About the B Visa

The B visa classification is used for visitors who will enter the U.S. for a short period of time, generally no longer than six months. B classification is appropriate where the proposed stay does not involve productive employment.

• The B-1 category is for visitors coming for short-term business, academic activities such as lectures and conferences or independent research, and certain foreign medical students participating in an unpaid elective at a U.S. medical school.
   
• The B-2 is for visitors coming for pleasure or medical treatment. The B-2 category may also be used by domestic partners who are accompanying a principal visa holder but who are not eligible for a dependent visa.

The B category is not appropriate for students. It is also not meant for scholars coming to Dartmouth to engage in collaborative research, or for anyone who will engage in productive employment at Dartmouth.

Applicants for B visas must apply to a U.S. consulate abroad and be prepared to present evidence of their planned U.S. activities, as well as ties to the home country and an intent to return.

Foreign nationals enrolled in a medical school abroad should use the B-1 category to enter the U.S. temporarily to take an elective clerkship at a U.S. medical school. The clerkship must be without pay. The clerkship must be under the supervision and direction of medical school faculty physicians and an approved part of the student's foreign medical school education. It does not apply to graduate medical training.

For more about elective clerkships for foreign medical students, please contact the Office of Student Affairs at the Geisel School of Medicine.

To request an F-1 or J-1 dependent document for your dependent, please log into iDartmouth and complete the Request to Add a Dependent form located under the "General Requests" tab.

OVIS does not provide B-1/B-2 sponsorship letters for family members. If you would like a letter confirming your enrollment and program end date, please contact your registrar.