B1 visa for conference arriving 10 days early

B1 visa for conference arriving 10 days early - Women at the Meeting

I’ve applied for a US B1/B2 visa for a company retreat and conference but got approved for B1 only. Its multiple entry valid until January and it has annotations about my company plus the month November 2017.

My concern is my company changed the dates from Nov 13 to Dec 13. I will be arriving 10 days before the said dates to visit friends and family so that I can be home before Christmas. If I do it the other way around I will definitely miss the holidays with my family.

Would this be okay? Will they deny my entry? My employer already booker the tickets for Dec 3 to the 21st.



Best Answer

Important caveat:

it has annotations about my company plus the month November 2017.

  • the company is binding and if you change employers then you will need a new visa
  • the month might be problematic but if it's multiple entry then it might work still in December. I never heard of a date annotation before, it's very odd because the US is such that the visa expiry date is the last date you can present yourself at the border asking for admission. You might need to talk to the embassy about this.

To answer the rest, the officer is probably going to work from the notes attached to 9 FAM 41.31 (or experience derived from there) so let's review that together.

The period of time projected for the visit must be consistent with the stated purpose of the trip. The applicant must establish with reasonable certainty that departure from the United States will take place upon completion of the temporary visit. Although “temporary” is not specifically defined by either statute or regulation, it generally signifies a limited period of stay.

and

The applicant must have specific and realistic plans for the entire period of the contemplated visit.

Most importantly:

An alien desiring to come to the United States for one principal, and one or more incidental purposes, should be classified in accordance with the principal purpose.

I am not an DOS employee and I do not even play one on television but to me it seems you should be perfectly fine.




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How soon can I reenter the USA on B1 visa?

If you have a B1/B2 visa, you can visit the United States whenever you want to \u2013 as long as your passport is valid.

Can I enter us one week before my visa expires?

You can legally stay in the United States until the expiration of your authorized period of stay. However, you will not be able to travel to the United States Port of Entry to seek a new admission unless your visa has been renewed by the American Embassy in your country of Nationality.

How do I expedite my B1 B2 visa?

Applying for an Expedited Appointment Pay the visa application fee. Complete the Nonimmigrant Visa Electronic Application (DS-160) form. If the Embassy approves your request then you will receive an email alerting you to schedule your expedited appointment online.

How many days before we can reschedule visa appointment?

You can reschedule your appointment (for a future date only) and up to a maximum of two times. If you are late or have missed your appointment on the scheduled day, the system will not allow you to reschedule or cancel, and you will be required to book a new appointment after 24 hours.



B1 Visa Requirements: The 4 You Should Know




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