classic12

Background as follows:

We have a successful UK company with 2 products that we sell in the UK and wish to start selling in the US.

I have also signed up a USA company to distribute a new product (url removed). Sales forecasts in excess of 150,000 in first 9 months.

I have just secured a US exclusive distribution deal for a new world beating disinfectant product.

By chance we also found a US company that has a new paint finish that will give us a market lead on the Podsta product.

The final icing on the cake we have had word that we have won (or about to win) a legal battle with the VAT office.

So with all this in mind we have decided to apply for a B1/B2 extension for Myself , wife and son (20) from 3 months to 6 months. I rang the embassy helpline and this is what they advised.

The reason being part holiday and to arrange business meetings and develop all the marketing / web based stuff needed to get all these things of the ground.

I drive the show, my wife is the PA appointments, following up in the UK, my son does all the graphic and web requirements. etc etc. The UK office is run by my sister and husband and 4 other staff. We have complete remote control of every aspect of the business so myself, wife and son can still process there workload from anywhere with internet access.

So we work out that we don't want to apply for work permits etc until a lot of the above is in place. As with most new business nothing is proven until the fat lady sings.

My wife and I already have a valid ESTA from previous visit.

So we pay over $400 for application fees, an expensive night in london and attend the appointment. The interviewer did not want to see our business plan and asked why all the family needed to go. I explained that we needed to ensure all (or part of) the business plan needed to happen and then we would apply for work permits if we actually decided to move to the US.

After some abrupt conversations he came back and said you have applied for the wrong visa and that we needed an E2 and we did not have 'home ties' etc etc.

I explained that I was not needing an E2 visa but simply extending the 90 visitor / business visa as advised by their telephone staff.

He simply passed a piece of paper stamped stating we had been refused.

Later that day we attended a attorneys office (by chance they had a free appointment) with a view to discussing our E2 or L1 (costs , time scales etc).
She informed us that as we had been refused we had to re-apply for the ESTA again. Even though we already had ours in place I got home and did the honest thing and re-applied stating we had been refused.

The result was I got mine but my Wife and Son were refused. We are not criminals, we pay taxes (lots) my son has worked since leaving school, my wife has always worked and I have always worked for myself for 30 years and never claimed anything from the state.

I am at a loss to what has gone on here. If they thought we would not be coming back (ie no home ties) we would have just booked a 2 weeks holiday and hidden away somewhere. We don't need a 3 month extension to get into the country and didn't need to spend all the money time and effort to make the application.

There does not seem to be any recourse or appeals procedure so I would appreciate any help for this matter.


Yours depressingly


SteveW
:curse:

meauxna

Well Steve, you're getting an education!

I'm not sure what help you would like; there is, as you note, no recourse or appeal to that decision. As with the business world, it's often best to get that legal advice before you pull the trigger, not after. An attorney (or the research) would have let you know how you could strengthen your B visa application if you insisted on making it, or told you how to accomplish your objective in 90 days or less.

You simply don't need to be inside the US for 6 months to do what you wanted to do. That is IF the activities you proposed fall under B visa guidelines in the first place.

Consult with your lawyer. You go out to the US on the VWP, get a look at things and report back to the rest of the family. They can re-check on ESTA in a while and see if they get cleared, but it's likely they will not.

Bob

Sounds like they thought you were probably doing more than you were allowed to do on the B1/2 and considered it more work, the graphics and marketing plan for instance.

Hindsight and all that, but a good lawyer probably would have helped you out a lot before hand, can still do now, but probably more hassles.

And B1/2 does often get a 6 month stamp at POE, any particular reason they only gave you 3 months? Might as well have just entered on the VWP for 90 days if you only intended on staying 3 months.

ian-mstm

With respect, I believe this is where your train derailed. Your premise was incorrect on 3 points: 1) most likely you were not actually talking to someone at the Embassy, but with a 3rd-party contractor at their data center in Scotland; 2) that the people at the Embassy are actually there to help you; and 3) that the people at the Embassy know anything about immigration regulations.

Everything that follows seems to have been based on the assumption that you were told correct information. The US Supreme Court has consistently upheld the notion that you can not rely on, as accurate, any information told to you by a government employee. As Meauxna says, it's been an education for you! Sorry.

Ian

crg

Since he mentions ESTA, and 3 months, perhaps he doesn't have a B1/B2 visa. In that case, there is no extension. Junior can't hang out in the US doing web pages. That's just the most glaring issue here.

scrubbedexpat099

I would agree with the Consulate, you applied for the wrong visa.

The activities you describe are outside the VWP or B Visa categories.

md95065

If you said that, or something similar, during your interview that alone would probably have been enough to pretty much guarantee that you would not get a B visa.

While it may be possible for you and your family to run your UK business remotely that doesn't mean that it is something that you are allowed to do while visiting the US on a B visa.