By Enoch Pei
B-1 and B-2 Visas
What Are They?
B-1 and B-2 visas are nonimmigrant visas granted for the purposes of either business or pleasure, respectively. The usual granted length of stay to a B visa holder is six months, although, extensions can be made up to a total allotted time of one year.
How Do You Apply?
It depends if you are either outside of the U.S. wishing to be admitted, or if you are already within the U.S. in another legal status (such as with an H-1B) wishing to file for a change of status to a B-1 or B-2.
If you are outside of the U.S., then you must apply for the visa in advance with the U.S. embassy or consulate that is stationed in your residing country. But prior to traveling to the U.S. embassy or consulate, you must complete a DS-156 nonimmigrant visa application form. If you are a male between the ages of sixteen and forty-five, then you must also complete a supplemental form, DS-157.
If you are already within the U.S. in another legal status and wish to change status for purposes of preserving legal status, you can file for a change with the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services through your local service center. If you’re uncertain which service center covers your area of residence, you can check out: https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office.
How Do You Qualify?
B-1 Visa General Considerations
1. You must be involved in legitimate commercial or professional activity and not local or unskilled work for hire
2. You must establish intention to enter the U.S. for a specific period of limited duration, only to engage in legitimate business activities
3. You must provide proof (such as a deed, title, or apartment lease) of a foreign residence that you will not abandon and that you will ultimately return to
4. You cannot be employed or paid by a U.S. source during your time in the U.S. (although you can receive expense reimbursement for considerations such as food, lodging, and travel)
5. You must provide proof of employment with foreign employer, including proof that foreign employer is paying your salary
6. You must have a bank statement showing adequate funds for self and for dependents to draw on while you are in the U.S.
B-2 Visa General Considerations
1. Your reasons for visitation must be for pleasure, as legitimate activities that include but are not short of tourism, amusement, visits with friends or relatives, rest, medical treatment, etc.
2. Similar to B-1, you must provide proof of a foreign residence that you will not abandon and that you will ultimately return to
3. Similar to B-1, you must provide proof of adequate finances for the duration of your stay and for your eventual departure costs
What about Your Family?
Your spouse and children are not eligible to obtain a dependent visa. Each of your dependents who plan to accompany you must separately apply for a B-2 visa.
If you are a fiancé or fiancée of U.S. citizen, you may enter the U.S. with a B-2 visa for the purposes of marrying the U.S. citizen, so long as the consular officer believes that you will return to your foreign residence after the marriage.
Visa Waiver Program
If you are staying for 90 days or less, you may not need to file for a visa. This depends on your nationality or nationalities to specific countries. To see if you are preapproved under the waiver program, please visit the following link for more information: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/visit/visa-waiver-program.html.
Category: 知识产权和商业 IP is about business
About H1B visa 关于H1B工作签证
by Enoch Pei
What is H-1B?
H-1B is a nonimmigrantion visa classification that allows a foreign national to enter the United States to work for a period of up to six years. It is available to foreign nationals being offered employment in a specialty occupation (or as a fashion model of distinguished merit and ability).
How Do You Apply?
In seeking H-1B status, the employer must file an I-129 – Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker – with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Complementary instructions to help fill out the I-129 can be found here . But prior to filing the petition with the USCIS, the employer must obtain an ETA 9035 – Labor Condition Application for Nonimmigrant Workers – with the U.S. Department of Labor. Complementary instructions to complete the ETA 9035 can be found here.
(Other additional forms and documents may be necessary, depending on an individual case basis)
Do You Qualify?
In order to qualify for H-1B status, there are several requirements that need to be met.
There must be an employer-employee relationship with the petitioning U.S. employer
This relationship is generally determined by whether the employer is in control of the H-1B worker’s hire, pay, and overall supervision
An employer can be a person, firm, corporation, or other association or organization that engages with its employees’ work as mentioned above
The job of the H-1B worker must qualify as a specialty occupation
Typically, a bachelor’s degree is the minimum requirement for the qualification of a specialty occupation
Occupation of the H-1B worker must be related to the worker’s field of study.
There are exceptions to those who do not have a bachelor’s degree
These include specialized training or experience that is considered equivalent to the necessary degree required for occupation
The worker must be paid at least the actual or prevailing wage for the occupation, whichever being higher
The actual wage is the wage that the employer is paying other individuals who are in the same position offered to the H-1B nonimmigrant
The prevailing wage is based on a numerous of means that weigh occupation and geographic location of occupation
Other Considerations
Plan well in advance.
There is a 65,000 annual numerical limit of H-1B visas each fiscal year. Those with a master’s degree or higher are exempt from the cap, although there is a 20,000 petition limit for this exemption. If the USCIS receives more than 20,000 petitions requesting exemption, the USCIS will use a lottery process for random selection.
Cap numbers are filled very quickly, so it is in the best interest of applicants to plan in advance. U.S. government’s fiscal year starts on October 1st and H-1B petitions can be filed up to 6 months before the start date, which is generally April 1st for an October 1st start date.