Visitor Visas

Last reviewed: August 2026. This page is general information about U.S. visitor visas, not legal advice about any particular case. Immigration rules in this area have changed quickly in recent years — always confirm current requirements with the U.S. embassy or consulate where you will apply, or with our office.

What is a "Visitor Visa"?

The "visitor visa" is the most widely used U.S. nonimmigrant visa. It comes in two flavors, and most people receive both stamped in the same foil:

  • B-1 — temporary travel for business purposes.
  • B-2 — temporary travel for tourism, visiting family, or medical treatment.
  • B-1/B-2 — a combined visa allowing either purpose.

A visitor visa is for a temporary stay. It does not allow you to work for a U.S. employer, to enroll in a course of study, or to settle in the United States. Some travelers can skip the visa entirely (see Traveling without a visa below).

A visa is not permission to stay — it is permission to ask

This distinction confuses more travelers than any other single point, so it is worth stating plainly. Three separate things are involved:

  1. The visa is issued abroad by a consular officer at an American Consulate or Embassy of the U.S. Department of State. It is essentially a travel document: it lets you board a plane and present yourself at a U.S. port of entry and ask to be let in. Its expiration date tells you the last day you may arrive — it says nothing about how long you may remain.
  2. Admission is decided at the airport or border by an officer of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), part of the Department of Homeland Security. CBP can refuse entry even to someone holding a valid visa.
  3. Your status and authorized stay are recorded on Form I-94, the arrival/departure record. The I-94 is now created electronically in most cases and can be retrieved and printed from the CBP website. The date on the I-94 — not the date on the visa — is the date by which you must leave or obtain an extension.

A related point that saves people a great deal of worry: a valid visa in an expired passport remains valid. Do not cut it out. Travel with both the old passport containing the visa and your new passport.

What you must prove to get a B visa

Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act presumes that every applicant for a temporary visa actually intends to immigrate. The burden is on the applicant to overcome that presumption. In practice, a consular officer is looking for four things:

  • A legitimate temporary purpose that fits within the B-1 or B-2 category.
  • A specific, limited stay — a plan with a beginning and an end, not an open-ended visit.
  • A residence abroad that you have no intention of abandoning, together with the ties that make your return likely: employment, a business, property, studies, family responsibilities, community roles.
  • The financial ability to cover the trip, whether from your own resources or from someone who will genuinely pay for you.

A refusal under 214(b) is not a permanent bar. It means the officer was not persuaded on the day of the interview. You may reapply, though you should expect the same result unless your circumstances or your documentation have materially changed. Note also that letters of invitation and affidavits of support from U.S. relatives are not required for a visitor visa and carry little weight — the question is your ties abroad, not your hosts' generosity.

What the B-1 business visa covers

The line the B-1 draws is between doing business in the United States and working in the United States. You may come to transact business on behalf of a foreign employer who continues to pay you; you may not join the U.S. labor market. Commonly accepted B-1 activities include:

  • meetings, consultations and negotiations with business associates or clients;
  • attending a conference, convention, trade show or professional seminar;
  • negotiating a contract, or taking orders for goods produced abroad;
  • independent research that does not benefit a U.S. institution;
  • settling an estate or attending to a personal legal or financial matter;
  • short-term training provided by a U.S. entity, where the trainee is not paid by a U.S. source;
  • certain transit and deadheading air crew situations;
  • accompanying an employer as a personal or domestic employee, under specific conditions and with a separate set of contract and wage requirements.

The critical limits are the source of pay and the location of the benefit. Your salary must come from abroad, apart from reasonable expense reimbursement, and the productive work must primarily benefit the foreign employer. There is also a narrow and closely scrutinized "B-1 in lieu of H" practice for professionals sent temporarily by a foreign employer; it is fact-specific and should not be attempted without advice from an attorney.

What the B-2 visitor visa covers

  • tourism, sightseeing and vacation;
  • visiting family or friends;
  • medical treatment, for which consular officers typically expect a diagnosis from a local physician, a letter from the U.S. treating doctor or facility describing the treatment and estimated cost and duration, and proof that the cost can be paid;
  • attending a social event hosted by a fraternal, social or service organization;
  • amateur participation in a music, sports or similar event, provided you are not paid;
  • a short recreational course of study that is not for credit toward a degree — a cooking class while on vacation, for example;
  • accompanying a spouse or partner who is in the United States in another temporary status, in certain circumstances. See our separate page on B-2 visas for cohabitating partners, elderly parents and others.

