The forthcoming piece examines US business visas utilized by foreigners traveling to the United States of America for business reasons.
Business travel to the United States can be a difficult endeavor for foreign nationals outside of the USA. This is due to the fact that officer of the American government tasked with adjudicating visa applications must scrutinize those applications in accordance with the provisions of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act as well as other relevant Federal law. Unfortunately for some, application of relevant law can sometimes result in an adverse finding against the individual seeking a United States business visa. This forthcoming analysis is an examination of common reasons for refusal of a business visa to the USA.
A US B1 visa is a non-immigrant visa. Thus, in order to be approved for a B-1 visa the applicant must overcome the statutory presumption of immigrant intent pursuant to section 214(b) of the American Immigration and Nationality Act. Section 214(b) requires that a Consular Officer deny a visa application if they believe that the applicant is using the visa for undisclosed immigration. For example, this would occur if an individual applied for a business visa, obtained approval, traveled to the USA, and remained indefinitely. As the United States B1 visa is to be used strictly for non-immigrant purposes a Consular Officer must examine a US business visa application so as to be satisfied that the applicant will not use the visa with immigrant intent. This is where the “strong ties” vs. “weak ties” analysis comes into play. Those parties seeking a non-immigrant travel document such as a B-1 visa must show that they have “strong ties” to their country of origin, or another country outside of the USA, and “weak ties” to America.
That said, there are other business and employment visa categories aside from the B1. For instance, an L-1 visa allows the visa holder to have “dual intent”. This means that the visa holder can maintain a present intention to travel to the USA for temporary purposes, but also have a, possibly long term, intention to immigrate as well. An US H-1 visa is a dual intent travel document as well. Regardless of the fact that section 214(b) does not apply to some other business visa categories, a Consular Officer must still adjudicate the merits of a visa application in order to be certain that the applicant is not inadmissible to the United States. Furthermore, Officers must also be on the lookout for fraud and misrepresentation in their adjudications as the Consular Officer, depending upon the type of application, may be tasked with making some findings of fact.
