What is the difference between an H1-b visa and a J-1 visa?
The goal of the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program is to provide a foreign participant with the opportunity to learn new skills and gain practical experience in his/her career field as well as to allow him/her to experience a new culture and lifestyle. There is a fundamental difference between employment/job and on-the-job training exchange or internship (both terms have almost the same meaning!) in the US: H-1b visa allows you to come to the US as a non-immigrant alien with permission to work legally in the US in order to gain work/employment experience and earn money. J-1 visa is a training visa that permits foreign aliens to learn new skills and techniques/methods in their career fields and experience cross-cultural exchanges through practical training/internships in the US. Gaining experience is not permitted without learning experience.
