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Business Visits to Fermilab
B-1 Visas
Visa Waiver Program and ESTA
Fermilab Procedure
Attending a Fermilab Workshop, Conference or “School”

Sample Home Institution Letter

Business Visits to Fermilab

Foreign nationals may visit Fermilab temporarily to engage in meetings, brief research benefitting their home institution or collaboration, signing agreements, attending conferences, workshops, “schools” or other events, and other activities, by entering the U.S. as a “Business Visitor”.  This is done either by entering with a B-1 visa (obtained from a U.S. Consulate) or using the Visa Waiver Program.

B-1 Visas

There are two types of B visas:  B-1 is for business visitors and B-2 is for tourists.  If you want to visit Fermilab in a professional capacity, you MUST have a B-1 visa.

Usually, you will be allowed to remain in the U.S. either (1) for up to 6 months, or (2) (if coming for a conference/workshop/school) for the duration of the event.  It might be possible to get a longer admission (to a maximum of 6 months) if both your home institution’s letter and Fermilab’s letter clearly justify this. 

Visa Waiver Program and ESTA

When a person visits Fermilab under the Visa Waiver Program, s/he is seeking admission to the U.S. as a Business Visitor, but without a visa stamp.  It is not a separate “category” of admission – it is just a different procedure for entry as a Business Visitor. 

You can enter the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program if you are a citizen of one of the following countries: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

Visa Waiver travelers no longer may simply get on a plane and arrive in the U.S. without any preparation. They must log into the “Electronic System for Travel Authorization” (ESTA) as far in advance of their travel as possible but it is recommended no less than 72 hours before departure. An ESTA authorization for travel to the U.S. will generally be valid for 2 years or until the applicant’s passport expires, whichever comes first. During this time, a new ESTA authorization is required if the traveler (1) changes his or her name; (2) changes his or her gender; (3) changes country of citizenship; or (4) should change any other answer to ESTA questions.

Fermilab Procedure

1. If coming for a meeting, research or similar activities, contact your experiment spokesperson or department head.  They will begin an internal process that results in the issuance of an Invitation Letter to you from Fermilab. If coming for a workshop/conference/ school or other Fermilab event, the event organizers will issue an Invitation Letter to you.  In either case, the Invitation Letter confirms the purpose and duration of the event or activity.
2. Obtain a Letter from your home institution. The Visa Office strongly recommends that you do not apply for a B-1 visa without this;
3. If applying for a B-1 Visa:  Apply for a B-1 visa at the U.S. Consulate in your country of current residence, a country where you are visiting for business or other purposes, or your country of nationality. Please note that the visa application process can extend up to 3 or more months, depending on circumstances and the backlog of work at the particular Consulate.  (If entering under the Visa Waiver Program, skip this step.)

Preparing for the Visa Application

Foreign visitors applying for visas with which to visit Fermilab might face lengthy delays due to slowdowns in visa processing. Three to four months is the average processing time, seemingly regardless of whether a visa has been issued to the applicant previously, and regardless of whether the last visa application went quickly.

The reason for most delays is that certain security clearances (also called “administrative processing”) must be completed before U.S. Consulate may issue visas. Neither the U.S. Consulate, nor Fermilab, can speed up the time taken for security clearances.

If, when you schedule your visa interview with the U.S. Consulate, you receive an interview date that is more than 30 days in the future, please fax us a completed Visa Delay Form, which will help us in our communications with the visa authorities. This also helps us to maintain an awareness of visa processing overall, and specific examples of problems resulting from the delays, so that we can provide this feedback to the Department of State.

We also strongly recommend that you bring the items listed below with you to your interview. Consular websites usually do not list these items for “regular” visa applications, because the items are needed more to support science-based security clearance requests.

1. Your complete C.V. or resume (and if your spouse is accompanying you, the spouse’s complete resume too, even if s/he will not be working);
2. Your complete list of publications (and if your spouse is accompanying you, the spouse’s complete list of publications too, even if s/he will not be working);
3. A detailed, but understandable (i.e. non-scientific, “plain language”) description of your proposed research or other activities for your visit to Fermilab;
4. A Letter of Invitation from Fermilab, as mentioned above;
5. A letter from your home institution, as described above; and
6. A detailed itinerary.

Entering the U.S.

When you enter the U.S., the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officer must write B-1, VB, or VWB on your I-94 Admission Card.  If the CBP Officer writes B-2, VT, or VWT (all of which are for tourists), ask for it to be changed. If you arrive at Fermilab with B-2, VT, or VWT on your I-94 admission card, we must send you to back to the airport to have it corrected. 

Check with the Users’ Office about obtaining or renewing your Fermilab Visitor’s ID Number, and complete the preliminary steps required for your ID Badge.  Conference/School/Workshop attendees who will visit only public areas of Fermilab and who do not have Fermilab computing accounts, need not obtain Visitor Badges.

Questions? Comments? Contact the Users’ Office!

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Visit the Employment Office’s online International Orientation, which offers many resources about adjusting to life in the U.S., including information about banking, taxes and more.  More Resources coming soon!

Lengthy Delays for Visa Applicants

Changes to the Visa Waiver Program for visitors to the U.S.

Consular Security Clearances affecting visa applications to visit Fermilab

What is an I-94 Card?