Business Visa

A Business visa is a visa category issued for applicants to travel overseas for short duration up to a maximum (legally permitted) period of 90 days (permitted under the Schengen norms) on few specific non Billable activities. Please refer the do’s and don’ts below.

Do’s

  • To attend a training
  • To attend a conference
  • To attend Business meetings and discussions

Don’ts

  • Dependents are not entitled on a business visa
  • You are not allowed to work or perform any billable activity
  • No extensions are allowed on a business visa. Very few countries allow extension, however, with lot of scrutiny on your application

The Duration of stay on a business visa is issued for a Minimum period of stay as less as 7 days in some countries to a Maximum of 90 days as per the Schengen visa. However, that does not mean that, one can stay for 90 days at a stretch. The Validity of the visa and the duration of stay are always mentioned on visa at the time of issuance. With the number of entries allowed. United States allows for a stay on the basis of the I-94, however, considering that, one is on business; it is not advisable to stay for longer than the duration requested. At times, there will be a query for the reasons of long stay; hence, traveling for purposes of business should be adhered to.

  • Travel on Business Visa should be for business purpose only. No billable work activity is allowed. Permissible activities under most countries are business meetings, discussions, sales/bid negotiations, appraisals, reviews, seminars, road shows, knowledge transfer sessions, requirements capture, attend training programs, workshops, conferences, and such other exclusive business related purposes.
  • Duration of such business visits MUST be restricted to a maximum of 4 weeks only. For no reason, travel duration can be extendable beyond 4 weeks.
  • Extension of business visa onsite is NOT permitted.
  • Business visa Travel requests should clearly indicate the purpose of travel, duration of travel and contact details of the person who will be the contact point during such travels. It must also provide past travel details, viz. duration of travel (start and end date) to the said country.
  • Local police and immigration offices/consular posts can request access to the database to verify information for local immigration procedures, such as visa extensions and deportation proceedings. One can face severe penalties and debarment if the employer/its signatories/employees have been found to have made false or misleading statements in invitation letters at the time of filing Visas or other immigration-related documents.
  • Schengen Business visa travel compliance is as follows:
    • Parallel processing of Business Visa (BV) and Work Permit (WP) in any Schengen country is not allowed.
    • Certain countries like Belgium have a regulation of stay not exceeding 20 days per travel.
    • Application for short stay visas have to be submitted with the competent Consular authorities, which are to be determined according to the following criteria
      • If the Applicant intends to stay in one Country only, the application should be submitted at the Representation of the same Country.
      • If the Applicant wishes to travel to several Member States, the application should be submitted at the Representation of the Country where the main purpose of travel lies, determined by the duration of the stay.
      • If the main destination cannot be ascertained, the Country of the first port of entry into Schengen Territory is regarded as the competent Consular office for processing the application.