B-1 Visa Attorney In Kansas City

B-1 Visas provide temporary stay in the United States for applicants who will be participating in business activities in the United States. A B-1 Visa does not permit the applicant to work while they are staying in the United States. B-1 Visas are typically for a six month period, but extensions or status changes may be requested. Family members of an individual who has obtained B-1 Visa status are not eligible to obtain dependent status. Family members must apply for a B-2 Visa in order to accompany the holder of a B-1 Visa on the stay in the United States.

An applicant for a B-1 Visa must show each of the following:

• 1) The purpose of the business trip to the United States is of a legitimate nature or purpose,
• 2) The stay is expected to be for a specific and limited time period,
• 3) The applicant must have access to all funds that would cover the expenses of the stay in the United States,
• 4) The applicant must provide binding ties to a location abroad, proving that the applicant does not plan to abandon their living situation abroad,
• 5) The applicant must be admissible into the United States.

Examples of applicants who are eligible for a B-1 Visa include those who:

• 1) are consulting with business associates,
• 2) traveling for a scientific, educational, or professional convention or conference that is set on specific dates,
• 3) settling an estate,
• 4) negotiating a contract,
• 5) participating in short-term business training events,
• 6) transiting through the United States (in certain situations),
• 7) deadheading (in certain situations),
• 8) any other approved business of a professional or commercial nature in the United States.

There are certain types of B-1 activities that require an employment authorization document. These types of activities may include:

• 1) a personal or domestic servant who is joining or following an employer who seeks admission into the United States in a B, E, F, H, I, J, L or TN nonimmigrant classification,
• 2) a domestic servant of a current United States citizen accompanying or following their US citizen employer who has a permanent living location or is stationed in a foreign country, and is visiting the United States on a temporary basis,
• 3) an employee of a foreign airline who works in the international transportation of passengers, whose position with the foreign airline would otherwise provide the employee access to E-1 classification is not allowed classification simply because the employee is not a national of the country of the airline’s nationality or because there is no treaty of commerce or navigation between the United States and the country of the airlines nationality.

Every applicant in these situations must demonstrate each of the following:

• 1) the applicant has a residence abroad that the applicant has no intention of abandoning,
• 2) the applicant has at least 1 year of experience as a personal or domestic servant,
• 3) the employee has been employed abroad by an employer for at least one year prior to the employers admission to the United States, if the applicant has been employed abroad by the employer for less than a year then the employer must show that while they were abroad, the employer has regularly employed a domestic servant in the same capacity as that intended for the applicant’s employment.

For more information regarding B-1 Visas, and the process of obtaining a B-1 Visa, please contact the Law Office of Jeffery Bennett via phone: 816-759-2776 (English), 816-759-2777 (Spanish); or via email: jyb@jybennettlaw.com.