Q: I am the leader of a marching band that has been invited to perform in a parade in the United States this fall. Some of the band members already have visitor visas. Can we use a visitor visa to travel to the United States for this performance?

A: In most cases, individuals and groups may not use visitor visas to perform in the United States. However, there are a few exceptions that may apply to your group, depending on whether your band consists of professional entertainers or amateur performers.

Travelling to the US as a professional entertainer

If the members of your performance group are professional entertainers, your performance must meet certain criteria in order to perform while on a B-1/B-2:

* The performance group must be coming to the United States for the sole purpose of participating in a cultural programme sponsored by the Jamaican Government.

* All related expenses, including per diem, must be paid by your country’s government.

* The group must perform for a non-paying audience.

If a performance does not meet one or more of these criteria, a group of professional entertainers may not use B-1/B-2 visitor visas to travel to the United States. Instead, an organisation in the United States must file a petition for the entertainers to obtain ‘O’ or ‘P’ visas. The cost of an ‘O’ or ‘P’ visa application is $150, and all members of the group will have to appear at the US Embassy for a visa interview, even if they already have visitor visas.

Travelling to the US as amateur performers

If a band consists of amateur musicians who will not be paid for their performance, then the use of B-1/B-2 visas is allowed. As the leader of the group, please ensure that members of your group come to their visa interviews with clear documentation of their travel plans as well as any sponsorship that the group may have received. A good amateur performer applicant will be expected to be able to discuss his/her purpose of travel and other relevant details during his/her interview.

In order to ensure that visa interviews and processing proceed as smoothly as possible, the Consular Section requests that group leaders contact the embassy at consularkingst@state.gov several days before a group’s visa interviews. Please provide an overview of the group’s itinerary, funding, membership, and purpose of travel. Even if a group leader already has a visa, he or she should be prepared to come to the embassy, if requested, to discuss the group’s travel plans. Groups are also strongly encouraged to schedule their appointments as early as possible once the composition of a performance group is finalised in order to ensure the timely processing of the group. Last-minute requests for emergency visa appointments are normally not granted for performance groups, especially if they have failed to adequately plan ahead.

Q: I have an appointment to apply for an H1-B visa next week. I plan to work as a teacher in the United States for three years, then return to Jamaica. I noticed that my visitor visa will be expiring in less than a year. Can I renew my visitor visa when I apply for my H1-B visa?

A: If you want to renew your B-1/B-2 visa when you apply for your H1-B visa, you must schedule two separate appointments. Visas that do not require a petition — such as B-1/B-2 visas or C-1 transit visas — cannot be processed using an appointment that has been scheduled for a petition-based visa application. Petition-based visas include ‘H’ and ‘L’ worker visas, as well as ‘O’ and ‘P’ performer visas, among others.

You may choose to schedule both of your appointments on the same day, for your convenience. However, if you show up to the embassy with only one scheduled appointment, we will not be able to process your second case on the same day, even if you have already paid the application fee.

Individuals who wish to apply for two non-petition-based visas on the same day may do so with only one appointment. For example, a student could apply for an F-1 visa and a B-1/B-2 visa using only one appointment, as long as he or she has paid both application fees. Similarly, a cruise ship or airline crew member may apply for a C-1/D visa at the same time as a B-1/B-2 visa using only one appointment.

If you choose to apply for multiple visas, please keep in mind that you must qualify for each visa independently. Some individuals may qualify for one type of visa but not for a second type of visa. Issuance of one visa does not guarantee issuance of another.

For further information about visa issues, please visit the US Embassy Kingston’s website, kingston.usembassy.gov.

The US Embassy staff in Kingston will answer questions you may have regarding the US Mission, including consular law, regulations and/or practice. In order to respect privacy, staff will not answer questions about specific visa applications. The embassy employs a visa appointment system, so it is only necessary for visa applicants to arrive 15 minutes before their scheduled appointment.

Send your questions to: editorial@jamaicaobserver.com and we will send them to the embassy.