Time to get on a plane

So, you’ve decided to start doing business in the US, you’ve looked at locations for your US office, and maybe you’ve even incorporated an entity in the US. Now it’s time to start work, and it’s likely that you need to send someone to the US. Now you need some visas.

First things first, in most cases, the organizational work leading up to this point is likely ok “without a visa,” assuming you’re from one of the countries whose citizens are permitted to enter without a visa. Others will have completed that work on the B-1 visitor visa, but either way the requirements are the same. Individuals entering the US without a visa which permits work cannot do any work which primarily benefits a US company – they can enter for meetings and conferences, negotiate contracts, make sales, and sometimes even performing some limited services for US customers.

Any work for the US company, or which would arguably take away a job from a US worker, would require a visa which permits employment in the US. If you are looking to transfer an existing employee to the US, if you will be putting a significant amount of money at risk in the US, or if US trade already makes up a significant part of your international trading business, there are probably visas available to you.

Now, most businesses considering an entrée into the US market have one of the above, and can probably obtain the necessary visas. It’s critical to consider this at an early stage in the planning process, because a key employee can make the difference between success and failure in any market.

image from seoul.usembassy.gov