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I am planning on going to the US for a month to visit a friend who lives there. The main purpose of this trip is for a vacation. However, my employer (UK based) are happy for me to work remotely from there for a few weeks, so I can extend my stay.

Will an ESTA cover me for this, or will I need another specific visa?

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  • UK Bank Account
Peter Mortensen
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jimtheleng
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  • There are a lot of similar questions already on this site e.g. this. Although the answer seems to be a bit fuzzy, involving tax laws as well as the question of whether you'll actually be caught. – Stuart F Apr 12 '23 at 13:03
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    Anecdotally, I used to travel to Japan a lot, for extended periods. The immigration forms would say 'work' but we would complete a tax form stating that we would receive no remuneration inside Japan, only 'at home'. This worked well for the entirety of the decade I did it. – Tetsujin Apr 12 '23 at 14:07
  • I would be more concerned with the UK side of things (labor laws, compliance, etc.) than with the US side. Unless you laptop/equipment screams "official work equipment", you're simply browsing the web on your private laptop while sitting in a privately booked location in the US. – Martin Ba Apr 13 '23 at 08:09
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    "Will an ESTA cover me for this, or will I need another specific Visa?": This question overlooks a third possibility, which is that there is no way for you to do this legally. – phoog Apr 13 '23 at 15:20
  • @phoog Why do you think that? The B1 Visa, and by implication an "approved travel authorization" (ESTA), permits exactly the described use case. You come to the U.S., do some business like meetings and consultations. You do not enter an employment; you don't even have American business contacts! (Which would, arguably, be permitted.) – Peter - Reinstate Monica Apr 15 '23 at 00:23
  • Lie, don't be a slave to an rigid, impractical morality. You're taking no one's job. – nicholaswmin Apr 15 '23 at 17:44
  • @Peter-ReinstateMonica "working remotely" from the USA and "doing business" in the USA are completely different activities. From travel.state.gov: "An individual on a visitor visa (B1/B2) is not permitted to accept employment or work in the United States". Remote work is "working in the United States". Who your employer is and where they're located is irrelevant. – brhans Apr 16 '23 at 18:06
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    @brhans I beg to differ. The B1 visa will regularly be issued to and used by employees of foreign companies working for that company by doing business in the U.S. Being employed in your home country and working for that foreign company is clearly not against regulations. On the contrary: It is what B1 is for (and also for self-employed salesmen and the like, but those will be a minority). What the visa regulations are trying to prevent, and what is meant by the term "employment or work in the United State" is, of course, entering the American workforce. – Peter - Reinstate Monica Apr 16 '23 at 19:39

2 Answers2

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Technically there is no visa for the US that will allow you to work remotely while visiting. Here is a nice summary of all the potential visas and what is and isn't allowed. While there are some visas that do allow work, you are unlikely to be able to get them without some serious immigration lawyer like effort. And such effort would be overkill for a simple 1 month visit even if you were eligible for such a visa.

With that said, carrying a laptop with you while you travel is no longer an unusual activity. As long as you don't mention anything at all related to work when entering the country, US immigration shouldn't refuse your entry. But of course, never lie to immigration authorities. They've seen it all and can spot lies from a long way away.

I'd also like to point out another question on here that explores what the nature of work actually is in terms of the B1 visa:

Emails and conference calls while in the USA under ESTA (B-1 Waiver)

Peter M
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    +1, but "never lie", yet "just go on a tourist visa/visa waiver" seem to contradict each other though. Working whilst traveling requires lying (whether by omission or more explicitly). This answer could be improved by removing the "never lie" statement, as it's inconsistent with the rest of the answer and confuses the reader. – David Mulder Apr 13 '23 at 05:02
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    @DavidMulder Yes, technically a contradiction, but in this particular case I think you have to be more flexible. IMHO to an immigration official, the work/not work statement is a binary condition that implies "are you taking money away from a legal resident or not", or "are you trying to legally reside in the US or not". But there is the 3rd state of the OP. I'd also point out this question. – Peter M Apr 13 '23 at 13:12
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    Technically there is no visa for the US that will allow you to work remotely while visiting. < how is one supposed to go e.g. on a field trip in US?

