A1 visa symbol meaning.

What A1 means in 22 CFR 41.12

Section 41.12 of Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations is titled “Classification symbols”. It opens: “A nonimmigrant visa issued to an applicant within one of the classes described in this section shall bear an appropriate visa symbol to show its classification. The symbol shall be inserted in the space provided on the visa.” Table 1 to that section then lists each symbol with its class and the section of law. The row for A1 is:

The statute behind the symbol

The “section of law” column points to the Immigration and Nationality Act as codified at 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15), the definition of “immigrant”, which lists the classes of nonimmigrant aliens by letter. The definition begins: “The term “immigrant” means every alien except an alien who is within one of the following classes of nonimmigrant aliens”. A1 is in the group below.

Clause (i) of subparagraph (A), the one the A1 row cites, reads:

“an ambassador, public minister, or career diplomatic or consular officer who has been accredited by a foreign government, recognized de jure by the United States and who is accepted by the President or by the Secretary of State, and the members of the alien’s immediate family;”

Source: 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15), INA 101(a)(15)(A)(i)

Reading the A1 row against its neighbours

The A family has three rows. A1 is “Ambassador, Public Minister, Career Diplomat or Consular Officer, or Immediate Family” and cites INA 101(a)(15)(A)(i). A2 is “Other Foreign Government Official or Employee, or Immediate Family” and cites clause (ii). A3 is “Attendant, Servant, or Personal Employee of A1 or A2, or Immediate Family” and cites clause (iii).

The statute draws the line between A1 and A2 by who the person is and how they were accepted. Clause (i) covers an ambassador, public minister, or career diplomatic or consular officer who has been accredited by a foreign government recognized de jure by the United States and “who is accepted by the President or by the Secretary of State”. Clause (ii) covers other officials and employees accredited by such a government and accepted by the Secretary of State, “upon a basis of reciprocity”. The table keeps the immediate family in the same class as the principal, which matches the final words of clause (i).

The table does not say what accreditation involves or how an acceptance is obtained.

What this page does not tell you

A visa symbol is a label. Table 1 says what each class is called and where the classification comes from in law. It says nothing about who qualifies, what evidence is needed, how long anyone may stay, whether work is allowed or what an application costs. Those answers sit in other regulations and in agency guidance and they change, so use the lookup above to read the label and then take the question to the State Department’s visa pages (travel.state.gov, which blocked automated reading on November 2, 2026, so we have not cited its contents) or a licensed immigration attorney.

For other codes seen on immigration paperwork, see the EAD category code lookup, which covers a different code set, and the I-94 number format checker.

Sources

Sources opened and read November 2, 2026.

• eCFR: 22 CFR 41.12 Classification symbols, Table 1 (current text; last amended 2023-09-12 per the eCFR version history) (read November 2, 2026)
• eCFR renderer API, the same section as machine-readable text (read November 2, 2026)
• Cornell Legal Information Institute: 8 U.S.C. 1101, definitions, subsection (a)(15) (read November 2, 2026)