Visa Lawyer Blog
If you are a foreign national that will be a potential investor or will participate in commercial or professional business activities in the United States, you may qualify for a B-1 Temporary Business Visa by applying through the consulate nearest to you.
Business activities, according to USCIS, that are of a commercial or professional nature include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Consulting with business associates
- Traveling for a scientific, educational, professional or business convention, or a conference on specific dates
- Settling an estate
- Negotiating a contract
- Participating in short-term training
- Transiting through the United States: certain persons may transit the United States with a B-1 visa
- Deadheading: certain air crewmen may enter the United States as deadhead crew with a B-1 visa
There are several eligibility requirements that a B-1 Temporary Business Visa applicant MUST fulfill when they apply for their visa through consular processing. They are the following:
- The applicants must demonstrate that the purpose of the trip is to enter the United States for legitimate business reasons
- The applicants must demonstrate that they will remain in the United States for a specified temporary period of time to take care of the intended business activities
- The applicants must demonstrate that they have sufficient financial resources to sustain themselves and their expenses during their stay in the United States
- The applicants must also demonstrate that they have a permanent residence abroad that they do not intend to abandon, as well as provide other proof of ties with the home country
- If you have any inadmissibility issues, you must consult with an attorney