The official answer to this question is “absolutely not”.   But, like the discussion last week, it is really not so clear cut.   If you are on a B visa, you cannot come to the U.S., get a job, and start getting paid.   However, there are other scenarios where “work” in some form or another can sometimes occur.

I have already discussed a minister coming to the US for an “evangelical” tour under which he is able to receive payment from collections to cover his expenses.   This is not “work”, but he is receiving some money for his service.

A person can come to the US to participate in business or educational seminars.   Can he get an honorarium if he presents?  To be honest, I don’t know.  I think it probably happens frequently.   This is similar to the situation with a minister coming to the US for an evangelical tour and who is supported by offerings along the way, but the right to receive an honorarium is not specifically spelled out in the regulations,,

A person can come to the US to paint or to record a song or to measure a client for a suit or things like that, but the paintings and songs normally should be sold abroad, and the suit should be made abroad and paid for abroad (and then can be shipped to the US purchaser).

A person can come to the US to investigate an investment opportunity or to meet with potential clients or business partners or to repair equipment sold to an American by a foreign company.   They can come to the US to observe a business so that they can learn how to do it in their home country.   They can come to the US for a short time on behalf of a parent foreign company to work in the US at a foreign-owned company to do things like provide guidance to the US company.   In all of these cases, the B visitor is here temporarily, being paid by a foreign company to perform services on behalf of the foreign company.

In general, the line seems to be that a person cannot be earning his wages from a US source or producing things to be sold in America — unless it is something temporary and specific like receiving offerings to defray the cost of travel during an evangelical tour.    Doing occasional jobs for Americans for pay —- construction, shoveling snow, raking leaves, fixing cars, etc, for money is working for Americans, even if it is just “one time” type work, and is not allowable for someone on a B visa.

One thing that I am doubtful about is when a person is here on a B visa and works on-line for an employer in his home country.   I think that no one would complain if a person is here on vacation, and goes on line to perform a quick service for his foreign employer.   It gets more murky if the person is here on an extended B visa — perhaps for several months, and he regularly gets on line and works for an employer at home (or, perhaps, is self-employed but sells his on-line product in his foreign home country).  I think that if a Border Guard knows that he is doing this, I think that the Border Guard would not allow the person in — after all, he is working, and he is in the US.    However, I am not certain that this is in violation of the statute.  The person is not working for a US company, he is not keeping a US worker from getting a job here, his work product is being sold in another country, and he is being paid in another country.   This is a case where technology has passed the intended scope of the law.   However, if you do something like this, you need to know that it might not be found to be acceptable.

I hope this is interesting and helpful.   Remember that this is not legal advice.  It is just a summary of certain aspects of immigration law which may or may not apply to your situation.   I encourage you to consulate an attorney if you think any of this may apply to your situation.

I can answer this with a resounding “Yes!” and “No!”.   First off, I would say that every attorney has his own opinion, and, doubtless, many would disagree with me.   But, here is my opinion.

You cannot work in the US on a B visa.   If you are here raising support for yourself, it wouldn’t take much for a CBP (Customs and Border Protection) officer to conclude that you are working here.  After all, you are going around, asking people for money because of your m-ssionary service, and you are living on that money (or you will be living on that money when you return to your home out of the states).   This especially looks bad if you have a website with a US address where people can contribute money.   Even if you aren’t raising money while you are in the US, the existence of the website and the US address can make the CBP conclude that you are working here — the CPB are known to do web searches while you are sitting in secondary inspection to see if they can find evidence that you are “working” here in the US.    So, it is my advice that you don’t fundraise here in the US.

However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t fundraise.   You just need to be smart (and legal) about it.  As we discussed last week, you are allowed to come on an evangelistic tour.   You can come and share about your m-ssion work abroad.   And, chances are, you are associated with some organization here or abroad.   You are allowed to share about that m-ssion organization and its financial needs.   You also can share about your financial needs — after all, it is part of your m-ssion organization’s responsibilities to care for its m-ssionaries.   The ch-rch where you are speaking is free to provide support directly to your m-ssion organization.   And your m-ssion organization is free to use its money to pay its m-ssionaries, including you.

What I have just described is called deputized fundraising.   It is a method recognized by the IRS to allow people to support m-ssionaries, but still be able to get the tax deduction by donating to the m-ssion organization rather than directly to the m-ssionary.   And, donating to the organization keeps a ch-rch’s books cleaner too — it is more complicated legally if they donate to an individual.

The one thing I want to add about this is that you want to be smart and honest.   As I said, you can’t fundraise.   If you are here going from ch-rch to ch-rch asking for money, sooner or later, you could run into problems with CBP.   And, to be honest, is that what G-d has called us to?   But if you are here, in the spirit of your B visa, going from ch-rch to ch-rch, passionately sharing about what G-d is doing in your m-ssion field, there is nothing wrong with, by the way, encouraging people to support that work by praying and by donating to your m-ssion organization.

