US visitor visas and ESTA: what B-1, B-2 and the Visa Waiver Program allow

Who are visitor visas for?

Visitor visas are for people entering the United States temporarily for business (B-1), for pleasure (B-2) or for both (B-1/B-2). The State Department's Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM), which guides consular officers, says the officer must assess whether the applicant:

• Has a residence in a foreign country that they do not intend to abandon.
• Intends to enter for a period of specifically limited duration.
• Seeks admission only to engage in legitimate business or pleasure activities.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.2-2 and 402.2-3

What happens if those points are not shown?

An applicant who fails any of these is refused under section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. An applicant cannot overcome doubts about returning home by offering to leave a spouse or child behind. "Temporary" has no fixed length: the FAM says the stay must have a finite limit, match the purpose of the trip, and be backed by specific, realistic plans for the whole visit.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.2-2 and 402.2-3

What can a B-1 business visitor do?

The FAM lists activities that fit B-1, if the applicant is otherwise eligible:

• Commercial transactions that do not involve gainful employment in the United States, such as a merchant taking orders for goods manufactured abroad.
• Negotiating contracts.
• Consulting with business associates.
• Litigating.
• Taking part in scientific, educational, professional or business conventions, conferences or seminars.
• Undertaking independent research.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.2-5(A)–(C)

Where is the line between business and work?

The FAM describes the line using a Board of Immigration Appeals decision, Matter of Hira: a tailor measuring customers in the United States for suits made and shipped from abroad was an appropriate B-1 activity, because the principal place of business and the profits were abroad. Most B-1 examples are incidental to work done mainly abroad.

The regulation also says people coming to do building or construction work cannot be B-1 visitors, though a qualified B-1 visitor may come to supervise or train others doing that work.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.2-5(A)–(C); 8 CFR 214.2(b)(1), (3) and (5)

What does a B-2 visit cover?

B-2 covers tourism and social visits to relatives or friends. It also covers medical treatment: the consular officer must be satisfied that a US medical practitioner has agreed to treat the applicant and that the applicant has lawful means to pay for treatment, travel and living costs. B-2 also covers attending social or religious conventions and a short recreational course that is incidental to a visit.

B-2 does not cover travel mainly to obtain US citizenship for a child by giving birth in the United States. If the officer has reason to believe an applicant will give birth during the stay, the FAM presumes that is the primary purpose, and the applicant can overcome the presumption only by showing a different primary purpose.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.2-4(A)

What can visitors not do?

The statutory B definition excludes coming to perform skilled or unskilled labor, and the FAM says a B-1 visa is not appropriate for someone who intends to obtain and engage in employment in the United States. The applicant's arrangements for paying for the visit must be enough to prevent them from obtaining unlawful employment, and a visitor visa must be denied where the officer has reason to believe the applicant will engage in unlawful activity while in the United States.

Visitors also cannot enroll in a course of study. Under 8 CFR 214.2(b)(7), a B-1 or B-2 visitor who enrolls in a course of study violates their status. To study, they must either get an F-1 or M-1 visa from a consular officer abroad and seek readmission, or obtain a change of status from USCIS, and they may not enroll until that happens.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.2-5(A)–(C); 9 FAM 402.2-2 and 402.2-3; 8 CFR 214.2(b)(7)

Can a visitor start a business or look for an investment?

Exploring is different from doing. The FAM says seeking an investment in the United States, including one that could later support E-2 investor status, does not by itself make someone ineligible for a B visa, and a prospective EB-5 investor may visit to examine or monitor possible investments. But anyone in B status, investors included, is barred from performing productive labor or actively participating in managing the business while in the United States.

Running the business, working in it or taking a US job therefore needs a classification that authorizes that activity.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.2-5(C)(7)

Visa Waiver Program and ESTA, or a B visa?

