The US, besides being a popular tourist destination and a place where people want to find jobs, it is also a great place to do business.
The B1 visa is a non-immigrant US visa that permits visitors to enter the United States for business purposes.
The benefit of the B1 visa is that you can develop business relationships and visit the US as many times as necessary for business. After your visa expires, you can always apply for another one. The US business visas do not have a cap so there are no rules as to how many visas can be issued per year.
The US has created the US visitor visas to cover business and touristic purposes. Different from the B1 visa, the B2 visa allows you to enter the US with the purpose of tourism, pleasure, or visit friends and family.
The US business visa eligibility criteria are not as strict as other visas, but you must fulfill them in order to qualify. Here are the criteria that you must meet to be able to get the B1 visa:
If you meet these criteria and can prove your eligibility through valid documents in the application phase, then you will be able to apply and get the B1 visa.
If you are a citizen of one of the countries in the Visa Waiver Program, you will not need to apply for the US Business visa. You can apply for an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) instead. With the ESTA program, you will not be required to go to the US Embassy in person and can get the business visa much faster.
Important: Starting May 30, 2023, the cost of a B2 visa application has increased to $185 from the previous price of $160.
To apply for a B1 visa, you must go through these simple steps:
The processing times for the B1 visa is not exact. It can take a couple of weeks or a few months for your visa to be processed. This depends on the workload of the US Embassy and other factors that they take into consideration. After the processing time is complete, you will be notified about whether you got the visa or not.
The initial validity for which the B1 visa is given is 6 months. The US Embassy will assume that for 6 months you will be able to complete all the business that you have in the country. This period is also enough time for you to be able to visit and tour any places in the United States that you want to.
To qualify for getting the B1 visa, you must prove that you will return to your home country. This means that you cannot have plans to stay in the US permanently. Because you have to prove this and state it during your interview, it is then very difficult to get a Green Card while on a B1 visa. In order to be able to get a permanent residence with a B1 visa, you must either:
However, since the B1 visa is a business visitor visa, if you find a job in the US you will be unable to work for the company in your home country. This means that you will have to go through complicated procedures to change your status and prove that you did not intend to find a job in the US, but that an unexpected opportunity came your way.
