B-1 Business Visitors
The B-1 Business Visitor status is used by a significant majority of foreign nationals entering the U.S. to conduct business activity. Business activity is widely defined to include legitimate commercial and professional activities involving business meetings, conferences and conventions, investigating possible business investments, and negotiations. Under certain circumstances, B-1 business activity may also include providing or receiving training, and consultations to U.S. business clients. It does not include local employment or labor for hire.
Permissible Use of the B-1
A B-1 Business Visitor cannot enter the U.S. to perform productive tasks that could be carried out by local US workers. This has been difficult to define and in many cases applicants for B-1 status have been denied entry because U.S. Immigration inspectors believe that the applicant may be entering to work and that the work can be performed by local US workers. However, there are a number of business activities that have been determined to be acceptable B-1 activities, including:
- Consulting with US clients and business associates provided that their activities in the US are limited to fact finding, interviews, recommendations as to management of business operations, and client activities. All productive work, such as preparing reports, must be performed outside the US;
- Negotiating contracts, seeking investment opportunities, and purchasing and selling real property or businesses in the US;
- Participating in professional or business meetings, conventions and conferences;
- Receiving training through a well-defined training program;
- Arranging future H-1 employment or setting up a business in the US to change to L-1 or E-1/E-2 status as soon as possible.
The B-1 business visitor must continue to receive a salary from the foreign employer and receive no salary or other remuneration from a US source other than expenses incidental to the stay. Furthermore, the foreign national's employer must have an office outside the US, and its payroll must also be disbursed from outside the US. The foreign national's employer may be a wholly-owned subsidiary of a US parent corporation.
