Playing a Scrabble tournament on a B1/B2

[WordFreak]

Hi all,

I have a B1/B2 five year multi-entry visa. I have been to the US one year ago, when I got the visa.

I am travelling to the US to play a Scrabble tournament - i.e. an amateur hobby, because there are no professionals of course. The prizemoney is small, like 1-2k dollars - are they going to be dicks about this at the border?

I looked for other visa options but it seemed like B1/B2 kind of covers it, but I could see them baulking at "taking money out of the country" (lol...).

I am also fine with renouncing all prize money, seeing I am just playing for fun. Should I prepare a statement from the tournament organizers saying this, in advance?

Thanks very much for any help.

[jnk]

Yes.

[WordFreak]

That is not particularly helpful - yes to what?

Some research seems to point out that I would not need to renounce any prizemoney -

https://travel.state.gov/contenthttps://www.immihelp.com/usa-visas/en/visit/visitor.html

Tourism and Visit (B-2):
tourism
vacation (holiday)
visit with friends or relatives
medical treatment
participation in social events hosted by fraternal, social, or service organizations
participation by amateurs in musical, sports, or similar events or contests, if not being paid for participating

This seems to put me in the clear?

[Trinity71]

Playing a Scrabble tournament on a B1/B2

That is not particularly helpful - yes to what?

Some research seems to point out that I would not need to renounce any prizemoney -

https://travel.state.gov/contenthttps://www.immihelp.com/usa-visas/en/visit/visitor.html

Tourism and Visit (B-2):
tourism
vacation (holiday)
visit with friends or relatives
medical treatment
participation in social events hosted by fraternal, social, or service organizations
participation by amateurs in musical, sports, or similar events or contests, if not being paid for participating

This seems to put me in the clear?

You only had 1 question in your post, so the yes response was pertaining to getting the letter or statement from the tournament organizers stating that you will renounce all money. If you participate and win money, you are being paid. The bottom line is you are not permitted to take any money out of our U.S. economy while here on a B1/B2.

This is my opinion and not legal advice. Use of this information is strictly at your own risk.

Trinity71

[Warek]

For about a few days now I've been playing an interesting game https://wordleplay.com/. A popular game in which you have to guess a word in a few tries to find out what letters are in it. It looks like a simple game, but in fact it is quite difficult. I advise you to try to play this game, I am sure you will like it.