Welcome to the U.S.: America is Open for Business Understanding the B-1 Visitor for Business Visa Classification
Abstract
More than one million people legally enter the U.S. every day. Because of traveling restrictions created after the 2001 attacks, however, the number of visitors to the U.S. has been flat and the U.S. market share of spending by international travelers decreased from 2000 to 2010 by more than 30 percent. As part of efforts to encourage travel to the U.S., President Obama recently declared that “America is open for business” as he announced an executive order to boost the issuance of visas in China and Brazil by 40% in 2012. President Obama’s focus on business is encouraging, as a significant percentage of those entering the U.S. every day do so for business. The purpose of this article is to provide the reader with an overview of the B-1 visitor for business visa classification and an understanding of several related issues