According to Statista's report released in Feb 2024, the number of visitors in the USA doubled in 2022. There were approx 50.87 million visitors that entered the USA. Well, despite being multiple different USA visa categories, most of the applicants apply for B1/B2 USA visas.

This category might seem the same but has distinctive rules and application processes. Let's see, what's the difference between a B1 and a B2 visa that an applicant must know?

What is a B1/B2 visa?

A B1/B2 visa is a non-immigrant visa category that allows visitors to enter the country either for business (B1) or for traveling purposes (B2).

Irrespective of the difference in purpose, B1/B2 visa is often issued together for applicants. The visa category generally has 10 years of validity and one cannot plan to reside permanently with a B1/B2 visa.

Difference Between B1/B2 Visa

Let's look at factors on how B1 and B2 visas are different.

• Purpose of B1 and B2 Visas

Applicants who are required to travel to the USA for business purposes have to apply for a B1 visa. They can attend meetings, conferences, and other business activities.

Individuals who have other motives to travel to the USA like holiday plans, getting medical treatment, visiting friends/family/relatives, etc can enter the USA with a B2 visa.

• Application Process Eligibility

Its helpful if B1 visa applicants show certain evidence for business meetings in a foreign land like an invitation offer, conference invitation, or registration form. In a visa interview, you must convince the visa officer of your motive for visiting the USA.

The same applies to the B2 visa category. If you're planning a holiday, you must show or at least be able to discuss your itinerary or plans. If you're getting medical treatment there, show details like a prescription. Lastly, you can share the details of your friends and family if you visit them.

All in all, both these visa comes under the non-immigrant category, but the purpose of visiting the country changes the criteria a bit.

Benefits of Getting B1/B2 USA Visa

This category offers numerous benefits to applicants, some of which are mentioned here:

• Once you've got your B1/B2 visa, there's no such limitation on the number of times you can visit the country. Given that you have a valid reason, you can enter the USA multiple times based on your visa expiration date.

• While visiting the country, international visitors can increase their business network while staying there for business purposes. They can get new clients for business with networking.

• The period of visa is enough for an applicant to meet and get reunited with friends and family. They can explore their life in the foreign land till the visa permits.

However, the two main limitations of this visa category are:

• Applicants can't apply for permanent residence or green card based on a B1/B2 visa.

• And, international visitors can't apply for jobs based on a B1/B2 visa.

With this, we've come to the end of a guide on understanding the difference between B1 and B2 Visas.

Conclusion

Although it might look similar, the main purpose of getting a B1 and B2 visa is quite the opposite. Other than that, the other rules of the visa category are similar like no entry of a dependent person, employment benefits, temporary stay, etc. Things like this might confuse a newbie at first, but with such online resources and basic research, you'll soon get clear with the basics of USA visa categories.