What a visitor visa will not do

  • Employment. No work for a U.S. employer, paid or unpaid, and no self-employment or "remote work" arrangements that amount to running a U.S. business.
  • Study. A course of study requires F-1 or M-1 status. You may not simply begin classes after entering as a visitor.
  • Birth tourism. Since 2020 the regulations expressly treat travel whose primary purpose is to give birth in the United States so the child acquires citizenship as an impermissible use of a visitor visa. Officers may ask about pregnancy and about the funding of medical care.
  • Public benefits. The Department of State has emphasized that a temporary visitor who relies on public cash assistance or long-term institutional care at government expense risks visa revocation and future ineligibility, and that misrepresentation can carry criminal consequences.
  • Permanent residence by the back door. Entering as a visitor with a pre-formed plan to remain is fraud, and is treated as such.

Traveling without a visa

The Visa Waiver Program and ESTA

Citizens and nationals of roughly forty designated countries may travel for business or tourism for 90 days or less without a visa, under the Visa Waiver Program/Esta. See our separate page on Travel Without a Visa.

Canada, Bermuda, Mexico and the Pacific

  • Canadian citizens generally do not need a visitor visa, although they do need a passport or other approved document under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, and they need visas for several other categories such as E, K and treaty-based classifications.
  • Citizens of Bermuda generally do not need a visa for visits of up to 180 days.
  • Citizens of Mexico do need a visa. Most use the Border Crossing Card (Form DSP-150, the "laser visa"), which functions as a B-1/B-2 visa and is normally valid for ten years. It is not a visa-free arrangement.
  • Citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau may enter, live and work under the Compacts of Free Association, subject to their terms.
  • A separate Guam-CNMI visa waiver covers short visits to Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands for some additional nationalities.

Recent developments worth knowing

  • Visa bonds. Under a pilot program, nationals of a growing list of countries with high B-1/B-2 overstay rates may be required to post a bond of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 as a condition of issuance, and to enter and leave only through designated commercial air ports of entry. A bond is directed by the consular officer; never pay through a third-party website.
  • Expanded screening. Online-presence and social-media vetting has been extended to a widening set of categories, and applicants in those categories are told to make their profiles public.
  • Service interruptions. Visa operations at individual posts have been paused or regionalized at short notice. Check the website of your post before making plans.

How long you can stay, and extending

CBP decides the length of admission. Visitors are commonly admitted for up to six months, though a shorter period tied to the purpose of the trip is entirely possible — check your I-94 rather than assuming.

To stay longer, file Form I-539 with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services before the I-94 expires; USCIS suggests filing at least 45 days ahead. Extensions are granted in increments of up to six months, and a visitor is generally not expected to remain for more than a year in total. You must still hold valid status, have a passport valid for the extended stay, and have complied with the conditions of your admission. People admitted under the Visa Waiver Program, and several other categories, cannot extend at all.

Changing to another status

If your plans genuinely change after arrival — you marry a U.S. citizen, or receive a job offer — you may be able to request a change of status from USCIS on Form I-539 or through an employer's petition. Two cautions:

  • The 90-day guideline. Consular officers apply a rule of thumb under which conduct inconsistent with your stated purpose within 90 days of entry — such as marrying and filing for permanent residence, or beginning work or study — creates a presumption that you misrepresented your intentions. Conduct after 90 days is not automatically safe, but it is not presumed fraudulent.
  • A change of status is not a visa. It lets you remain in the new status, but once you leave the country you must obtain the appropriate visa abroad before returning.

If you overstay

Remaining past the I-94 date has consequences that are automatic and severe. Under section 222(g) your visa is void immediately, even if years of validity remain, and future applications must generally be made in your country of nationality. Unlawful presence of more than 180 days followed by departure triggers a three-year bar to returning; more than one year triggers a ten-year bar. Overstays also make future visa applications far harder to win. If you cannot leave on time, act before the deadline, not after.

Talk to us

Visitor visa problems are usually preventable and often fixable — a poorly documented interview, an extension filed too late, a change of plans that needs to be handled in the right order. If you are preparing an application, facing a 214(b) refusal, or trying to work out whether your intended activity really fits within B-1, please contact our office.

Immigration Topics
Visitor Visas