Visiting US company headquarter on visa waiver program (ESTA) or B-1

Upvote:4

Let's take your questions one by one.

  • Yes, the VWP essentially allows you to do all the things you would be allowed to do with a B1/B2 without a visa. If you are a national of a VWP country there is no point in applying for a B1/B2. Exceptions would be if you were ineligible for VWP for some reason (like having visited one of the disqualifying countries, or having been previously refused entry to the US), or if you think you might be refused for some other reason and want to find out before you travel.
  • Six weeks is not an unusual time to be visiting a parent company for meetings, training etc. You will get a tiny bit more scrutiny than someone visiting for two weeks. It would be wise to be able to explain what you are doing for those six weeks, while making it clear that you are not doing any actual work while there, but only training, meetings, discussion etc.
  • Assuming that your (European) PEO is your actual employer of record, you are not receiving any funds from US sources. It is not important that your employer is receiving such funds.
  • The only way to get approval in advance is to apply for a B1/B2 visa, but that will be treated as a visa rejection if not approved. Your best bet is to make sure you have supporting documentation and just show up at the border.

I would suggest contacting the US company for advice on how to do this. A company of any size will have done it many times before. You will very likely get through with minimal questioning, but the following documents might be useful and are worth having:

  • A letter from your PEO saying that you work for them. Possibly supporting docs like a payslip.
  • A letter from the US company saying what you are there for, making sure that it doesn't imply that you will be doing actual work while there (training, discussions, meetings, etc are all OK)
  • Make sure you yourself never imply to the border officer that you will be doing work there. You are there to have meetings, discussions and training.

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