About a month ago I wrote about the five options for people who want to come to the U.S. as a m-ssionary using the B-1 visa:  Those are:

• Ministers of Religion coming on an Evangelical tour in the United States. This is for people like Billy Graham — but of course, you don’t need to be famous like him.   You can go around speaking at churches or at any venue.  I doubt that it has to be what is traditionally viewed as evangelism — it could also be, I think, someone who is sharing his vision or a word from God that he believes people in US churches need to hear.  I think this would also qualify for missionaries who come to the US to share about their vision and to call people to participate.   It is not for raising support, but, for example, a Presbyterian could share about his ministry, and people could be moved to contribute to the Presbyterian mission agency, which could then use that money to support him.   It is possible that you need to be ordained to do this.
• Ministers of religion temporarily exchanging pulpits with U.S. counterparts. This is mostly just a straight exchange where the foreign minister is just coming to serve in that specific church temporarily (probably for a very short period).
• General M-ssionary Service. This is for anyone, whether “ordained” or not, entering the United States temporarily for the sole purpose of performing m-ssionary work.   As stated earlier, “m-ssionary work” for this purpose may include religious instruction, aid to the elderly or needy, proselytizing, etc. It can be quite diverse in what you are doing, and will cover most of what people come to the US to do when they are seeking to serve G-d here in the U.S.   However, it does not include ordinary administrative work, nor should it be used as a substitute for ordinary labor for hire.   But even here, if the person is engaging in the administrative work or labor is a way of serving and advancing God’s kingdom, there may be ways that it can work as well.
• An applicant coming to perform voluntary services for a religious organization, and does not qualify for R status. This is similar to the previous scenario, but it emphasizes service to a religious organization rather than coming to serve on your own.
• Aliens participating in a voluntary service program benefiting U.S. local communities, who establish that they are members of, and have a commitment to, a particular recognized religious or nonprofit charitable organization. This is broader than the prior categories in that it includes nonprofits which are not specifically religious.   But, otherwise, it is very similar in the breadth of the ways in which people are allowed to serve.

The most essential thing that you need to prove to come into the US under a B category is that you intend to leave the US when your legal stay ends.   A B visa is a non-immigrant visa.  That means that you can only come to the US temporarily.   Furthermore, Immigration requires that you demonstrate “non-immigrant intent”.   That means that you intend to only stay temporarily.   In other words, you can’t come to the US on a B visa with the intent to try to stay here and get a green card.

Normally, if they think that you want to stay here permanently, they will not let you enter the US.   This even carries over to people who have someone petitioning for them to come here permanently.   If you are the beneficiary of an employment visa petition, or a relative petition or a Religious Worker petition, and you try to enter the US on a B visa, they could deny you permission to enter because you have the intent to immigrate when the petition is finally approved.   Even though you are intending to enter temporarily now, the fact that you eventually want to live here could be enough for them to deny you entrance on a B visa.

So, how do you convince Immigration (whether at the border, or a consulate officer) that you do not have immigrant intent?   First off, you need to show that you have a home abroad that you have no intention of leaving.   If you can’t give them a home address, they should not let you enter the US or let you get a visa to enter the US.   Secondly, they look for ties to your home country — do you own or rent a home?   Do you have a job that they expect you to return to?   Do you have bank accounts or property in your home country?   Is your husband or wife or are your children there in your home country?   Do you have close family in your home country.   Of course, none of these points will guarantee that you will return home, but that is what they look for.

Then, looking toward coming to the US, they want to know why you are coming and what you will be doing.   You can’t plan on working or earning money here.   You need to have a purpose for coming that lines up with the options (listed last week) under which you can get a B-1 m-ssionary visa.   Finally, you need to be able to demonstrate that you will be able to support yourself while you are here.   If you can’t prove that you can support yourself, they will think that maybe you are intending on working when you come here to the US.

Here are four options for people who want to come to the U.S. as a m-ssionary using the B-1 visa:

• Ministers of Religion coming on an Evangelical tour in the United States. This is for a person who will come to the U.S. and travel around preaching or speaking.   They can be supported by offerings contributed at each evangelical meeting.   But they can’t be using this “tour” to raise support for their work outside the U.S.  It is possible that this person needs to be ordained, but it is not clear.
• Ministers of religion temporarily exchanging pulpits with U.S. counterparts who will continue to be reimbursed by the foreign church and will draw no salary from the host church in the United States.
• General M-ssionary Service. This is for anyone, whether “ordained” or not, entering the United States temporarily for the sole purpose of performing m-ssionary work.   This has to be on behalf of a “denomination” .   It is not clear if the denomination has to have a presence here in the U.S. or it just means that a person has to be a member of a church, and sent by that church.  The person must receive no salary or remuneration from U.S. sources other than an allowance or other reimbursement for expenses incidental to the temporary stay. “M-ssionary work” for this purpose may include religious instruction, aid to the elderly or needy, proselytizing, etc. It does not include ordinary administrative work, nor should it be used as a substitute for ordinary labor for hire.
• In cases where an applicant is coming to perform voluntary services for a religious organization, and does not qualify for R status, the B-1 status remains an option, even if he or she intends to stay a year or more in the United States.
• Aliens participating in a voluntary service program benefiting U.S. local communities, who establish that they are members of, and have a commitment to, a particular recognized religious or nonprofit charitable organization. No salary or remuneration should be paid from a U.S. source, other than an allowance or other reimbursement for expenses incidental to the volunteers’ stay in the United States.

