CBP

Subscribe to CBP via RSS

If your company is like many, your board of directors may be demanding that you put more effort into environmental, social, and governance issues, which have become known by the now-ubiquitous acronym “ESG.” Those demands don’t come from nowhere: consumers are demanding transparency and social responsibility. In addition, if your company does business internationally, regulators are now focused on international social justice issues (such as the use of forced labor) more than ever.
Continue Reading Does Your Trade Policy Support Your Company’s Values?

It’s 9:30 pm on a Sunday and you just got a call on your cell from U.S. Customs & Border Protection (“CBP”) at LAX. A Vice President from one of your foreign offices has been spending a lot of time here lately developing business leads and strategy. CBP is holding him in secondary inspection and he’s been there for 12 hours. Even though he’s paid overseas, CBP has some questions to ask you to see if he has been “working” here. CBP advises you that they are seriously considering giving him an “expedited removal order” with a 5-year bar on entering the U.S., and putting him on a flight back to Europe tomorrow afternoon. His inability to return to the U.S. would be catastrophic to your business.

The regulations regarding business visitors entering on a B-1 visa or ESTA visa waiver are vague. There is no bright line test for when someone is “working here” versus “having meetings and consultations”. However, there are ways to improve your odds that you will not be flagged and challenged by CBP.
Continue Reading Will U.S. Customs & Border Protection Admit Your Foreign Visitor? How to Avoid that Sunday Evening Phone Call from CBP