When an employee or manager is needed in the United States to liaise business or to open the doors to new business streams, or to transfer skills to U.S. workers, the B-1 Business Visitor Visa is used. B-1 Business Visitors regularly enter the United States for short term business visits to engage in meetings, handle high-level training, and to secure contracts with clients. Individuals who are short-term visitors may also come to present lectures and attend conferences (ie, for association exhibitions, trade shows and other association meetings), and to engage in learning seminars. Above all, the visa does not permit employment on U.S. soil, but there is a narrow exception for accepting Honoraria for speaking in the United States.
B-1 in lieu of H-1B. Outside of simpler B-1 visas, our firm also specializes in the preparation of difficult “B-1s in lieu of H-1B” visas. This is where the person is coming to work short-term (up to 18 months) at the site of a U.S. entity (while continuing to work for the overseas primary employer) and the person will use specialized knowledge requiring a baccalaureate degree or higher. It is not the same as a person needing a B-1 Visa to train U.S. workers, but is similar. Both have their defined methods for arguing the case. We have mastered the art of presenting the application to a U.S. consulate in a tidy format so that the officer can understand the case in a glance.
B-1 Honoraria. Under the rules for B-1 Visitors, an individual may accept an honorarium payment and associated incidental expenses for academic activities lasting no longer than 9 days at a single institution. They may stack 5 institutions into a 6 month period. The payment should be offered for services which the individual conducts for the benefit of the institution (or related/affiliated nonprofit entity, which includes nonprofit research organizations or governmental research organizations).
The B-1 Business Visitor Visa is not handed out easily by consulates but we engage in a unique case preparation method to ensure that the person is ready for the case’s presentation and they can discuss their matter in the 15 to 30 seconds allotted in an interview.
In order to obtain an B-1 Visitor Visa for our clients, we work with the individual and their overseas employer, as well as the inviting U.S. entity — to plan out the entire case and then paper it. We complete the DS-160 to ensure that boxes are completed for maximal impact.
Our law firm also extends the status of B-1 Business Visitors who are already on U.S. soil using Form I-539. This form can be submitted in a matter of hours to days depending on everyone’s ability to provide needed documentation.
The spouse of a B-1 uses the B-2 visa when accompanying the main applicant.
Visa Waiver for ESTA. Instead of applying for a B-1, the individual who comes from a country that is exempt from visa requirements for short-term visits may use ESTA to arrive to U.S. soil without a visa. Visa Waiver is the term of art used for the countries which are not required to get visas for B-1s. More can be found about the Visa Waiver Program and the participating Visa Waiver Countries here: https://www.dhs.gov/visa-waiver-program. If the individual is going to use ESTA for meetings, we prepare a small package of papers equipping the VW Visitor to be ready to clear Customs & Border Protection with the same information as if clearing a U.S. consulate. A U.S. Invitation Letter detailing the nature of the short-term activities is prepared. The foreign employer is encouraged to paper their permission to attend the U.S. activity, and to discuss ongoing foreign employment. Other ties to the home country are also papered in order to show maximal socio-economic ties to convince an officer that the visit is truly temporary.