Entering on a B1/B2 to do both business and tourism

[HappyBlue111 0]

I have a B1/B2 visa and plan to visit the US for 45 days for both tourism and business. Am currently a contractor/consultant (hybrid role- tech and business) for Indian company A. I do occasionally consult for company B which is a reputed US company and parent of Indian company A. Either ways, I have always only been paid by Indian company A and that won't change for this trip. Purpose of my trip:

1. (mostly) Vacation with family and friends while working remotely on my Indian consulting job and
2.  A little business i.e. meetings in person with clients (employees of US company B)

I'm trying to figure out what intent to declare at port of entry so as to minimize my chances of being rejected entry into US.

My concern is that stating my purpose as business may make them scrutinize my application and potentially reject my entry given the current politicized environment (they will fear that I'm taking jobs away from American citizens). To be clear, I get paid only by the Indian entity (company A). So I am not at all receiving any pay by an American company.

Can I say I'm coming for x days of business and a few days of travel/personal vacation? is that allowed? I have a B1/B2 visa

 Or is the best option to just say I'm coming for Tourism/vacation. Technically this would be right too. I can simply avoid physically meeting my American clients while I'm in the US. I continue to work for my Indian job, albeit remotely and get paid only by the Indian entity, in India. 



If the advice is to say business, what documents should I carry for port of entry. Would this suffice:

• An email from my client in the US inviting me to come there (is it necessary that this email state that they will bear my expenses? is it ok if its just a casual 'Hey x, we would like to invite you to discuss  business and technical matters in person')
• A print out of my work email calendar showing future meetings

If it matters, I have a good record of entry/exit into the US. I have travelled once on a B1 a long time ago, left the country on time. I have also spent 2 years as a student in the US and again, left well within my allocated visa duration.
 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

You’re overthinking it. Having business meetings is incredibly common, it’s probably most of what B1 is used for. 
What you don’t want to do: misrepresent the actual purpose of your trip. That could have much more serious consequences than whatever you’re worrying about (which anyway doesn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary).

 

 

[HappyBlue111 0]

Appreciate you chiming in. I would like more help on the other questions. Namely - what are the documents I ought to be carrying to establish or show my business intent at port of entry.

[Just Paul 4,595]

26 minutes ago, HappyBlue111 said:

Appreciate you chiming in. I would like more help on the other questions. Namely - what are the documents I ought to be carrying to establish or show my business intent at port of entry.

An itinerary and emails like you mentioned.   I, used to, go to China all the time for 4 or 5 days.  I'd have 2 or 3 meetings setup and visited friends in between.  I would enter on my business visa have my itinerary and printouts of my emails or contacts ready.