There are three major options for coming to the U.S. as a m-ssionary.   The simplest is the B-1 visa.  This is a visitors visa for people who want to come to the US for a temporary stay.   Normally, people come on a B visa for a short visit, but, it is possible, in some cases, to come on a B-1 visa as a m-ssionary for as long as a year.   And, it can be extended for at least one more year.  However, there are a number of restrictions and other aspects that can make this less than desirable.   The first is that it can be hard to get a B-1 m-ssionary visa.   You need to satisfy the officer at the consulate, and the officer at the border, that you are just coming for a temporary stay.   If they think that you might be thinking of staying, or that you don’t have enough ties to your home country, they may not let you have the visa or enter the U.S..   The second weakness is that you never know, when you request to be allowed to enter on a B-1 visa, how long you will be allowed to stay.   The third aspect is that you cannot work on a B-1 visa.   There are options for being supported, but you can’t be paid for services.

The second aspect is an R-1 R-ligious Worker Visa.   This allows a person to come to the US for up to five years to serve in a r-ligious position on behalf of a denomination of which he has already been a member for two years.   After he has completed the five years, he needs to stay outside of the US for one year before he can return.

The third possibility is an immigrant R-ligious Worker visa.   This allows a person to come to the US permanently to serve in a r-ligious position on behalf of a denomination of which he has already been a member for two years, and for which he has worked as a r-ligious worker for two years.   This position is somewhat in flux right now, and it is uncertain if it will continue to be available.

Employers are required to fill out an I-9 form for each new employee.   This is to establish that the new employee is allowed to work here in the U.S.   The most recent form is dated 3/8/2013.   Employers may continue to use that form until January 21, 2017.   They can, of course, use the new form, dated 11/14/2016, and starting January 22, 2017, employers must use the new form.

There is a special immigration program that allows m-ssi-naries to come to the U.S. permanently.   However, it is based on a statute that has a Sunset Date — meaning that on that date, the immigration program will end.    The statute actually has two parts — one for m-nisters and one for R-ligious workers.   The immigration program for the m-nisters does not expire.   But, they put a Sunset Date in the part of the statute governing R-ligious workers.

That Sunset date used to come every three years, and for quite a while, they extended the program every three years.    Last year, when the date came up, they extended it to December 2015, and then, in December, they extended it only nine months more, to September 30, 2016.

Days before this past September 30, Congress (and the President), extended the program until December 9, 2016.

We don’t know what is going to happen.   If they extend it (either for a month, or nine months, or three years), the USCIS will continue working on any R-ligious Worker Green Card petition or application that they have or will receive.   And they will be able to issue green cards up to the date that the statute expires.

However, if they do not extend the statute, all non-m-nister R-ligious Worker green card petitions and applications in process will expire, and no new green cards will be issued, and no new petitions or applications will be received.   And, if someone abroad has received a non-m-nisterial R-ligious Worker Immigrant Visa, they must enter the U.S. by December 8, 2016, or they will not be allowed to enter with that visa.  It is possible that they could come in as late as December 9, 2016, but I would not count on it.

Remember that this only applies to Non-M-nisterial R-ligious Worker Immigrants.   People who are applying for R-ligious Worker Immigrant status as m-nisters will continue to be eligible to receive green cards because their program does not have a sunset date.

President-Elect Donald Trump!   This was obviously a surprise to many people.   Some of my readers are ecstatic!   Others are fearful or in despair.    To be honest, we really don’t know what will happen under the new president.   A lot of people think that it will become much harder to immigrate to the U.S.   That is possible.   But we don’t know that.   We don’t know how his deeds will line up with his words.   I expect that he will implement more vetting for people from Muslim countries.   There are Republicans who will want to shut down certain aspects of the current immigration scheme – such as the H-1b and the L-1 (two business employment visas) and the investor green card, and the green card lottery.  Maybe Trump will be open to those ideas, maybe not.   He has talked strongly about stopping illegal immigration.   Hopefully, that will not carry over to restricting the current legal immigration.  One bright side is, hopefully, that the Religious Worker Green Card, which is currently in limbo, is more likely to be approved, I think, under Republicans than under Democrats.   It seems to me that the Democrats have been more antagonistic to faith-based organizations than have the Republicans.

We will just have to see, and pray!

Just a reminder to all of you out there who have green cards — if you are going to be out of the US for more than one year, you need to apply for a Reentry Permit before you leave the US.   You need to be in the US when you apply for the Reentry Permit, and you can’t leave the US until you have had your Biometrics (digital fingerprint and photo) taken.   At that point you can leave and wait for them to issue your Reentry Permit.