B visa

Acceptable and prohibited uses of a B-1 or B-2 visa

Acceptable uses of a B-1 visa

• Hold business meetings
• Perform certain business functions as a member of the board of directors of a U.S. corporation
• Purchase supplies or materials
• Interview and hire staff
• Negotiate contracts, sign contracts, or take orders for products manufactured outside the United States
• Attend a convention, meeting, trade show, or business event for scientific, educational, professional, or business purposes
• Settle an estate
• Perform independent research
• Receive practical medical experience and medical instruction under the supervision and direction of faculty physicians at a U.S. medical school's hospital as part of a third-year or fourth-year internship as long as the visitor is a studying at a foreign medical school and the visitor is not compensated by the hospital without remuneration from the hospital
• Observe U.S. medical practices and consult with medical colleagues on techniques, as long as the visitor is a medical doctor, the visitor receives no compensation from a U.S. source, and the visitor does not provide patient care while in the U.S.
• Take photographs, as long as the visitor is a professional photographer and the visitor receives no compensation from a U.S. source
• Record music, as long as the visitor is a musician, the recording will be distributed and sold only outside the U.S., and the visitor will give no public performances
• Create art, as long as the visitor is a creative artist, the visitor is not under contract with a U.S. employer, and the visitor does not intend to regularly sell such artwork in the U.S.
• Perform certain professional services
• Perform as a professional entertainer as part of a cultural exchange program performed before a nonpaying audience and funded by the visitor's country
• Perform as a professional entertainer as part of a competition for which there is no compensation other than travel expenses or, in certain limited instances, a prize
• Perform work as crew on a private yacht that sails out of a foreign home port and cruises in U.S. waters
• Perform services on behalf of a foreign-based employer as a jockey, sulky driver, horse trainer, or horse groomer
• Compete in a particular athletic competition with the only compensation being prize money as long as the prize money is not the recipient's primary source of income
• Try out for a professional sports team as long as the visitor is not compensated other than reimbursement of travel expenses
• Participate in an athletic tournament or athletic sporting event as a professional athlete, as long as the visitor's only compensation is prize money, the visitor's principal place of business or activity is outside the U.S., the visitor's primary source of income is outside the U.S., and the visitor is either part of an international sports league or the sporting activities involved have an international dimension
• Survey potential sites for a business
• Perform as a lecturer or speaker
• Work for a foreign exhibitor in connection with exhibits at international fairs or international exhibits, as long as the visitor's employment responsibilities are primarily outside the U.S.
• Install, service, or repair commercial or industrial equipment or machinery that was sold by a non-U.S. company to a U.S. buyer when specifically required by the purchase contract; construction work is not allowed
• Perform a minor amount of volunteer services, excluding construction, for a religious organization or a nonprofit charitable organization, as long as volunteering is not the primary purpose of entering the U.S.
• Participate in a training program that is not designed primarily to provide employment
• Observe how a business operates or how professional activities are conducted
• Seek investments in the U.S., without actually performing productive labor or actively participating in the management of a business
• Participate in Peace Corps training as a volunteer or under contract
• Participate in the United Nations Institute for Training and Research internship program, as long a foreign government does not employ the visitor
• Drill for oil on the Outer Continental Shelf
• As a minister of religion, engage in an evangelical tour, as long as the visitor does not intend to take an appointment with any one church and the visitor will be supported by offerings contributed at each evangelical meeting
• As a minister of religion, temporarily exchange pulpits with U.S. ministers of religion, as long as the visitor will continue to be reimbursed by a foreign church and will not be compensated by the U.S. church
• Perform missionary work, religious instruction, religious aid to the elderly or needy, or religious proselytizing as a member of a religious denomination, as long as the work does not involve the selling of articles, the solicitation of donation, the acceptance of donations, administrative work, or is a substitute for ordinary labor for hire, and the visitor will not be compensated from U.S. sources other than an allowance or other reimbursement for travel expenses incidental to the temporary stay
• Participating in an organized project conducted by a recognized religious or nonprofit charitable organization that benefits U.S. local communities, as long as the visitor is a member of, and has a commitment to, the particular organization, the visitor receives no compensation from a U.S. source other than reimbursement of travel expenses
• Work as a personal employee or a domestic employee of an employer who seeks admission into, or who is already in, the United States in B, E, F, H, I, J, L, M, O, P, Q, or R non-immigrant status, if and only if the employee has been employed outside the U.S. in a similar capacity prior to the date the employer enters the U.S., the employee has a residence outside the U.S. that the employee has no intention of abandoning, the employer compensates the employee based on the prevailing wage, and the employer provides the employee free room and board.
• Work as a personal employee or a domestic employee of a U.S. citizen employer, if and only if the employer ordinarily resides outside the U.S.; the employer is traveling to the U.S. temporarily; the employer is subject to frequent international transfers of at least two years; the employer will reside in the U.S. for no more than four year as a condition of employment; the employer has regularly employed a domestic employee in the same capacity while outside the U.S.; the employee has a minimum of one year of experience in the same capacity; the employer provides the employee with the prevailing wage, room, board, and round-trip transportation; and the employee has a residence outside the U.S. that the employee has no intention of abandoning.

  Acceptable uses of a B-2 visa

• Travel within the U.S.
• Visit family or friends
• Participate in a convention, a conference, or a convocation of a fraternal, social, or service nature
• Obtain medical treatment, as long as the visitor has the means to pay for it
• Enroll in a short, recreational course of study, as long as it is not credited toward a degree
• Participate in an event, talent show, or a contest as an amateur, as long the visitor is not typically compensated for such participation and the visitor does not actually receive payment, other than reimbursement of travel expenses
• Enter as a dependent of an alien member of any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces temporarily assigned for duty in the U.S.
• Accompany a person with either a D-1 visa or a D-2 visa with the sole purpose of accompanying the person
• Enter with the intent of becoming engaged, meeting the family of a fiancé, making arrangements for a wedding, or renewing a relationship with a fiancé
• Enter with the intent of marrying a U.S. citizen and then return to a residence outside the U.S. after the marriage
• Accompany a spouse or child who is a U.S. citizen on a temporary visit to the U.S.
• Enter as a cohabiting partner of a non-immigrant visa holder if the partner is not otherwise eligible for derivative status under the partner's visa classification.

  Prohibited uses

• Employment, whether paid or unpaid
• Receive education that credits to a degree
• Arrive in the U.S. as a part of a crew of a ship or an aircraft
• Work as a journalist or other information media
• Perform before a paying audience
• Live permanently or long-term in the U.S.
• Manage a business located in the U.S.
• Start a new branch, subsidiary, or affiliate of a foreign employer
• Enter the U.S. with the purpose of performing emergency response services

  Requirement to overcome presumption of intending immigrant