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I am a UK Citizen currently living in India. I was born in India and after 5 years of continous stay in UK, I became a naturalised citizen of UK.

I have a valid ESTA and can travel to the USA, but since the ESTA allows only for each visit to be up to a maximum of 90 days, I am unable to spend longer duration in US.

I am planning on applying for a USA B2 Visitor Visa. I have zero intention of obtaining a green card or citizenship of USA (I spent quite a good amount of money becoming a UK Citizen being born in India) but I want to live in the USA for more than 90 days as it is a big country and I would like to see places of interest.

I am semi-retired and have enough funds to take care of my expenses) / have an IT Consultancy business based out of UK.

I may have to attend some calls during UK business hours - for example, between 1 AM PST and 9 AM PST, but I will NOT be engaging in work for any US based companies.

Questions:

  1. Has any UK citizen (who is eligible for a ESTA) successfully ever applied for B2 Visitor Visa?
  2. Any other suggestions that you may have while applying for a B2 Visitor visa as a UK citizen?
  3. Needless to say, I will furnish all the necessary documents / financial statements to the officer.
  4. Any specific questions that I need to be better prepared for during the visa interview?

Thanks in advance!

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  • To overcome the US presumption of immigrant intent, what compelling reason(s) to leave after an extended stay can you show? AFAIK there’s no law that allows working remotely in the U.S. for a foreign employer. Have you considered the tax implications sterlinglexicon.com/resources/…?
    – Traveller
    Commented Feb 8, 2023 at 10:14
  • Thank you for the response. @Traveller! Two reasons that I can think of - I am a Director of a LImited Company registered in the UK. I own mutiple properties in the UK and India that I own (from which I get rent).
    – Kanini
    Commented Feb 8, 2023 at 10:36
  • In that case, follow the advice in the answer by @phoog - be prepared to explain how you are able to spend an extended period of time away from your business affairs in the UK / India and how that squares with having a compelling reason to leave if asked
    – Traveller
    Commented Feb 8, 2023 at 13:15

1 Answer 1

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  1. Of course. (And in fact you're applying for the visa because you're not eligible for ESTA because you intend to visit for longer than 90 days.)
  2. Answer all the questions on the application form truthfully.
  3. Good idea.
  4. They will probably ask you why you're applying for a visa instead of using the visa waiver program. The answer is of course that you want to stay for longer than 90 days. It is probably better to have a specific duration planned and to state that duration, for example, "I want to stay for four months" or "I am planning a trip from May 20th through November 3rd" or what have you.

As to the question of supporting yourself, occasional calls related to your business that are incidental to your primary purpose of tourism are probably not going to be a problem, but I wouldn't mention this unless prompted by their questions. If they do ask about it, though, don't be evasive, as they will surely pick up on that.

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