Visa Application Process for BPO Workers for Training Visas in the United States
by Ronald A. Nair, Esq., Attorney at Law

Over the years multinational companies have used the B-1/2 business visa as a tool to allow their overseas employees to come to the United States for a short period of time for purposes that include the following:

With the outsourcing of many US service jobs, there is call for US companies to bring to the USA various overseas employees for training, meeting clients, and attending conferences. Indeed, the more sophisticated a company’s call center becomes, in terms of levels of work, the greater the need to bring the actual help desk people over to the USA for training, consultations, and meeting clients.

There are TWO types of B-1/2 visa, one known as a Visa Waiver where a foreign citizen can come to USA for 90 days in total, and the second type, the regular B-1 visa where one can come for periods of 180 days that can, in theory, be extended indefinitely. The B-1/2 Visa Waiver is where a candidate is not required to have a visa interview; the foreign traveler can simply board an aircraft, fly to the USA with round-trip ticket and remain in the USA for up to 90 days. The visa waiver is reserved for citizens of only 25 countries, among which are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

The Visa Waiver has been useful for foreign workers of US firms to come to the USA from those Visa Waiver-approved countries. However, with the age of the internet, more highly-skilled sophisticated jobs are going to Non-Visa Waiver countries where one needs to apply at the US Embassy for a B-1/2 Visa. For instance, citizens from India and the Philippines are NOT eligible for this type of visa.

When applying for a regular B-1/2 visa a US Embassy, the US Embassy has broad discretion to either approve or deny it. US Immigration law states that the US Embassy in question must deny the visa application unless applicant can prove that he or she will return to his/her home country. On the whole, the US embassy rejects 50% of the applicants for B-1 Visas.

Please note that one needs the evidence such as invitation letter from the US counterpart company with which the applicant is going to conduct business, Letter from the applicant’s employer, business license and other financial documentation.

Tips on how to present a solid B-1/2 case for Business Visitor at the US Embassy:

A B-1/2 candidate must document that his/her visit to the USA is only temporary, and they have a good job to return to, have residence in their country, and have no logical reason to stay in the USA. A B-1/2 visitor must be on the foreign company’s payroll and receive only reimbursement of expenses. It is strongly recommended that one takes the time to document the ties back in Philippines in terms of having a good job or living situation to return to. Given the enormous wage differential between a place like the Philippines and USA where US worker at McDonalds can in theory make more money than a manager in the Philippines, one needs to show the quality of life in the Philippines to be better.

A solid B-1/2 case is one coming to the USA for data collection purposes only, who then does the primary work back in the Philippines. Think of the example of a tailor. The tailor can come to the USA to take measurements of potential clients, but he or she cannot do the actual work of sewing the suits in the USA. The actual work must be done overseas. If any of the sewing is done in the USA, then the visa held by the tailor has to be H-1B1 or L-1B authorized. If one is going to come for training or a conference, show a letter of invitation as well as a document on how the expenses of the employee would be paid.

Please be advised that more your trip to the USA is of a technical or scientific nature to learn about a certain US technology or scientific method for the visa applicant to further work on his/her home country, the more likely that the visa applicant will be subject to a Security Advisory Opinion [SAO] as ordered by the US Embassy. SAO could consist of

• Condor Security Check: Counter Terrorism
• Mantis: Technology Transfer issues involving technologies/scientific methods that can be used both for military weapons and civilian use.
• Eagle Check: Name Check
• NCIC Checks: National Crime Information Center, FBI managed database of local law enforcement. It lists almost all law enforcement actions. DOS has taken this into class name check and run against NCIC data base.

A Mantis Technology Transfer check can happen IF a visa candidate will be learning about a certain American technology on its Technology Alert list. Various computer, laser, and information security technologies are on this Technology Alert List as well as Chemical, Biotechnology and Biomedical Engineering technologies with dual for both military and civilian use. A Mantis Technology Transfer Check could take weeks or even months, as the Department of State checks with the Department of Commerce’s Export Control Division to get permission to issue the Visa Candidate a visa.

Thus, it is recommended that although one must always be honest and tell the truth, do NOT show off nor exaggerate too much of your technical background because you could be subject for an SAO.

Please note if you are a B-1/2 candidate fortunate enough to receive a B-1/2 visa, US Immigration at American airports can STILL exclude a B-1 visitor even if US immigration has evidence that the person with the B-1 is going to do the work and produce the actual product on US soil. This is the reason that one hears stories of a professional going through a fairly rigorous interview at the US port of entry after a long 14 hour flight from Asia.

Sample Interview Questions:

Question:

What is the purpose of your visit in the USA?

Answer:

The purpose of my visit is data collection work where I will be attending seminars at the corporate offices and meeting with clients/senior managers to assess the needs how our operations in the Philippines could improved, and implementing those changes BACK in the Philippines.

Question:

Why will you return back to the Philippines? You can make more money working in the USA?

Answer:

I have an excellent job back in the Philippines with good career prospects. Many US companies are relocating very good back office jobs to the Philippines, and thus I would not be able to find a similar challenging job in the USA making a comparable wage. I would be struggling financially. In addition, I have a comfortable life in the Philippines with all types of help from my family.

The next article will be on the various exchange programs such as H-3 and J-1.