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Last reviewed: August 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice about any particular case. See our main page on Visitor Visas for how the B-1 and B-2 categories work generally.
U.S. immigration law lets many temporary workers, students and officials bring their families with them. The catch is that "family" is defined very narrowly. Nearly every derivative category — H-4, L-2, F-2, J-2, O-3, E-2 dependent and the rest — reaches only a legal spouse and unmarried children under 21. Everyone else in the household falls outside the scheme entirely.
That leaves real families without an obvious answer. An engineer transferred to the United States for three years cannot obtain an L-2 for the partner she has lived with for a decade but never married. A doctoral student cannot obtain an F-2 for the widowed mother who has lived in his household since his father died. A couple in a registered civil union may find that their partnership, though legally significant at home, does not count as a marriage for visa purposes.
The State Department's answer in these situations is the B-2 visitor visa. It is not a workaround or a loophole. It is long-standing, published guidance, and it remains in force today.
The practice was formalized in a July 2001 worldwide cable to all diplomatic and consular posts, issued under Secretary of State Colin Powell, which reminded posts that B-2 classification is appropriate for the cohabiting partner of a long-term nonimmigrant and directed that the Foreign Affairs Manual be amended to say so expressly. That instruction has survived every subsequent reorganization of the Manual. It now appears at 9 FAM 402.2-4(B)(5), "Cohabitating Partners, Extended Family Members, and Other Household Members Not Eligible for Derivative Status," most recently revised in April 2024 and current in the Manual as of its March 2026 update.
If you have seen the original 2001 cable reproduced elsewhere — including on an earlier version of this page — be aware that its internal citations are now obsolete. The old 9 FAM 41.31 N11.4 is today 9 FAM 402.2-4(B)(5); the discussion of what "temporary" means, formerly N2.4, is now at 9 FAM 402.2-2(B); and the definitional guidance formerly at 9 FAM 40.1 N1.2 has moved to 9 FAM 102.8. The cable also refers to "BCIS," an agency name that disappeared in 2003. The substance, however, is intact.
The current Manual provision applies to household members of a person in long-term nonimmigrant status who cannot obtain derivative status, and it gives examples rather than an exhaustive list:
Other extended family and household members can fit as well. The category is defined by the relationship to the household, not by a closed list of titles.
Two developments have narrowed and clarified who actually needs this route.
When the cable was written, federal law did not recognize same-sex marriage, so B-2 was the only path for a same-sex spouse. That changed with United States v. Windsor in 2013. The State Department now treats a same-sex marriage as valid for visa purposes if it is recognized where it was celebrated, and it does so even when the applicant is applying in a country where such marriages are illegal. A married same-sex couple should generally seek the ordinary derivative visa. The B-2 route now matters chiefly for couples who are not married.
A civil union, registered domestic partnership or common-law relationship counts as a marriage for visa purposes only if the place where it was created treats it as equivalent to marriage in every respect. In practice that means the relationship can be ended only by death or divorce, carries a potential right to alimony, carries a right to inherit if a partner dies without a will, and carries custody rights over children. Most partnership registrations do not clear all four hurdles — which is precisely why the B-2 option remains necessary.
Nothing about this guidance relaxes the ordinary standard for a visitor visa. The applicant must satisfy a consular officer on three points.
Coming to the United States to be with a partner, parent or child who is temporarily working or studying here is travel for pleasure within the meaning of the statute. What controls is the primary purpose of the trip. If the primary purpose is to accompany the principal and not to work, B-2 is the correct classification. If the applicant intends to take a job, no amount of relationship evidence will help — that person needs an employment-based visa in their own right.
This is the point most often misunderstood, by applicants and occasionally by officers. The Manual is explicit that the absolute length of stay is not controlling. What matters is whether the stay has a finite limit rather than an indefinite one. A partner who will accompany a principal on a two-year assignment and leave with them, or who will remain for the duration of a four-year degree program, meets the temporariness requirement. The applicant should be able to describe specific and realistic plans for the whole period, and the end point should be tied to something concrete — the assignment, the program, the principal's status.
Here is the trap that catches sophisticated families. Several categories of principal are exempt from the requirement to maintain a residence abroad, or are permitted dual intent: H-1B and L in particular, along with A, G, E, I, O and R. That exemption does not extend to a B-2 partner. Only B, F, H (other than H-1), J, M, O-2, P and Q applicants are subject to the residence-abroad test, and the accompanying partner is in the B box no matter how comfortable the principal's own position is.
So the officer will look at the partner's own circumstances and prospects on return, the strength and duration of the relationship, and the principal's ties abroad. A couple who have lived together for many years, are both established at home, and are returning to jobs and property normally do well. A relationship of a few months, with an applicant who has little of their own to return to, is a hard case — and will usually be refused under section 214(b).
Approval of the visa is only the first step. Two practical points make the difference between a smooth stay and a scramble.
The Manual encourages consular officers to annotate the visa with the purpose of travel and the intended length of stay. Ask for it. That annotation is what tells the inspecting officer at the airport that this is a recognized long-stay B-2 case rather than an ordinary tourist who has overreached, and it makes later extension requests much easier to explain.
The visa lets you travel; Customs and Border Protection decides how long you may remain, and records it on your Form I-94. One year is the maximum initial admission available in B status, and six months is what officers most often grant by default. If your plans call for more than six months, say so and ask for the year at the time of admission.
After that, extensions are requested from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, in increments of up to six months, and may be granted for the duration of the principal's nonimmigrant status. There is no absolute statutory ceiling on time spent in B-2 status in these cases, but each extension is discretionary and must be filed before the current I-94 expires — USCIS suggests at least 45 days ahead. Do not let a filing lapse; falling out of status is far harder to fix than staying in it.
Cases in this category are won on documentation. Applicants should be ready to show, in substance:
Consular practice has tightened considerably since this guidance was written, and long-stay B-2 cases attract attention. In-person interviews became near-universal on October 1, 2025. Since July 2026 applicants are directed to apply in their country of nationality or residence. Vetting has expanded, a visa bond pilot now applies to nationals of a long list of countries, and posts occasionally suspend services at short notice. None of this changes the substantive rule, but it does mean that timelines are longer and that an unprepared interview is costly.
It is also worth weighing the alternatives honestly. For some couples marriage is the simpler answer, because a spouse gets a derivative visa, sometimes with work authorization. For others, the partner may qualify independently — an H-1B, O-1 or F-1 of their own is a stronger position than any B-2. For an elderly parent, a series of ordinary visits may serve better than an unbroken multi-year stay.
These cases turn on presentation as much as on law: the right classification requested, the right annotation obtained, the right evidence assembled, and extensions filed on time. If you are planning a move to the United States and your household does not fit neatly into the derivative categories, please contact our office before the principal's visa interview, not after.