Working Visa for wedding in U.S.?

[teresa_m.1]

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>We are wedding two photographers from Austria based in Germany, and a friend of ours asked us to photograph his wedding in New York next year. He will be paying us, though obviously not the rate we would normally ask.<br>

<br />I would have loved to tell him "Yes!" right away, but I´m a bit worried as I´ve heard that the rules are quite strict in that respect - do any of you (Europeans) have experiences with short-term working visas for the U.S.? Do we need one? If yes, are we likely to get one?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot!<br />Teresa</p>

[irusan]

<p>You will need a Visa (probably) since you are "working". Is your friend in the US? If so, that could complicate things further because you will be asked 'isn't there an American wedding photographer available?' You do NOT want to get caught trying to come in under false pretenses (by lying and saying you're here on vacation).</p>

<p>This is definitely a case where your best course of action is to consult the closest US Consulate or the embassy. Only they will be able to definitively answer your question.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

[steve_c.5]

<p>Teresa, I have photographed weddings where a number of the guests were from Germany and other countries. Now, they could as easily have been there with cameras to photograph the event, and nobody would have said a thing. This is a free country, and we don't have polizei monitoring such activities here, checking work visas, etc. at such an event. If you come here with cameras, nobody needs to know you are working or being paid to photograph the event...and nobody will ask. You are simply a tourist or visitor to our country, with a hobby of photography, and welcome to bring your equipment and enjoy photographing the event. I would try to travel light, though, to make your traveling easier and have less risk of equipment being lost or damaged. I would also keep your equipment in your overhead compartment during the trip rather than risk losing it through baggage handlers.</p>

<p>The only time it might become of interest to our immigration department is if you are here on an extended stay or coming to the country to get an ongoing, day-to-day, formal job of some kind. We had an Austrian nanny one time, and that was the situation with her.</p>

[sattler123]

<p>In theory, yes, you would need a work visa and unfortunately you wouldn't get one - the rules are very strict and there is just no way the INS would give you a visa to photograph a wedding. I see no reason why you could not just shoot the wedding with your camera gear - if you need lights, etc. just rent it locally. Who could possibly have any interest in going after you?</p>

[steve_c.5]

<p>If you are coming to visit and photograph one wedding, then don't worry about this. If you're coming to stay a long time and do a bunch of weddings, then it would be an issue.</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>I agree. As long as you're traveling with a single bag of gear and tell Customs you're just a tourist, nobody is going to bother you. If you were a travel photographer, nobody would demand that you get a visa to shoot pictures of the Empire State Building, Washington Monument or Grand Canyon, and the equipment you're carrying is pretty much the same so they're not going to notice the difference. It's New York, so you can rent anything you need.</p>

[mark_t5]

<p>While technically you should get a working visa because you are getting paid for a job, don't bother cuz you aint gonna get it.<br>

US working visa runs out the day they are released in October of every year. Plenty of workers file applications way in advance to hope to wait in line to get one and a lot are turned away because the demand simply way outnumbers the supply. If the PhD's aint getting their visa, you can bet that you won't either.<br>

Simply just come in as a tourist saying you are here to shoot the local scenery. They won't bother you unless you give them a reason to.<br>

<br /> This from a guy who had to be here in the US with a working visa for 10 years to get his greencard finally.</p>