What is a Visa?

Visas in Connection with Business
Expansions

A citizen of a foreign country who seeks to enter the
United States (U.S.) generally must first obtain a U.S.
visa, which is placed in the traveler’s passport. Certain
international travelers may be eligible to travel to the
U.S. without a visa if they meet the requirements for
visa-free travel.

Canadian citizens are exempt from U.S. visa
requirements for most purposes of nonimmigrant
travel to the United States. Canadians may apply for
most entry into the United States as visitors,
temporary workers, or students directly at a U.S. port
of entry or preclearance station.

The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) enables nationals of 36 participating
countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business (visitor
[B] visa purposes only) for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a
visa.
• The program was established to eliminate unnecessary barriers to
travel.
• VWP eligible travelers may apply for a visa, if they prefer to do so.
• Nationals of VWP countries must meet eligibility requirements to
travel without a visa on VWP, and therefore, some travelers from VWP
countries are not eligible to use the program.
• VWP travelers are required to have a valid authorization through the
Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) prior to travel, are
screened at the port of entry into the United States, and are enrolled in
the Department of Homeland Security’s US-VISIT program.

Currently, 36 countries participate in the Visa Waiver Program.
The current list of countries is shown below:
Andorra Hungary New Zealand
Australia Iceland Norway
Austria Ireland Portugal
Belgium Italy San Marino
Brunei Japan Singapore
Czech Republic Latvia Slovakia
Denmark Liechtenstein Slovenia
Estonia Lithuania South Korea
Finland Luxembourg Spain
France Malta Sweden
Germany Monaco Switzerland
Greece the Netherlands United Kingdom

There are more than 30 different types of U.S. nonimmigrant
visas for everything from students, cultural exchanges,
temporary employment, visits for tourism or business, starting a
business, and more. The Department of State’s website at
Travel.State.gov provides a wealth of information about all of
these visas and what is required to qualify for them.

There are a few visa categories that are used by businesses most
often to send employees to U.S.-based operations or to start
new operations there. Those categories are:
B-1 Business Visitors
E-1/E-2 Treaty Trader/Treaty Investor
H
L
Specialty occupations in fields requiring highly
specialized knowledge
Intra-company Transferees

The chart below provides an overview of temporary businessrelated
travel permitted on business visitor visas.
Purpose of Your Travel
About Your Temporary Visit
Business venture, investor seeking
investment
Conference, meeting, trade show or
business event attendee
Exposition or trade show employees
of foreign exhibitors at international
fairs (excludes government
representatives)
Lecturer or speaker
Survey potential sites for a business and/or to lease premises in
US. Cannot remain in US to manage business.
Will receive no salary or income from a U.S based
company/entity. For scientific, educational, professional or
business purposes.
Will receive no salary or income from a U.S based
company/entity. Will plan, assemble, dismantle, maintain, or
be employed in connection with exhibits at international fairs
or expositions.
No salary or income from a U.S. based company/entity, other
than expenses incidental to the visit.

The chart below is an overview of key groupings of temporary
business related travel permitted on business visitor visas.
Purpose of Your Travel
About Your Temporary Visit
Researcher
Sales/selling
Service engineer (Commercial,
Industrial)
Training
Independent research, no salary/income from a US based
source, or benefit to US institution.
Exhibition/taking orders/negotiating and signing contracts for
products, which must be produced outside the U.S.
Engineer(s) install, service or repair commercial or industrial
equipment or machinery sold by a non-US company to a U.S.
buyer, when specifically required by the purchase contract.
Installation cannot include construction work, except for
supervision or training of US workers to perform construction.
Participating in a training program that is not designed
primarily to provide employment. Will receive no payment or
income from a U.S. based company/entity, other than an
expense allowance or expense reimbursement related to
traveler’s stay.