The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) lets citizens of designated countries visit without a visa. DHS keeps the list of designated countries. The regulations treat VWP travelers as visitors, with extra requirements in section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and 8 CFR part 217. A VWP traveler must:

• Hold a valid, unexpired passport issued by a designated country.
• Receive a travel authorization through ESTA (the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, run by CBP) before boarding a carrier to the United States, or before applying for admission at a land border.
• If arriving by air or sea, arrive on a carrier that has signed a VWP agreement, with a return or onward ticket.
• If arriving by land, show a CBP officer evidence of financial solvency and a home abroad they intend to return to.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.2(b)(1), (3) and (5); 8 CFR 217.2; 8 CFR 217.5

What an ESTA does and does not do

An ESTA is permission to travel and to apply for admission under the VWP. It is not a decision that the traveler is admissible: CBP decides that only after inspecting the traveler at a port of entry. An ESTA is generally valid for two years, or until the passport expires if sooner. A new ESTA is needed after a new passport, a change of name, gender or citizenship, or a change in the answer to any yes-or-no eligibility question. DHS can revoke an ESTA at its discretion.

A denied ESTA is not a finding that the person is ineligible for a visa; they can still apply to a US consular officer. People deported or removed after being found deportable cannot be admitted under the VWP, even with consent to reapply, and must get a visa unless otherwise exempt.

A B visa is applied for at a US embassy or consulate. The FAM refers to the DS-160 application form and the visa interview. A consular officer issues the visa; it is a travel document, not status.

Sources: 8 CFR 217.5; 8 CFR 217.2; 9 FAM 402.2-4(A)

How long can a visitor stay?

Under 8 CFR 214.2(b), a B-1 or B-2 visitor may be admitted for not more than one year and may be granted extensions in steps of not more than six months. A B-2 visitor who is admissible and issued a Form I-94 (the arrival record that shows the authorized stay) is admitted for at least six months, even if they ask for less, with exceptions only by specific decision in individual cases. The visa itself does not set the length of the stay; the admission does.

The maximum VWP stay is set by the statute, which was not among the sources checked for this guide. Check CBP's official VWP information before relying on a length of stay.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.2(b)(1), (3) and (5); 8 CFR 214.2(b)(2)

Fees, as of 19 October 2026

An ESTA application carries a fee per traveler. Fees can change by statute before the regulation text is updated, so check the current amount on the official ESTA application before paying. A VWP traveler arriving by land also pays a fee for Form I-94W.

B visa fees were not among the sources checked, so no amount is given here. For a combined B-1/B-2 visa where the reciprocity fees differ, the higher fee is collected. These are government fees; any third-party costs are separate.

Sources: 8 CFR 217.5; 8 CFR 217.2; 9 FAM 402.2-4(B)(5) and 402.2-6(A)

Timing

An ESTA must be received before boarding. Visa appointment and processing times vary by post and nobody controls them. The FAM tells consular officers to expedite, where appropriate, visitor visa applications for urgent business travelers and for emergent or humanitarian travel.

Sources: 8 CFR 217.5; 9 FAM 402.2-2 and 402.2-3

Family members

The FAM lists only three B categories (B-1, B-2 and B-1/B-2), with no separate dependant category, and each VWP traveler, including each child, needs their own ESTA. The FAM also uses B-2 for household members of someone in long-term nonimmigrant status who cannot get derivative status, such as a cohabiting partner or an elderly parent of a temporary worker or student. Those staying more than six months can ask DHS for a one-year stay at admission, and may later apply to USCIS for extensions of up to six months at a time.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.2-4(B)(5) and 402.2-6(A); 9 FAM 402.2-2 and 402.2-3; 8 CFR 217.5

Common problems

• Treating an ESTA or a visa as admission. CBP still decides admission at the port of entry.
• Starting a job, or starting to run a business you invested in, during a visit. B status does not allow productive labor or active management.
• Enrolling in classes. Study beyond a short recreational course needs F-1 or M-1 status first.
• Traveling on an old ESTA after getting a new passport. A new passport needs a new ESTA.

Sources: 8 CFR 217.5; 9 FAM 402.2-5(C)(7); 8 CFR 214.2(b)(7)

How Visa Trouble can help

We can point you to official information, but we don’t assess or prepare visitor visa and ESTA applications. Free route discovery at Visa Trouble can show routes worth comparing if your plans go beyond this one. Visa Trouble is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.