C1 visa symbol meaning.

What C1 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 C1 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”. C1 is in the group below.

Subparagraph (C) of the statute has three clauses. The first reads:

“an alien in immediate and continuous transit through the United States, for a period not to exceed 29 days;”

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

Reading the C1 row against its neighbours

The table lists four C-type rows. C1 is “Noncitizen in Transit” and cites INA 101(a)(15)(C). C1/D is “Combined Transit and Crewmember Visa” and cites both (C) and (D). C2 is “Noncitizen in Transit to United Nations Headquarters District Under Sec. 11.(3), (4), or (5) of the Headquarters Agreement” and also cites (C). C3 is “Foreign Government Official, Immediate Family, Attendant, Servant, or Personal Employee, in Transit” and cites a different law, INA 212(d)(8).

The statute’s subparagraph (C) has three clauses. Clause (i) is the general transit clause quoted below, with its 29-day limit. Clause (ii) covers a person entitled to pass in transit to and from the United Nations Headquarters District under paragraphs (3), (4) and (5) of section 11 of the Headquarters Agreement, which matches the wording of the C2 class. Clause (iii) covers an alien passing in transit to board or leave a vessel for ship-to-ship liquid cargo transfer operations, “for a period not to exceed 180 days”. The regulation’s C1 row cites the whole subparagraph rather than a numbered clause, so this page does not assign C1 to one clause.

Nothing in Table 1 says who may be admitted in transit or what documents are needed for it. The table only names the class.

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)