What is the correct visa to visit my employer office in USA?
The situation is similar to another question but not identical. I am Brazillian and live in Brazil, my employer is a company with offices in multiple countries, my contract with them is with an office that is outside USA, but the CEO lives and works in USA.
If I ever need for example to work a few days physically in same office as the CEO, what is the correct visa? I assumed at first it was B-1 but it explicitly states you cannot work in USA, only go to meetings.
Best Answer
Most visits to an employer's headquarters are done on a B1 visa.
The rules say that you cannot do work on such a visa, and that is true. But immigration takes a fairly narrow view of what is "work". You can:
- Go to meetings
- Plan your work
- Get direction from the CEO about what you should work on
- Discuss your work
- Present the results of your work
- Get your work assessed or tested
As PeterM put it "You aren't working, you are just meeting with the CEO".
For example, if you are a software developer, it's perfectly OK to visit your employer to meet with people to design software, write design documents, gather requirements, as long as you are doing it with other people in the US and they need to be part of the process. This may even involve writing some code just in order to test out how it should be written. These things can often take several weeks, and immigration will find it easy to believe that you are visiting to do these things.
It is also true that nobody will check up on whether or not you actually wrote any code while you were there, or whether the code you wrote actually ended up being shipped or was just a prototype. Immigration don't care about such details.
So in short, as long as you make it clear to immigration that you are only going for meetings about your work, and you have a plausible story about what it is you are talking about at those meetings, then you are allowed in. If immigration asks if you will be working, say "no" and mean it. You are here for "business" not "work". Obviously this will not be possible for six months of visitation. Nor if you are doing the kind of job that doesn't involve planning or discussion. But a few days or weeks for a professional job should not be a problem.
As Kate Gregory says, you may also be asked if you are getting money from US sources. Assuming you are being paid by a company in your own country (which is the normal case) then you can, and should, answer "no" to this also.
Incidentally, don't use the word "consult" or "consultation". That can mean doing paid work as a consultant, which would be illegal. Use the words "meeting" and "business" as much as possible. If you are in doubt, a brief consultation with a lawyer might warn you what to say and what not to say, though most people don't do that and have no problems.
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What visa do I need for USA work?
If you wish to work in the United States for a temporary period you will require a nonimmigrant work visa. You cannot work on a visitor or business visa, or under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Unlike some countries, the United States government does not issue work visas for casual employment.Can I visit US with B1 B2 visa?
Remember, a B1 or B2 visa allows you to come to the U.S. to visit. If the CBP Officer suspects that you are actually trying to be a de facto resident, you will be denied entry. Re-entry is, of course, dependent on your continued eligibility to enter.What is visa Type R L-1?
The L-1 visa is an intra-company transfer US visa. It allows a US company to transfer a key employee from one of its offices in another country into the United States.What qualifies a US employer to sponsor foreign workers? : USA Immigration Lawyer 🇺🇸
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