Embassy of the United States Doha, Qatar

Personal Employee (Home or Office)  

The following procedures are for applicants traveling with their sponsor to the United States for a short period of time.  This includes housemaids, nannies, drivers, cooks, personal assistants, etc.

If this is the purpose of travel, you are on the right page.  Please read the Requirements for Sponsors below to find out if you are qualified to apply for your personal employee to travel with you. 

Prepare

• Photo: Recent color passport size with white background and one electronic photo for your online application.  (JPEG file format / 240 KB or less) REMINDER:  No head covers except for religious purposes.   
• Pay your fee at Commercial Bank of Qatar to receive the yellow receipt for each application.  REMINDER:  Fees are not refundable and they are not transferrable.
  •     Click here for price of visa:  http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1263.html#temp  
  •     Some applicants may need to pay another fee click here to find out:  http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/fees/fees_3272.html  

Complete:

• One application for each person:   https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/  (Please print confirmation page.)  
• One appointment  for each personal employee 

Click to schedule:  https://evisaforms.state.gov/default.asp?postcode=DOH&appcode=3   (Please print confirmation page.) 

• Passport 
• Printed William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (WWTVPA) Pamphlet in native language of the domestic employee  

Arabic    Bengali     English     Indonesian   

Malay    Nepali  Tagaloc    Urdu

• U.S. Standards Contract in native language of the domestic employee, signed by the employee and sponsor                       

Arabic             English

• Expired passports (if you have them)
• Dual nationals, please bring both passports (if this applies to you)

Attend Your Interview:

• Passport
• Yellow Commercial Bank Receipt
• Application Confirmation Page
• Appointment confirmation
• WWTVPA Pamphlet
• U.S. Standards Contract
• (Keep supporting documents separate)

REMEMBER: 

Personal appearance is required by applicants 14 years and older on the day of their scheduled appointment.Arrive not more than 30 minutes prior to your scheduled time.  To speed up the process for entry, only applicants are required to come.

REQUIREMENTS FOR SPONORS

Foreign Sponsor traveling for a Temporary Stay in the U.S.

The sponsor must meet the following:

• The employer/ employee relationship must have existed prior to the commencement of the employer’s visit 
• Have a residence abroad which he or she has not intentions of abandoning 
• Demonstrate at least one year’s experience in the current position  
• Have been employed abroad by the employer for at least one year prior to the date of employer’s admission to the U.S.  
• In the alternative, if the employee-employer relationship existed immediately prior to the time of visa application, the employer must show that the employer has regularly employed (either year-round or seasonally) someone in the same position over a period of several years preceding the employee's B-1 visa application.

U.S. Citizens on Temporary Stay / Assignments in the U.S.

Domestic employees may qualify for a B-1 visa to continue employment if the employer-employee relationship existed prior to the commencement of the employer's visit to the U.S. and the following conditions exist:

• Have a residence abroad which he or she has no intention of abandoning;
• Have been employed abroad by the employer for at least six months prior to the date of the employer's admission to the U.S.; or
• In the alternative, the employer must show that while abroad the employer has regularly employed someone in the same capacity as that intended for the applicant;
• Demonstrate at least one year experience in the same position by producing statements from previous employers attesting to such experience; and
• Possess an original contract to be presented at the port of entry, which contains the original signatures of both the employer and the employee.

The U.S. citizen employer must:

• Be subject to frequent international transfers lasting two years or more as a condition of the job as confirmed by the employer's personnel office;
• Be returning to the U.S. for a stay of no more than four years;
• Be the only provider of employment to the employee;
• Provide the employee free room and board and a round trip airfare as indicated under the terms of the employment contract.

U.S. Citizens Residing or Resuming Permanent Residence in the U.S.

By regulation, domestic employees of U.S. Citizens who reside in or are resuming permanent residence in the U.S. cannot obtain nonimmigrant domestic employee visas.  

Permanent or Domestic Employees of U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents

Employees of lawful permanent residents (LPRs), including conditional residents and LPRs who have filed an Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes (N-470), must qualify for an immigrant visa since U.S. law considers the employing LPR to be residing, and not merely temporarily present, in the U.S.