'Business' trip

[IanIan]

Hi,

I'm from the UK and so can visit the USA on the Visa Waiver Program. I understand that the purpose of a visit can be for business or vacation.

My question is, what is the extent of the 'business' that one can undertake whilst visiting?

Am I allowed to work on my laptop for my company back home? Can I try and gain contracts from US companies to be completed back home? Can I get a contract from a US company and complete the work in the US? Do I have to have already arranged meetings etc. with contacts before I arrive?

Cheers,

I.

 

[IanIan]

Hey, thanks for your reply.

Am I allowed to work on my laptop for my company back home? Can I try and gain contracts from US companies to be completed back home?

That are the classical things a B1 visa or B1 visa waiver is good for.

So more informally, if I were to turn up at US immigration where there was a scary border guy barking orders to stay behind the line, he'd be happy for me to enter if I were to say,

'I'm going to rent an apartment in LA for 3 months, hang out on the beach and do some work on my laptop for a company back home in order to keep the funds flowing.'

Assuming this is good, then what surprises me is that else where on this forum people are being told that its not where the company is but where one does the work that counts. So why would I be allowed to work in the US for a company in the UK in the above case? Is it because I'd have to go home in 3 months?

In addition, does the business I conduct in the US have to have some relevance to the US? Or, in other words, if I could just as easily do the work on my laptop in the UK, is it still valid to do the work in the US?

Finally, is it ok to try to get a legitimate job in the US whilst on such a trip? Can I hand my resume out? I'm sure I've read on a landing card that I must promise not to try to gain employment during my trip.

Thanks again, Ian.