Types of Visa: America has canceled more than 80,000 visas since January 2025, tightening immigration rules. H-1B visa interviews have also now been postponed to March 2026. Meanwhile, know how many types of visas there are in the world and their number.
How Many Visa Types in World: America has canceled more than 80,000 visas since January, tightening immigration rules. According to the US State Department, this step has been taken as part of the action against people involved in crimes like assault and theft in the country. At the same time, big news has come for thousands of people taking appointments for H-1B work visa in India. The US Consulate has clearly said that due to social media check and new security policy, most of the interviews have now been postponed till March 2026. Those whose interview was to be held in December 2025 will also have to wait for next year. In this decision, know how many types of visas are there in the whole world and why the visa system of every country is different?
How many types of visas are there in the whole world?
The simple thing is that the count of visas is not fixed in any country. Every country creates new visas, changes old ones and sets its own rules. For this reason, the actual number of visas around the world reaches hundreds. But for better understanding, they are kept in some common categories, which are found in almost every country. See the main visa types below-
- Tourist or Visitor Visa: For sightseeing, visiting relatives or short trips.
- Business Visa: Entry for a few days for a meeting, conference or any official work.
- Student Visa: For study, research or training in any country.
- Work or Job Visa: People doing jobs fall in this category. H-1B is also a part of this, on which the most strictness has been increased.
- Transit Visa: Allowed for a few hours while transiting from one country to another.
- Family or Dependent Visa: Approval to live with a spouse, child, or family.
- Permanent Residency, PR Visa: A path to long-term residence in a country.
- Diplomatic visa: For government officials and embassy workers.
- Medical Visa: For treatment, operation or any medical procedure.
- Exchange or Working-Holiday Visa: An opportunity for young people to undertake an exchange programme, internship or work trip.
- Investor or Startup Visa: People who want to invest or start a business in a country.
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Why is the name of visa different in every country?
Every country makes its own rules, so the name of visa is different in every country. For example, in America there are many letter code visas like B, F, H, J, L. There are many sub-types in India, from tourist to journalist, film, conference etc. Due to all these reasons, it becomes difficult to give a fixed number of visas around the world. There are only 10-12 categories of visas, but the sub-types within them reach hundreds.
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