Re-enter US on B1 after 6 month visit with B2

[Razvan Ciuy]

Hello,


Will make it as clear as i can, i will answer any other questions if needed. Need serious advice as I don't want to be causing problems, no intent to stay in US,, have everything i own back home in Romania & the love of my life in the US, planning to work in UK once we finish saving money from the cruise line job.


For last 4 years (except the last 9 months) i have been working on cruise ships in & out of US, Europe as a crew member on C1D visa.

My last entry in US was on May 1st when i left ship after 1 month only through Miami, where i received a B2 6 month stay, although i was there only 6 hours to catch my flight back home. I was then on med vacation for several months then went back to work in Europe, crossed ocean to NY, went customs then 1 week later I left back to Europe from Canada...and was there another 3 months.

Now its when it gets what worries me mostly because I like to keep it all legal & easy with CBP, whom i respect & understand their duties.

I came back to US on my B2 visa on 17 Dec `14, as a tourist and mostly stayed with my girlfriend (with whom I have been working together on the ships prior, she is a US citizen) and stayed almost 5 months and 12 days, mostly visiting the East coast and her parents in Oklahoma. Now we are at the point of going back to work on crusie ships but we changed jobs for an international company that places us as guests, thus I presume i can't go on my C1D.

because my visa expires in 2 weeks, the company is flying me to Nassau for 1 week then i`m reentering the US through Atlanta and flying to Houston where I will be joining the ship for the next 3 months.

I am worried that because I have to reenter on my B1 probably, being of business nature, it might be problematic because of the short exit time frame.

I have paperwork showing I will be working on a ship, i have a cabin assignment for 3 months on papers, a return flight to home for when I am finished working on that ship.

Maybe I am making it a big deal but your advice is much appreciated.
Coming on C1D seems a not to do; i don`t know the steps as i presume i won't be on crew manifest & won't receive the needed i95 paper.

B1 visa seems best but a 3 month request is kind of long? B2 was just used and I had no time to request and extension of 6 more months.

Company I work is international and I will not be working while in port in US, which is only going to be for 6 hours once per week.

Should i go for the B1, business, as that is my actual purpose, although it is on cruise ships, advising & training crew members on board.
Or stick for another B2?

thank you
Raz

[inadmissible]

Shouldn't your employer be advising you on work related visa matters?

[Razvan Ciuy]

Shouldn't your employer be advising you on work related visa matters?

I asked but they have no information regarding this. All they can send me is return flights & a letter of employment but otherwise it`s mostly up to me.
As always, as with when working as a crew member, visa issues are mostly on us, little support coming from employers other then the mentioned above.

Technically I am cruising on a ship for 3 months, my employer has already booked a cabin for 10 cruises. Most probably they receive discounted rates for working with the cruise lines. When we represent on board a cruise ship we tend to drive the income in shops by 25k so it makes sense to me.

Ideea is how to make it understandable at the CBP office as i won't be in the US that much, but work is work.
Employer agreed to send me home after that and then position me in Europe & Asia for a while to avoid US customs and let some space be created between visits.

edit:
One cbp officer in NY told me to apply for other visas once home, while another one after next cruise told me that information is incorect and that cbp officer is wrong and that i should be out of the US for at least 12 months after a 5 month visit. He was rude, threw my credit cards around and said i`m lucky to be here, that he will flag my passport and be on the lookout. Thats actualy what bothered me and made me post this.

Once a cruise ends where I work, i have to pass customs, every 7 days technically. NY they did not say anything, but Bayonne NJ officer did that.

[Razvan Ciuy]

although all these are just words, and words don't mean much without proof....
I want to mention it still, that I understand how CBP works & how they look at things. I want everything to be fair toward them, and I have been for the last 3 years since I started slowly, moving up, in the cruise industry. Always looked at not overstaying, C1D visas are easily managed because of the cruise companies making them manageable because so many international workers come to work on ships.

I respect CBP or atleast the purpose behind it, i have no intention to move or run away in the US, and not to work illegally on the docks or such.
I own a car & aprt. back home, my girlfriend for 3 years is , unfortunately for me, from the US, making things harder for us but we will over come them with time. Maybe with that time we will apply for the K1 visa as a fiancee but until then I believe all of Europe will be seen as Canada is, i believe by 2016.

But right now, i`m in this situation, a one time and I just wish for some time to make as much as possible to help it happen. Being refused would just mean a whole avalanche of problems upon me, not the end of the world but still. I have noone to ask for help for such a situation, except this website most of my crew member friends pointed out.

[inadmissible]

I apologize for the language barrier.

I am confused about some things.

You will be working on a cruiseship, but not as a crewman?

For what purpose will you be entering the United States?

[Razvan Ciuy]

I apologize for the language barrier.

I am confused about some things.

You will be working on a cruiseship, but not as a crewman?

For what purpose will you be entering the United States?

i will enter the US i presume for business, but everyting i will do will happen onboard the ship in international waters.

I fly in, pass customs, stay one night in hotel then i join ship. I won't be joining as crew member, since i am on the guest manifest. I can't enter crew areas, i have full guest privileges...but i operate and work on the ship during sailing time/out of port.
Only time i will be in US after joining is once per week, every week having to pass customs as all the passages do.

I stay & live on the ship. But ship is in US home port for embarkation/pickup so either B1 or B2 is good for me.

thinking about it should i tell them I'm with business or visiting, considering i just finished 5 months of actual visiting. Maybe next year in sept i will do the same on the West coast, if all goes well.

Here is what i do, i go onboard, with a special jewelry collection, brought by an armed escort. I increase sales in the shops by 20%, so i work, but i have free reign around the ship, excluding any crew areas. I have my brands jewelry that is pushed by the shops as well as me. We work together. At same time i`m cruising as a guest, mostly because there are no crew cabins for us, so company buys guest cabins. Maybe in the future, if we evolve, we might receive a crew cabin.

[Razvan Ciuy]

no one?

I want to reenter the US either on B1 or B2 after 5 months of staying for visiting purposes. Now i left country for 1 week & will return, but this time to work on cruise ship, not as crew member visa though c1/d .

I have employee documents, letter of employment, return flight and proof of cabin purchase for 3 months on cruise ship. I will advise, train and help with sales on board. Then i fly home after exactly 3 moths.

What are chances, what should i say, whats your opinion??

thank you

[inadmissible]

It is confusing, because you provide so much extraneous/irrelevant information.

If I understand correctly, you want to enter the United States in transit to a third country.

Get a B-2 visa. The transit visa program has been suspended.