| B-1/B-2 Visitor for Business
or Pleasure
This category is for individuals wishing to visit the United
States temporarily, either for business or pleasure. These
individuals must:
- maintain a foreign residence abroad to which they plan
to return at the termination of their stay in the United
States;
- provide evidence of how they will support themselves during
their stay without having to resort to local employment;
and
- show that they have sufficient ties to their home countries
to ensure their return at the termination of their stay.
Work and study in the United States are prohibited in the temporary
visitor category.
"Pleasure," under the B-2 category is defined as "legitimate
activities of a recreational character, including tourism,
amusement, visits with friends or relatives, rest, medical
treatment, and activities of a fraternal, social, or service
nature."
"Business" under the B-1 category refers to "conventions,
conferences, consultations and other legitimate activities
of a commercial or professional nature"; but it does not involve
"local employment or labor for hire," i.e., gainful employment
in the United States.
For additional activities permitted in the temporary visitor
category, see Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) §41.31.
Application for the visa is made at a U.S. consular office,
usually without documentation other than the passport in which
the visa is endorsed. It requires no preliminary petition
to another agency and usually results in issuance the same
day. For an alien otherwise eligible for "B" classification,
the consul may exact the posting of a bond to insure departure
by the end of the time for which the alien has been admitted
or upon failure to maintain status.
Visitors are to be admitted initially for a period not to
exceed one year. Even if less time is required, a visitor
for pleasure (B-2), whose passport has the required validity
and who is otherwise admissible, is to be granted, initially,
at least six months. In individual cases the District Director,
or designated supervisory inspector, may for good cause limit
admission to a shorter period, notably, if the alien does
not possess or have access to funds sufficient to maintain
a six-month visit. The B-1 is to be admitted for a period
fair and reasonable for the purpose of the trip, and not for
a lesser time than required except on authority of a supervisor.
Extensions of stay in B-1 or B-2 are limited to increments
of six months except that certain visitors coming to do missionary
work may have one-year extensions. No appeal lies from the
denial of an extension application.
Visa Waiver Program
Seeking to expand travel to the United States and to reduce
the administrative burden of issuing visas, Congress in 1986
enacted legislation permitting a pilot visa-waiver program
restricted to visitors (B-1 and B-2). This program, now permanent,
allows certain aliens to enter the United States for up to
90 days without obtaining a visa. The program is limited to
nationals of countries that extend or agree to extend reciprocal
privileges to U.S. citizens and that have been designated
as a program country. Countries whose citizens are currently
eligible for the visa waiver program are as follows: Andorra,
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan,
Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand,
Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
United Kingdom and Uruguay.
A person admitted under this program cannot be authorized
to remain in the United States longer than ninety days, except
that, in emergency situations, the district director may permit
satisfactory departure within another thirty days without
a violation of status. Persons admitted under the visa waiver
program may not change nonimmigrant status within the United
States; nor may they apply for adjustment of status under
INA §245(a), unless they are the immediate relatives of a
U.S. citizen or unless they are otherwise eligible for a waiver
under §245(i).
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