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On rare occasions, the US government could issue an employment-authorization B1 Visa, even in cases where an H1-B would be the ‘usual’ way about taking things forward. This usually happens in the situation when a foreign organization may want to send one of its employees to the United States for a limited period of time, for reasons pertaining to defined projects in a certain time frame. Another common situation could be when you want to call in a worker from a foreign subsidiary or partner; once again for a limited period of time only.
Some of the requirements to be eligible for a B1 visa instead of an H1B include –
- The nature of the work to be done in the United States must meet H1B standards. In other words the employee in question needs to come from a highly skilled and specialist background (a speciality occupation).
- The employee needs to be a permanent employee and not a contracted worker who receives wages from an organization outside of the US.
- The employee is allowed to receive nothing other than expenses for his stay in the US, from a US organization.
- The employee needs to show proof of educational qualifications pertaining to the nature of his work in the US. The H1B allows work experience to be portrayed as a proof instead of a degree, but this is not the case with the B1.
The B1 takes about 1-2 weeks to process, while the paperwork is more comprehensive as compared to the H1B. The admission period is similar to the latter – about 6 weeks. The fact that the paperwork is more comprehensive and the rules more stringent, ensures that the quick process time does not tempt would-be scammers to try this route as a ticket to getting into the country. For valid and realistic applications, this should still be a straightforward procedure, and true professionals would more often than not, have the required paperwork at their disposal.
With the recent decline of applications on the H1B, we can expect to see many professionals from overseas entering the country for short periods, to apply for the B1. The main reason for this would naturally be the reduced waiting periods, and this can be critical especially for short term projects. In the current economy when many companies could be looking at short term experimental projects, the B1 could come into play pretty often. |