and when
Form I-129, Q petition (up to 25 participants per petition)$1,015 paper / $965 online; $510 (paper or online) for a small employer or nonprofitEmployer, with the petition. A small employer has 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees in the U.S., including affiliates and subsidiaries; which nonprofits qualify is set out in the Form I-129 instructions
Asylum Program Fee (with Form I-129)$600 / $300 / $0Employer: regular petitioner / small employer / nonprofit
Premium processing, Form I-907 (optional)$2,965Employer, paid separately from the other filing fees
Visa application fee (Q category)$205 per personEach visa applicant
Visa issuance fee (reciprocity fee)Depends on your nationality (set on a reciprocal basis)Visa applicant, if one applies to your nationality
High confidenceChecked Oct 18, 2026[5,6,8,10,12]

Premium processing

Timeframe: 15 business days

Enter a date to calculate.

Processing time (Form I-129, Q-1)

USCIS published processing time

Official

Median from USCIS's quarterly report

  • I-129 · FY2026 Q3 · all offices9.5 months

    All I-129 categories combined; the report does not split I-129 by category.

Half of the cases USCIS completed in that quarter took this long or less, from receipt to decision. Half took longer. The report does not say whether premium-processing cases are included. It is a different measure from the processing-times tool, so the two are not compared.

For the current figure for your form and office, check USCIS directly: USCIS processing times

Official

Source: All USCIS Application and Petition Form Types (Fiscal Year 2026, Quarter 3) · Retrieved Sep 27, 2026

Recent policy changes

Recent policy changes

Official

Updates

Ask WELIVEINUSA Visa

Ask WELIVEINUSA Visa

Answers come from our sourced database and your own timeline, sorted into fact, public data, inference and unknown. No AI model is used in this version, so questions outside what we cover get an honest "not covered".

Questions people ask

How is Q-1 different from a J-1 exchange visitor visa?

Both are for exchange programs, but different agencies designate the programs. J-1 programs are designated by the Department of State to promote educational and cultural exchange between the U.S. and other countries. A Q-1 program is approved by DHS through the employer's Form I-129 petition, and Q-1 is employment-oriented, with a cultural element that must be an essential and integral part of your duties.[1,3]

Can I come back on Q-1 after my program ends?

High confidence USCIS says that after you complete a Q program, you must spend 1 year outside the U.S. before you can apply to take part in one again; the regulation sets the same rule (residence and physical presence outside the U.S. for the immediate prior year) for anyone previously admitted in Q-1 status. The State Department's manual for consular officers words the rule for someone who has already spent the maximum 15 months in Q status, so if your earlier stay was shorter, an immigration attorney can tell you how it applies to your dates. Brief trips to the U.S. for business or pleasure during that year do not break it, but they do not count toward it either.[1,2,3]

Can I work for more than one employer?

Yes, part-time, as long as each employer has an approved petition for you; each employer must file its own petition. If you work or train for the same employer in more than one location, the petition must include an itinerary with the dates and locations. Work outside the specific program described in the approved petition or petitions violates your Q status.[2,3]

Related categories

Content last reviewed: Oct 18, 2026 · General information, not legal advice.

Sources

  1. 1.Q Cultural Exchange - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  2. 2.8 CFR 214.2(q) - Cultural visitorseCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  3. 3.9 FAM 402.15 INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL EXCHANGE PARTICIPANTS – Q VISASU.S. Department of State (Foreign Affairs Manual) · USCIS Policy Manual · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  4. 4.8 CFR 274a.12 - Classes of aliens authorized to accept employmenteCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  5. 5.22 CFR 22.1 - Schedule of fees for consular services (Department of State)eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  6. 6.8 CFR 106.4 - Premium processing serviceeCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  7. 7.How Do I Request Premium Processing? - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  8. 8.Fee Schedule (Form G-1055) - USCISUSCIS · Form / instructions · Checked Oct 12, 2026
  9. 9.8 U.S.C. 1184 (INA 214) - Admission of nonimmigrantsU.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Law Revision Counsel · Statute · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  10. 10.Instructions for Form I-129 (edition 09/09/26)USCIS · Form / instructions · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  11. 11.22 CFR 41.57eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  12. 12.8 CFR 106.2 - USCIS feeseCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026