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I always thought that a "tourist" visa allows you to do "work" for your non-US company, it just prevents you to from "working" for a US company, or being paid b
by Kurtz79 7y ago
I always thought that a "tourist" visa allows you to do "work" for your non-US company, it just prevents you to from "working" for a US company, or being paid by a US company for work done during your visit.
I entered the US dozens of times on an ESTA for work reasons, I always declare I'm there for "business", offering detail if needed, and never had any issue.
- ggm 7y agoYes. I too have done this before I got my APEC. But somehow, journalism is treated differently. They get turned round by CBP.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- ajdlinux 7y agoAs you'll find if you dig into visa regulations in many countries, the definition of "business" (activities usually permitted on business visas or visa waiver programs) is typically a lot more detailed than just whether the company paying you is in or out of the jurisdiction. For example, in the US case, check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_visa#Acceptable_and_prohibited_uses_of_a_B-1_or_B-2_visa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_visa#Acceptable_and_prohibit.... The rules for B visas apply to ESTA as well. Journalism is explicitly prohibited on B visas. This is why my employer's internal immigration processes, even for short-term visits like conferences or whatever, present you with a comprehensive list of different categories of activity you might be undertaking to determine whether you need a work permit or not. It's annoying, and our internal immigration systems are very, very much imperfect, but I can see how it came to be.
- Kurtz79 7y agoThat's great information, thanks. To be honest, the range of activities allowed it's fairly reasonable.