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Visitor / Tourist Visa Detail

Business Visitor / Tourist Visas (B-1 and B-2)

B-1 Visa is suitable for:

• Participants to attend scientific, educational, professional, business, or religious conventions.
• Persons to work on specific projects in the U.S. and paid by a foreign employer.
• Business professionals to participate in commercial transactions (which do not involve gainful employment) such as negotiating contracts and consulting with business associates.
• Persons to undertake independent studies such as feasibility studies, market research or any such activity.
• Persons to attend professional or business conferences, workshops, or seminars.
• Business professionals to explore possibilities to set up a subsidiary of a foreign corporation, or to make investments.
• Personal or domestic servants to come to the U.S. with a U.S. citizen or nonimmigrant employer on B, E, F, H, I, J, L, M, O, P, R, or TN status.
• Technical personnel to install or service equipment pursuant to a contract of sale, or to provide after sales service.
• Business professionals to attend meetings as a member of the Board of Directors of a U.S. corporation.
• Persons to observe business, professional, or vocational activity as long as it does not involve any hands-on activity.
• Professional athletes to compete for tournament money and not for a salary.
• Professionals to conduct business consultations with business associates in the U.S.
• Purchasing agents of a foreign employer to come to the U.S. to procure goods, components, or raw materials for use outside the U.S.
• Foreign business persons coming to the U.S. in conjunction with litigation.
• Persons rendering professional services in the U.S. that would otherwise qualify them for an H-1B visa, but who are paid for those services by a source outside the U.S.
• Persons employed outside the U.S. who are paid from abroad, and who come to the U.S. to undertake an established training program that would qualify them for an H-3 visa.
• Employees of foreign airlines who are engaged in productive employment in the U.S. and paid in the U.S. who are not eligible for E-1 treaty trader status.
• Other persons such as for bona fide religious missionaries and crew members on yachts.
• Special situations involving Canadians and Mexicans such as Canadian truck drivers who are paid by either Canadian or U.S. firms and who transport commodities across the Canadian Border.
• Foreign companies to send their personnel to the U.S. to install or service equipment pursuant to a contract of sale or to provide after sales service.
• U.S. companies to bring foreign business consultants for training or expert advice.
• U.S. universities to bring foreign guest speakers or lecturers.

Requirements for the B-1 Business Visa:

To be eligible to receive a B-1 visa, you must fulfill the following requirements:

• You must be entering the U.S. temporarily.
• You must have a permanent residence in your home country that you have no intention of abandoning.
• You must be able to show ties to your home country in the form of such evidence as property, family, and a permanent job.
• You must not be coming to the U.S. to provide services or engage in business activities that are primarily for the benefit of a U.S. employer.
• The purpose of your trip must be to perform a legitimate business activity.

Applicants for business visas must show they qualify by providing Information describing the company such as brochures, catalogs, annual reports, a copy of their tour itinerary, and documentation demonstrating their ability and intention, or that of their employer, to support their travel and other expenses while in the U.S. B-1 visitors may not be paid a salary or other remuneration from a U.S. source. However, reimbursement for per diem and travel expenses is permitted.

B-2 Visa is Suitable For:

• Tourists on a pleasure trip to the U.S. or visiting friends or relatives
• People coming to the U.S. for medical treatment.
• Foreign nationals coming to the U.S. to marry a U.S. citizen or Green Card holder, upon establishing to the Consular official and the USCIS that after the marriage, they will depart from the U.S., even though intending ultimately to immigrate.
• Amateur athletes, musicians, etc. who participate in their respective activities in the U.S. without remuneration.
• People coming to participate in the conventions of social organizations.
• Dependents of alien members of the U.S. armed forces temporarily assigned duty in the U.S.
• Dependents of crewmembers (D visa holders) or B-1 visa holders solely to accompany the principal foreign national.
• Dependents of nonimmigrant's for whom no derivative classification is available. For example, the elderly parent of an E visa holder.
• Persons to enter the U.S. to apply for special naturalization benefits on the basis of U.S. military service.
• Persons seeking a change to another visa status if they so advise the U.S. Consulate, and if the consulate is fully appraised of the circumstances.

To prove eligibility, applicants of tourist visas should possess the following:

• A round-trip plane ticket and evidence of sufficient funds to cover the duration and purpose of the trip and if the alien appears only marginally able to pay for the trip, an affidavit of support on USCIS Form I-134 from the person who the alien is visiting in the U.S. should be provided.
• With respect to ties abroad, the alien must demonstrate steady employment, substantial business or property interests abroad and close family ties. A lease on or ownership of real property is helpful as well. These items are particularly important if the alien has close ties with the U.S., such as close family members here. The scrutiny in this category is particularly tight for persons from "high-risk" countries - aliens from countries with a high rate of visa refusal and a low rate of compliance - who are single, young and well educated.

Visitors are normally given a six-month visa, which can possibly be extended for an additional six months depending on the circumstances. The application is made at a U.S. Consulate and no USCIS approval is necessary. Also, all travel partners, including the applicant's spouse and children must independently qualify for the visitor visa.

Nationals of some countries are allowed to participate in the Visa Waiver Pilot Program, which allows visits for up to 90 days without having to obtain the B-2 visa. The waiver countries are the following: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. All Canadian citizens and certain Canadian "landed immigrants" are also exempt under a different law.

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