Argentinian contractor denied B1/B2 visa to attend an event in US. Here are 2 big mistakes they may have made

An Argentinian declarer has revealed that they were denied a B1/B2 visa because officials simply misunderstood their intention to go to the United States. While the individual only wanted to go to the US to attend an event, officials thought they were planning to go to work.

The contractor opened up about the incident on Reddit, asking for suggestions on how to proceed after the incident. “Hi, I’m looking for some help with an issue I had when applying for a US visa as a contractor from Argentina,” they wrote.

“I work for a US company as an external consultant, and I was invited to attend an event (OKTANE). My B1/B2 visa had expired, so I went to renew it. I brought to the appointment my work contract, an invitation letter from my company, an invitation letter from the event organizer, and other documents to prove my ties to Argentina. Unfortunately, my visa was denied because they misunderstood and thought I was going there to work (I’m only attending the event, not presenting or anything). They gave me the 214(b) form saying I was applying for the wrong visa and that I should talk to my employer and apply for a work visa instead.”

The questions the officials asked the contractor were:

While the contractor believes that telling officials the company they worked for is paying for the trip was one mistake they made, the person said they were told at work that he made another big mistake: he should have never used the word “work.” The person wrote, “At work, they confirmed that a work visa doesn’t apply to my case. They told me I should just try again, and never use the word “work”, always say that I’m an external consultant providing services from Argentina. I want to reapply, but I’m very concerned that the short time between applications might work against me. I’m also not sure how to answer if they ask, “What has changed since your last application?”, “Why were you denied before?”, or “Why are you reapplying so soon?”.”

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The contractor then asked several questions: “how should I answer the question about who is paying for the trip if, in this case, it’s the company? Also, how should I answer the rest of the questions about my job so it makes sense with the fact that I’m an external consultant? I’ve seen many different answers online to these questions, but there are so many variations that it leaves me more confused than before. If anyone has had a similar experience and can shed some light, it would help me a lot.”

Users on Reddit gave the person some suggestions. “Any work where the employer is American and the money is coming from American source means you’re working in the US on a tourist visa (and taking a job from an American). If you’re still being paid by the American company, but your on the foreign branch’s payroll, then they might not consider it work,” one user wrote.

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“Are you charging them for the hours you will spend attending the conference? That’s work if you’re a contractor,” a user asked. The contractor replied, “No, I'm not charging them, it's an invitation to an event that could provide me training for the service I provide to the company.”

A B1/B2 visa is a non-immigrant visa that the US issues for temporary stays. It allows people to enter the US for business (B1) or tourism/recreation/medical treatment (B2) purposes. The visas, often combined as B1/B2, are valid for up to 10 years. However, the permitted stay is generally limited to a maximum of six months per visit.

While a person may be denied a B1/B2 visa for various reasons, the most common one is the consular officer's belief that the applicant may want to immigrate to the US instead of returning to their home country. Among other reasons are insufficient documentation or misrepresentation.

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