legal? wife with B1, B2, and B1/B2 visa worked as tour guide in US

[Jarrod&Vicky 17]

I don't know if this will help you but I'll use my case to explain the use of a B1 visa. To the person that keeps saying that the B1 visa is for tourism, just don't reply posts like a sport without even making sure what you are saying is right. With all due respect, check your facts before answering!

I am a medical doctor from Argentina. I have both B2 (tourist visa)and B1 (business visa). I was invited to work for 3 months at the NIH (National Institue of Health, government facility) at the beginning of the year. At the time, I was finishing my residency, so I was getting paid every month by my hospital here in Argentina.

Since I was NOT going to be paid in the US for my work, they decided to use my own B1 visa to enter the country. This is a government facility, so they can't have done something wrong or shaddy to get me there. They insisted on making sure that when I entered the country, the inmigration officer stamped my passport with the B1 instead of the B2 stamp, but that was it.

We are filing for the K1 right now and there shouldn't be any problem with it (of course I added to the initial package the NIH invitation letter just in case).

They always insisted on the fact that I was being paid abroad, but at the same time, I'm not sure if working as a doctor is the same as a tourist guide. Maybe mine could be placed under the observership option?

Just my 2 cents.

Good luck!

Edited May 1, 2012 by Jarrod&Vicky

[Noah Lot 391]

yes, you were doing an observership, but..remember (please post your agreement) you had NO direct patient contact...you essentially followed other US doctors around carrying a clipboard and making notes, correct? (or perhaps you were doing some sort of medical research that did NOT involve direct patient contact)...that is an allowable action for a B1 holder.

I don't know if this will help you but I'll use my case to explain the use of a B1 visa. To the person that keeps saying that the B1 visa is for tourism, just don't reply posts like a sport without even making sure what you are saying is right. With all due respect, check your facts before answering!

I am a medical doctor from Argentina. I have both B2 (tourist visa)and B1 (business visa). I was invited to work for 3 months at the NIH (National Institue of Health, government facility) at the beginning of the year. At the time, I was finishing my residency, so I was getting paid every month by my hospital here in Argentina.

Since I was NOT going to be paid in the US for my work, they decided to use my own B1 visa to enter the country. This is a government facility, so they can't have done something wrong or shaddy to get me there. They insisted on making sure that when I entered the country, the inmigration officer stamped my passport with the B1 instead of the B2 stamp, but that was it.

We are filing for the K1 right now and there shouldn't be any problem with it (of course I added to the initial package the NIH invitation letter just in case).

They always insisted on the fact that I was being paid abroad, but at the same time, I'm not sure if working as a doctor is the same as a tourist guide. Maybe mine could be placed under the observership option?

Just my 2 cents.

Good luck!

Your situation was one that I did not clarify in my earlier list (though research was included)..I forgot the medical observership.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

Was it your purpose to come to the US to translate the book? There is where the difference lies. The OP wifes purpose to visit the US was to perform a job.

Edited May 1, 2012 by LIFE'SJOURNEY

[jaycali 415]

Noah is right.If you enter as a tourist, and that's the main purpose of your visit that's fine. If you happen to have some sort of freelance job back home where some of the work can be done while you happen to be in the US, that's fine. As long as the pay source is foreign, and no Americans could do the job. If you're translating a book for a foreign publisher, the work really isn't in the US. Meaning you could have just as well done it from your own backyard, back home.The problem with the OP's wife job was it required her to be on US soil, so anyone doing the job would have to be physically in the US, meaning an American or LPR could have done it as well.As far as the Czech language requirement, plenty of jobs have language requirements, and there are visas to facilitate that.. B-1 isn't one of them. Also, I doubt the Czech tour operator tried to find LPR or USC Czech speakers first..

So how is the OP's case different?

Say you're a translator working for a book publisher in Romania. The publisher wants you to translate a book for him. This is something you can do at home, as it doesn't require you to be physically at the office. While working on it, you're going on vacation. You bring the project with you and do a bit of translating while you're on vacation. When you get home after your vacation, you hand in your finished work to the publisher.

Your job didn't require you to be physically present in the US, nor did it have anything to do with the US. A USC would have needed a Romanian work permit to do the same job. The OP's wife actually did work that physically required her to be in the US.

[Jarrod&Vicky 17]

Iwas seeing patients but always supervised, a doctor was always with me in the room, and if I wanted to write in the charts it had to be co-signed by a doctor from there.

I guess what they did with me was some sort of "very flexible" observership! lol

Well, then it's not of much use to the OP but it works to show the use of the B1

yes, you were doing an observership, but..remember (please post your agreement) you had NO direct patient contact...you essentially followed other US doctors around carrying a clipboard and making notes, correct? (or perhaps you were doing some sort of medical research that did NOT involve direct patient contact)...that is an allowable action for a B1 holder.

Your situation was one that I did not clarify in my earlier list (though research was included)..I forgot the medical observership.

[Noah Lot 391]

Iwas seeing patients but always supervised, a doctor was always with me in the room, and if I wanted to write in the charts it had to be co-signed by a doctor from there.

I guess what they did with me was some sort of "very flexible" observership! lol

Well, then it's not of much use to the OP but it works to show the use of the B1

I am surprised that you had patient contact while on a B1...normally such a residency would be done under a J1 visa..but in any event, you were not seeing patients 'all by yourself' nor could you prescribe medications on your own, etc...correct?

