hungryhorace

I think there's your answer...

OR

You can also extend the B-1 with supporting documentation from your employer (a formal letter will suffice).

crg

The B1 only allows incidental tourism. The primary purpose of entry must be B1. Even with a combination B1/B2, an I-539 would likely take too long to approve. The change of activities can't happen until the I-539 is approved and that can take months.

If it ends up as a VWP/ESTA trip, the I-539 is off the table anyway. It's possible to use VWP/ESTA, and then depart/reenter as a B1, but be prepared to prove what you are doing. I suspect the B1 is for a UN internship or similar because B1 internships are quite limited. J1 is the more common category for internships.

chabougnot

Actually, I have a B1 visa because I'll be doing a voluntary service program (volunteering program) which comes under the B1 status only.

Taking all your answers into account, I think filing the form I-.. wouldn't be a very good idea in my case - it even seems to be doomed to fail since B1 doesn't support touristic activities.

Then I guess I'll be flying out of the US and come back straight away. Do you guys think I should rather go a Canadian airport because of the present immigration issues between the US and Mexico ?

Thank you very much! That's very helpful.

hungryhorace

Are you talking land or air crossing?

If air, I would go to Mexico. It's cheaper potentially, and CBP aren't stationed in Mexican airports, at least allowing you to present yourself at the POE for entry, whereas in Canada they could simply refuse you on Canadian soil.

chabougnot

Air crossing. Alright, thanks! It's good actually because it's very easy for French citizens to fly to Mexico (no special documents are required) whereas I don't really know for Canada ; and much cheaper too.

I really want to take my tickets now because I've been waiting quite a while to make sure what I planned to do was legal : going to California for 2 weeks on an ESTA, move to Monterrey airport, move back to Austin (where my internship is) with my visa.

Crg, what do you mean by I should be "prepared to prove what I'm doing", beside the flight tickets and my internship papers do you think they'll ask for other things?

hungryhorace

Canada requires electronic travel approval (eTA - Electronic Travel Authorisation) for all citizens other than US and their own. So, Mexico is all round simpler for you.

crg

That should do the trick. It's essentially the same documentation used to obtain the visa. The visa is only a document that allows the traveler to seek entry, admissibility is decided at the border. If it's a voluntary service program, then call it that. An internship is very different in the eyes of US Immigration & Nationality Act.

Here's some information from the DOS FAM:

9 FAM 402.2-5(C)(2) (U) Participants in Voluntary Service Programs
(CT:VISA-193; 09-28-2016)
a. (U) Aliens participating in a voluntary service program benefiting U.S. local communities, who establish that they are members of, and have a commitment to, a particular recognized religious or nonprofit charitable organization. No salary or remuneration should be paid from a U.S. source, other than an allowance or other reimbursement for expenses incidental to the volunteers’ stay in the United States.
b. (U) A “voluntary service program” is an organized project conducted by a recognized religious or nonprofit charitable organization to assist the poor or the needy or to further a religious or charitable cause. The program may not, however, involve the selling of articles and/or the solicitation and acceptance of donations. The burden that the voluntary program meets the DHS definition of “voluntary service program” is placed upon the recognized religious or nonprofit charitable organization, which must also meet other criteria set out in the DHS Operating Instructions with regard to voluntary workers.
c. (U) You must assure that the written statement issued by the sponsoring organization is attached to the passport containing the visa for presentation to the DHS officer at the port of entry. The written statement will be furnished by the alien participating in a service program sponsored by the religious or nonprofit charitable organization and must contain DHS required information such as the:
· (U) Volunteer’s name and date and place of birth;
· (U) Volunteer’s foreign permanent residence address;
· (U) Name and address of initial destination in the United States; and
· (U) Volunteer’s anticipated duration of assignment.