Can I travel to US on B1/B2 visa that was issued and stamped in India?

[yodheydhara]

Hi All,
I have recently moved to Canada and will be traveling to USA for about 2 weeks on business. I have a valid B1/B2 visa that was issued back in India in 2009, and this was sponsored by my employer at that time. Now, can I travel to the US on the same B1/B2 visa provided that it is going to be valid until 2019, even though it is for a different employer?

I can get the letter from my customer or employer indicating the purpose of my visit.

Appreciate your inputs here..

 

[dks2323]

Hi All,
I have recently moved to Canada and will be traveling to USA for about 2 weeks on business. I have a valid B1/B2 visa that was issued back in India in 2009, and this was sponsored by my employer at that time. Now, can I travel to the US on the same B1/B2 visa provided that it is going to be valid until 2019, even though it is for a different employer?

I can get the letter from my customer or employer indicating the purpose of my visit.

Appreciate your inputs here..

Yes you can....My wife had her B1/B2 that her employer filed in 2007 and we always used to think that visitor B1/B2 is different than the B1/B2 of an employer until we actually took a chance in 2015 and went to US with her employer B1/B2.
Guess what, we entered without any issue....so B1/B2 is a B1/B2, no matter if someone filed it for you or you got it on your own....

So my guess is that they just need a B1/B2 stamp if you tell them that you are going as a visitor or on a business trip...

 

[yodheydhara]

Yes you can....My wife had her B1/B2 that her employer filed in 2007 and we always used to think that visitor B1/B2 is different than the B1/B2 of an employer until we actually took a chance in 2015 and went to US with her employer B1/B2.
Guess what, we entered without any issue....so B1/B2 is a B1/B2, no matter if someone filed it for you or you got it on your own....

So my guess is that they just need a B1/B2 stamp if you tell them that you are going as a visitor or on a business trip...

Oh that is perfect!! Thank you so much dks!

 

[dks2323]

Oh that is perfect!! Thank you so much dks!

And just to be sure if you read about this visa...it says that it is individual specific visa and not company specific...

 

[yodheydhara]

And just to be sure if you read about this visa...it says that it is individual specific visa and not company specific...

Yes. So l believe I am all good to go then! Thanks buddy!

 

[yodheydhara]

Hi guys,
It is actually the time that I will be traveling to the US on the B1/B2 visa that I had mentioned in this post. Few more points that I wanted to get your inputs on are:
1) The B1/B2 visa was issued on my old passport. Now, my old passport was canceled when I renewed my passport. I believe all the visas in this old, canceled passport are still valid until their expiry date or they have been explicitly marked as canceled. Is my understanding correct?
2) Does the B1/B2 visa get automatically canceled when H1B visa is issued? I heard some time back that its not always the case. Usually they just stamp / mark the old visa in the passport as canceled. However, in my case there are no such markings on the B1/B2 visa itself. Additionally, my H1B visa was renewed twice. In that case too, they didnt stamp or mark the older expired H1B visas as invalid. Thats the reason I got a little confused as to whether my B1/B2 visa, which, as per the expiry date mentioned in the passport (March 2019), is still valid, is really valid or not.
3) Is there any way we can check the validity of our US visa? I tried looking up on the US Embassy website and tried calling them. Couldnt find a way.


Appreciate your inputs here guys!

 

[Kuchbhi]

Hi guys,
It is actually the time that I will be traveling to the US on the B1/B2 visa that I had mentioned in this post. Few more points that I wanted to get your inputs on are:
1) The B1/B2 visa was issued on my old passport. Now, my old passport was canceled when I renewed my passport. I believe all the visas in this old, canceled passport are still valid until their expiry date or they have been explicitly marked as canceled. Is my understanding correct? I remember reading online on US Travel docs India website that in such a case B1/B2 will remain valid.
2) Does the B1/B2 visa get automatically canceled when H1B visa is issued? I heard some time back that its not always the case. Usually they just stamp / mark the old visa in the passport as canceled. However, in my case there are no such markings on the B1/B2 visa itself. Additionally, my H1B visa was renewed twice. In that case too, they didnt stamp or mark the older expired H1B visas as invalid. Thats the reason I got a little confused as to whether my B1/B2 visa, which, as per the expiry date mentioned in the passport (March 2019), is still valid, is really valid or not. Your H1B ha no bearing on your B1/B2 if your B1/B2 doesn't carry a cancel stamp. One of my friend had B1/B2 and then got his H1B stamp. His B1/B2 is still valid. My sister has B1/B2 and then she got F1 stamped - it didn't affect her B1/B2
3) Is there any way we can check the validity of our US visa? I tried looking up on the US Embassy website and tried calling them. Couldnt find a way.
Not that I know of

Appreciate your inputs here guys!

 

[Kuchbhi]

Little off topic. I have F1 and H1B stamped on my passport. My wife has F2, and H4 stamped on her passport. She is currently on F1 but it's not stamped as we did her COS H4 to F1. We are wondering if we can get B1/B2 stamped from Canada since we have got Canadian PR now? Having B1/B2 stamped from Canada will allow me to go early to Canada stay maybe 2 months and then come back to US to move our stuff.

Has anyone got B1/B2 stamped from Canada?

 

[Kuchbhi]

Hi All,
I have recently moved to Canada and will be traveling to USA for about 2 weeks on business. I have a valid B1/B2 visa that was issued back in India in 2009, and this was sponsored by my employer at that time. Now, can I travel to the US on the same B1/B2 visa provided that it is going to be valid until 2019, even though it is for a different employer?

I can get the letter from my customer or employer indicating the purpose of my visit.

Appreciate your inputs here..

B1/B2 has nothing to do with employer. Your employer may have paid the DS 160 fees but B1/B2 visa was issued to you. Feel free to visit US and leave in less then 6months of your entry without any issues.

 

[DEEPCUR]

1) I have traveled using valid visa in a old passport. No issues. They'll put entry stamp in the new passport. That's it.

 

[yodheydhara]

Thanks buddy, this is really helpful!

 

[yodheydhara]

Little off topic. I have F1 and H1B stamped on my passport. My wife has F2, and H4 stamped on her passport. She is currently on F1 but it's not stamped as we did her COS H4 to F1. We are wondering if we can get B1/B2 stamped from Canada since we have got Canadian PR now? Having B1/B2 stamped from Canada will allow me to go early to Canada stay maybe 2 months and then come back to US to move our stuff.

Has anyone got B1/B2 stamped from Canada?

One of my friends got their H1B stamped here in Ottawa. I dont think it should be any different for B1/B2. You can apply from Canada once you in Canada (this might be a dumb point but I didnt assume you will be in Canada while applying ) I think as long as you can establish the fact that you are only there for a visit, I believe it should be fine.

 

[Vinkum]

I am an Indian citizen with B1B2 visa stamped thru past employer on my Indian passport, this is my first time visit to US(Visit my sister)via Canada, as Now I am a Canadian PR now. Will there be a problem entering and what sort of questions will be asked at Toronto airport, as tats my port of entry.

Frequent travellers, please suggest

 

[lampbreaker]

Nothing big, purpose of visit, duration, address etc.

 

[gir_8]

Hi guys, I too have B1/ B2 US visa valid till the expiry of my passport. And now I am PR of Canada. My question is - do I have to visit local US embassy in Canada or I can directly go to US port of entry? My purpose of visit would be business.

Thanks