§ 2.4 Nonimmigrants Seeking Business Opportunities in the United States

• Library: Rights of Foreign Nationals (OSBar) (2020 Ed.)

§ 2.4 NONIMMIGRANTS SEEKING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN THE UNITED STATES

As noted in § 2.1, the second scenario in which a business attorney will encounter a foreign person seeking legal assistance is a person who is in the United States as a nonimmigrant and is seeking business or investment opportunities. In § 2.4-1 to § 2.4-5, this chapter discusses prohibited and permitted business activities for visitors.

§ 2.4-1 Visitors to the United States—Introduction

The most commonly encountered nonimmigrants are persons who are in the United States as visitors for business or pleasure. See 8 USC § 1101(a)(15)(B); 22 CFR § 41.31. In the alphabet (or acronym) soup that is immigration law, this visa category is known as the B-1/B-2 visa. The B-1/B-2 visa allows admission into the United States in either a B-1 (business) or B-2 (pleasure) nonimmigrant status—but not both during the same visit. Persons with this visa will usually have a visa in their passport valid for up to 10 years, and most are issued as multiple-entry visas. On occasion, someone may have a visitor visa that is marked "single entry," or that is valid for a period substantially less than 10 years. The visa will be printed in the visitor's passport as is the case for all nonimmigrant visas. The visa validity dates, contrary to the mistaken impression of many who hold these 10-year multiple-entry visitor visas, do not control the length of the person's permitted stay in the United States, nor do they grant the person the right to stay in the United States for 10 years.

Usually, visitors (whether for business or pleasure) are admitted to the United States for an initial period of six months, and they may apply for—but are not guaranteed—one six-month extension. See 8 CFR § 214.2(b)(1)-(2). Visitors may also, under certain specific conditions, change their status in the United States to another nonimmigrant visa status such as student, temporary worker, or investor. See 8 USC § 1258; 8 CFR pt 248.

NOTE: Applications for six-month extensions of visitor status should be supported by substantial evidence of sufficient funds to avoid any suggestion the visitor will need to engage in unauthorized employment.

When visitors are admitted—like all other nonimmigrants—the visa classification and authorized period of stay in the United States will be entered into the U.S. Customs and Border Protection database, referred to as an I-94 record. Failure to depart on or before the end validity date specified in the I-94 record, absent a timely filed extension, automatically voids the nonimmigrant visa for future entries. 8 USC § 1202(g). If a client's I-94...