     – fraxinus Apr 13 '23 at 14:56
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    @fraxinus what do you mean by "field trip"? – phoog Apr 13 '23 at 15:16
  • @fraxinus: If you are referring to the practice of teachers taking students across international borders to experience a foreign country, we (mostly) don't do that, because the vast majority of the population lives too far away from any international (land) border for such a trip to make any kind of economic sense in the first place. – Kevin Apr 13 '23 at 17:36
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    @Kevin No, that's definitely a thing in the US. When I was in high school, the language teachers would take a group to Spain, France, Germany, every summer. There's a big company that manages the trips. – user71659 Apr 13 '23 at 17:46
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    @fraxinus Participating in a school trip would be tourism. Students are not generally considered to be employed, and the US allows tourists to participate in short educational programs as long as they don't receive academic credit from a US-based institution. – A. R. Apr 13 '23 at 20:38
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    I think @fraxinus's question was more along the lines of "how are you supposed to travel to the US for a business meeting, etc"? I've been to Canada and EU countries for this, and I've always been perfectly honest. "I'm attending a meeting at so-and-so-company", and they've always let me through. – Chris Apr 13 '23 at 21:29
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    @Chris: A business meeting is just B1 vs. B2 (i.e. it's almost exactly the same thing as a tourist visa). It's not "work." – Kevin Apr 13 '23 at 21:52
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    @AndrewRay As fraxinus states, the issue isn't the students, it's the teachers who are presumably doing it as part of their employment duties. I do remember the high school language teachers weren't paid directly, but instead received a generous "scouting" trip in advance, was basically a free European vacation or family visit. – user71659 Apr 14 '23 at 05:06
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    @Kevin is it possible that what the OP is asking about is also not considered work, for immigration purposes? – user253751 Apr 14 '23 at 08:21
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    @user253751 Basically if it can be done from the UK it's going to count as work. Non-work business purposes are almost exclusively things that need to be done in-person, like attending a conference, visiting a client, or staying overnight between shifts as flight crew on an international airline— that is, things that justify a purpose for travel. – A. R. Apr 14 '23 at 13:02
  • What should the OP answer if asked "Are you doing any work while here?". I'm confused by how the whole "don't lie" thing will play out in that case – matt freake Apr 14 '23 at 19:59
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Let me share my case. Maybe it will help.

I used to spend a year in total in US business trips on B1 visa during 2011-2013. I confirmed at embassy interview and on the border control I will continue work for my company while in US and continue to get salary. I'll attend meeting and will consult with US customer about our company's system. I worked 40h a week par of that time was meetings and part was work for my non-US company (bug-fixing, performance optimization, code-review, etc). Not sure it was important but my company was covering my expenses and provided a cover letter.

I believe B1/B2 business visa covers such activity in case:

  • you will still work for non-US company
  • you will not get salary in US
  • it is temporary visit (months, not years)
Denis Rozhnev
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    B1 covers business meetings and signing contracts and a few similar things. There is a finite list of activities it covers; they do not include "working 8 hours per day on a laptop writing computer code for money", as an example. – Yakk Apr 14 '23 at 20:20
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    @Yakk, during that trips I was working 40h a week. Part of this was my remote dev work for my non-US company. So I believe important point is not how much are you working, but who needs and pays for your work. It should be non-US company. – Denis Rozhnev Apr 14 '23 at 20:32
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    I mean, that is pretty clearly against the B1 VISA requirements, depending on what work you are doing. If you spent 8 hours per day in meetings, signing contracts, and a few other things, you'd be ok. You may also have been in the USA under a different program (like the NAFTA one). And the immigration officer might have let you in despite it being against immigration law. – Yakk Apr 14 '23 at 20:35
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    Yours was a different situation to what the OP up top is proposing. Your primary purpose for visiting the USA was "conducting business" (meetings, training, etc). Doing remote work for your employer back home was secondary, and was not the purpose of your visit. You needed to enter the USA to conduct business, while the OP does not. – brhans Apr 16 '23 at 18:13
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    @brhans, yes situation is different from one side. But doing remote work for an employer back home is secondary, and is not the purpose of the visit for OP too. His main purpose is tourism which is covered by B2 visa. – Denis Rozhnev Apr 18 '23 at 22:11
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    Updated a bit my answer to better describe my intent. – Denis Rozhnev Apr 18 '23 at 22:21