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

What you actual did and what is acceptable under a B1 is two different things. The hospital changed the govern rules of the B1, not the US consular.

Should you have been seeing patients under supervision, check the rags of the requirements for a B1.It was your responsibility to know the laws of the B1.The hospital isnot the one who would have been pentalized for the mis-use of your B1.

Edited May 1, 2012 by LIFE'SJOURNEY

[Harsh_77 718]

I don't know if this will help you but I'll use my case to explain the use of a B1 visa. To the person that keeps saying that the B1 visa is for tourism, just don't reply posts like a sport without even making sure what you are saying is right. With all due respect, check your facts before answering!

I am a medical doctor from Argentina. I have both B2 (tourist visa)and B1 (business visa). I was invited to work for 3 months at the NIH (National Institue of Health, government facility) at the beginning of the year. At the time, I was finishing my residency, so I was getting paid every month by my hospital here in Argentina.

Since I was NOT going to be paid in the US for my work, they decided to use my own B1 visa to enter the country. This is a government facility, so they can't have done something wrong or shaddy to get me there. They insisted on making sure that when I entered the country, the inmigration officer stamped my passport with the B1 instead of the B2 stamp, but that was it.

We are filing for the K1 right now and there shouldn't be any problem with it (of course I added to the initial package the NIH invitation letter just in case).

They always insisted on the fact that I was being paid abroad, but at the same time, I'm not sure if working as a doctor is the same as a tourist guide. Maybe mine could be placed under the observership option?

Just my 2 cents.

Good luck!

What you were doing was ok, it is equivalent of someone attending a training.

Company can pay their employees back home plus living, travel expense in US.

Same time someone is not allowed to come and do a job in US that can be done by USC on B1.

Observing, participating in meeting, training etc. is allowed on B1.

I am surprised that you had patient contact while on a B1...normally such a residency would be done under a J1 visa..but in any event, you were not seeing patients 'all by yourself' nor could you prescribe medications on your own, etc...correct?

It can be considered as trianing.

[Brian121957 43]

This remind me of the time i went on a business trip to the UK. At the immigration desk I was asked why I was entering the UK. I said "For work". My coworkers said for business. They went right through but I got the third degree. They thought I was there looking for work.

When it was all settled they did not care if I was there for business or pleasure. They did not care if I would be paid for the time I was there. The only thing they cared was if it was a UK business paying me and that I not try to access any of the public social benefits.

Don't lie but I suspect if she entered on technical the wrong visa there should not be any real problem.

So did she actually get paid while in the US? Was the payment made in US dollars? Was she paid hourly for the hours she was in the US?

Or was she paid a flat fee for all that she did before, during and after the trip.

[Jarrod&Vicky 17]

I am surprised that you had patient contact while on a B1...normally such a residency would be done under a J1 visa..but in any event, you were not seeing patients 'all by yourself' nor could you prescribe medications on your own, etc...correct?

Exactly, everything I was doing was supervised and co-signed. And I didn't prescribe on my own, that's why I guess you are right and it was considered an observership. Also it's important to clarify that the NIH is a research facility, so it would fit into one of the options for B1.

[doggie 0]

Don't lie but I suspect if she entered on technical the wrong visa there should not be any real problem.

So did she actually get paid while in the US? Was the payment made in US dollars? Was she paid hourly for the hours she was in the US?

Or was she paid a flat fee for all that she did before, during and after the trip.

No, she was not paid while in the US; she was paid a flat fee when she returned to CZ in Czech currency.

[Noah Lot 391]

No, she was not paid while in the US; she was paid a flat fee when she returned to CZ in Czech currency.

then why all the subterfuge with her phony story given to our border officials?

[doggie 0]

then why all the subterfuge with her phony story given to our border officials?

perhaps you're confused: she was paid for the work she did while in the US, of course, but she wasn't actually paid "while in the US." She was paid later after she had returned to the Czech Republic in Czech currency.

[doggie 0]

wife just spoke to her boss at the travel company. According to him: he met with an American consular officer at the Embassy a few years ago and was assured their operations in the USA are legal. The employees they send abroad to the USA are considered "tour leaders" or "translators". The tour company must have--and does have--a partnership with an American company; if the Czech tour group is of a certain size (20 or more, for example, but I don't know) the Czech tour company uses a tour guide from the American partner and an American bus driver. But most of my wife's trips have been with just 10 or so people; she rents a van, drives them around, and acts as "tour leader" and "translator".

[Harsh_77 718]

wife just spoke to her boss at the travel company. According to him: he met with an American consular officer at the Embassy a few years ago and was assured their operations in the USA are legal. The employees they send abroad to the USA are considered "tour leaders" or "translators". The tour company must have--and does have--a partnership with an American company; if the Czech tour group is of a certain size (20 or more, for example, but I don't know) the Czech tour company uses a tour guide from the American partner and an American bus driver. But most of my wife's trips have been with just 10 or so people; she rents a van, drives them around, and acts as "tour leader" and "translator".

That’s exactly the point I have made in my past post, boss can say whatever he wants to that he talked to American Consular etc.

Technically what your wife was doing is not permitted on B1 or B1/2, she was doing a job which USC can do like driving the van.

Especially in your case when she is looking to immigrate and if for whtever reason USCIS deems she was working on B1 or B1/2 it would be you and her who would be impacted, they are not going to take the word of owner of the travel agency.