The Treaty Trader (E-1) or Treaty Investor (E-2) visa is for a
national of a country with which the United States (U.S.)
maintains a treaty of commerce and navigation who is coming
to the U.S. to carry on substantial trade, including trade in
services or technology, principally between the U.S. and the
treaty country, or to develop and direct the operations of an
enterprise in which the national has invested, or is in the
process of investing a substantial amount of capital, under the
provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Treaty trader applicants must meet specific requirements to qualify for a
treaty trader (E-1) visa under immigration law. The consular officer will
determine whether a treaty trader applicant qualifies for a visa.
• The applicant must be a national of a treaty country.
• The trading firm for which the applicant is coming to the U. S. must have
the nationality of the treaty country.
• The international trade must be "substantial" in the sense that there is a
sizable and continuing volume of trade.
• The trade must be principally between the U.S. and the treaty country,
which is defined to mean that more than 50 percent of the international trade
involved must be between the U.S. and the country of the applicant's
nationality.
• Trade means the international exchange of goods, services, and technology.
Title of the trade items must pass from one party to the other.
• The applicant must be employed in a supervisory or executive capacity, or
possess highly specialized skills essential to the efficient operation of the firm.
Ordinary skilled or unskilled workers do not qualify.

Treaty investor applicants must meet specific requirements to qualify for a treaty
investor (E-2) visa under immigration law. The consular officer will determine whether a
treaty investor applicant qualifies for a visa.
• The investor, either a real or corporate person, must be a national of a treaty country.
• The investment must be substantial and sufficient to ensure the successful operation
of the enterprise.
• The investment must be a real operating enterprise. Speculative or idle investment
does not qualify.
• The investment may not be marginal. It must generate significantly more income
than just to provide a living to the investor and family, or it must have a significant
economic impact in the U.S.
• The investor must have control of the funds, and the investment must be at risk in the
commercial sense.
• The investor must be coming to the U.S. to develop and direct the enterprise. If the
applicant is not the principal investor, he or she must be employed in a supervisory,
executive, or highly specialized skill capacity. Ordinary skilled and unskilled workers do
not qualify.

There are several different types of H-visa sub-categories, but
the most common type of H-visa used by businesses to bring
workers to the U.S. is the H-1B.
The H-1B is for persons in a specialty occupation which requires
the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly
specialized knowledge requiring completion of a specific course
of higher education. This category requires a labor certification
from the U.S. Department of Labor and petition approval by the
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. The category is
numerically capped by law at 65,000 cases per year.

The L nonimmigrant classification enables a U.S. employer to
transfer an executive or manager or a professional employee
with specialized knowledge relating to the organization’s
interests from one of its affiliated foreign offices to one of its
offices in the United States. This classification also enables a
foreign company which does not yet have an affiliated U.S. office
to send an executive or manager to the United States with the
purpose of establishing one. The employer must file Form I-129,
Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, on behalf of the employee.

The U.S. Embassy and its Consulates all handle visa applications on an
appointment basis only. The visa process is summarized below:
Prepare all requisite documents and materials for the visa classification
needed.
Complete and submit the DS-160 online visa application form.
Pay the required visa fees and schedule your visa appointment at
http://canada.usvisa-info.com.
You may be required to send supporting documentation to the Embassy
or Consulate prior to your interview.
Appear at your interview at the appointed date and time. Please bring
with you a recent visa-sized photograph and any supporting
documentation necessary.

Prior to the applicant’s interview with the consular officer, staff
will intake any necessary documents and digital scans will be
taken of the applicant’s fingerprints. All nonimmigrant visa
applicants are interviewed by a U.S. consular officer.
During the interview, the consular officer will ask questions of
the applicant related to the visa category for which the
individual has applied. Applicants should have any necessary
supporting documents with them to provide to the officer, if
requested. Interviews generally take only a few minutes and
applicants are informed whether or not the visa has been
recommended for approval.

It generally takes a day or two after the visa interview for the
approved visas to be printed and placed in the applicant’s
passport. After the visa is printed it is turned over to
DHL/Loomis for delivery to the location selected by the
applicant when they scheduled their appointment. When the
passport is received at the delivery location an e-mail is sent to
the applicant advising that they can either pick up the passport
or make arrangements for home delivery for an additional fee.

The U.S. Embassy website at http://canada.usembassy.gov provides
visa information and links to the Consulates in Mission Canada.
The Department of State’s travel website at http://travel.state.gov
provides a wealth of information about U.S. visas and other travel
issues.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s website at
http://www.uscis.gov provides information about petition-based visa
categories.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection website at
http://www.cbp.gov details U.S. entry requirements and provides
helpful suggestions for an efficient and problem-free entry.

Scott Feeken
Nonimmigrant Visa Chief
U.S. Consulate General, Toronto
feekensg@state.gov