Your H-1B employment ended, and you filed Form I-539 to request a change to B-2 so you could remain in the United States temporarily. Months later, while your application is still pending, USCIS sends a Request for Evidence (RFE) asking how you have spent your time: Where have you traveled? Whom have you visited? Where have you stayed? How have you supported yourself, and what are your plans for departure? These questions can be difficult to answer if you did not expect to document your activities – and a short RFE response period can make gathering that evidence even more challenging.

USCIS has scrutinized B-2 requests that primarily describe job searching or wrapping up personal affairs after H-1B employment ends, and it may find those explanations insufficient to establish eligibility for a temporary visit for pleasure. Your response should therefore clearly identify and document your actual qualifying visitor activities, such as tourism, visits with friends and family, or rest. Job searching and preparing for departure may be part of your circumstances, but they should not replace an explanation of the temporary visitor purpose you are asking USCIS to approve.

So how can you prepare while your application is pending, and how should you respond if an RFE arrives? A strong response explains what you actually did, connects those activities to a legitimate temporary visitor purpose, and supports your account with available records. It should also address any other issues raised in the RFE, which may include your financial resources, residence abroad, and plans to leave the United States.

Below, we explain the types of activities and evidence that may be relevant, how to account for completed activities and future plans, and how to organize a clear, well-supported B-2 RFE response.

What USCIS Is Evaluating in a B-2 Application and Common RFE Requests: B-2 is a temporary visitor classification for individuals who intend to visit the United States for a qualifying purpose and maintain a residence abroad they do not intend to abandon. Due to these requirements, the principal issues noted in a B-2 RFE generally include:

• A qualifying temporary purpose: Explain why you requested B-2 and why the requested duration fits that purpose;
• Financial support: Show how you can cover the stay and departure without unauthorized employment;
• A residence abroad and departure plans: Explain your continuing foreign residence and how the visit will end;
• Compliance with visitor restrictions: B-2 does not authorize employment or enrollment in a course of study requiring student status.

For many individuals, by the time USCIS reviews the B-2 change of status application, much of the requested period may already have elapsed, leaving the USCIS officer with questions about the validity of the requested period and proposed activities, whether these activities have been completed and are ongoing, whether there is a need to grant even more time than has already elapsed, why more time is required if the duration has already exceeded the requested time, etc. The officer may therefore request evidence of actual conduct, rather than rely only on the original proposed itinerary that was submitted several months prior.

Common issues that may appear in these RFEs include maintenance of H-1B status, the purpose and length of the requested visit, completed travel and family visits, evidence of sufficient financial support, ongoing foreign residence that will be returned to, and concrete departure arrangements or the ability to make these arrangements. USCIS may also request a comprehensive record of activities, trips, and visits, names and addresses of those you stayed with, and addresses and dates where you stayed overnight for the entire duration of requested B-2 stay up to the point of RFE issuance.

These are all subjects to anticipate and prepare for in the months that the application is pending – particularly in the current adjudication climate where USCIS is routinely offering only roughly 30 days to respond to an RFE. Every day counts, and having these documents ready in case of an RFE can save valuable time.

Which Activities Are Qualifying B-2 Activities? The State Department’s visa regulation includes “tourism, amusement, visits with friends or relatives, rest, medical treatment” within pleasure. Although this regulation governs visa issuance, it provides useful context for recognized visitor purposes. Below is a list of potential qualifying activities under each general activity category. Though not comprehensive, this may help you begin to brainstorm what activities you can account for during your temporary stay, and what evidence you can begin gathering from your records, friends, and family while you wait for USCIS to adjudicate your application.

• Tourism, amusement, family visits, and social events: Sightseeing, vacations, visits with friends or relatives, and attending a family wedding can support a visitor explanation. A genuine family visit does not become invalid because you stayed in a relative’s home rather than a hotel;
• Rest after the conclusion of employment and between trips can be part of a temporary visit. You do not need to invent sightseeing for every day. However, merely labeling several months as “rest” does not establish why the entire requested period is appropriate. Explain where you stayed, how that time fit the visit, and what brought or will bring it to an end;
• Medical treatment. Where treatment is the actual purpose, explain the treatment schedule, anticipated duration, costs, and payment arrangements. Provider letters, appointment records, and billing documents can help connect the requested time to that purpose;

Which Activities are Not Qualifying B-2 Activities, and Which Should Be Addressed with Caution? B-2 permits a temporary visit for pleasure, but it does not authorize employment, degree study, or indefinite residence in the United States. Continuing a former job, freelancing, consulting, gig work, or performing productive services for a business can raise unauthorized-employment concerns, even if the work is unpaid or compensation comes from abroad. Operating a business, participating in an internship or training program, and providing unpaid services also require careful review. Certain short recreational classes and unpaid amateur events may be permissible, but the nature and purpose of the activity matter. If an RFE asks about your activities, describe them accurately and consult an attorney about any that may raise questions.

Common RFE Requests and What Can Be Prepared as Evidence: The evidence you need will depend on your circumstances and the specific questions in your RFE. The following examples explain common requests and the types of records you can gather to help document your activities, financial support, foreign ties, and departure plans.

Tourist Activities and Places Visited

• What USCIS may ask for: A list of towns, cities, attractions, dates, and supporting documents for activities during a specified period.
• How to respond: Prepare a chronological table with dates, destination, activity, accommodation, and corresponding evidence. Identify actual destinations rather than listing only states or airports. Explain whether a trip was a day visit or included overnight stays. Useful corroboration includes boarding passes, transportation records, hotel invoices, attraction tickets, rental-car records, dated photographs, and relevant account transactions. A reservation shows a booking; a boarding pass, completed-stay invoice, or related transaction may better support that the trip occurred.

Visits With Friends or Relatives and Family Weddings

• What USCIS may ask for: Names, relationships, addresses, visit dates, and letters or affidavits from the people visited.
• How to respond: Identify each person and distinguish lodging from a daytime visit. A host’s signed, dated letter should describe the relationship, location, dates, purpose of the visit, whether accommodation or meals were provided, and the writer’s contact information. Follow any specific affidavit or other documentation requirement in the notice. For a wedding, combine the invitation or event information with travel evidence, photographs with explanatory captions, and a host or family letter. If you stayed before or after the ceremony, explain that additional family time instead of suggesting that a one-day event accounts for the entire stay.

Rest and Time Between Trips

• What USCIS may ask for: An explanation of activities throughout the requested period, including gaps in the travel history.
• How to respond: Describe where you stayed and how the periods between trips fit the temporary visit. Housing records, host letters, and ordinary spending records can corroborate your location and support, although they do not independently prove a visitor purpose. For example, a statement might truthfully explain that you returned to your temporary accommodation after a family visit, rested for two weeks, and then traveled to another relative’s home. There is no need for a receipt proving each day of rest. There should be an understandable account of significant periods that the itinerary otherwise leaves unexplained.

Financial Support and the Absence of Unauthorized Work

• What USCIS may ask for: Bank statements, sources of funds, expenses, third-party support, or explanations for deposits after employment ended.
• How to respond: Connect available resources to the actual cost of housing, food, transportation, insurance, and departure. Statements spanning the requested period can show how the stay was funded; current statements help explain any remaining proposed stay. Distinguish accessible cash from investments that would need to be sold and credit that would create debt. If a relative paid expenses or provided free lodging, obtain a letter identifying the assistance, duration, and relationship. Provide evidence of the supporter’s ability to supply that assistance when relevant or requested. Explain significant deposits with records showing whether they were savings transfers, gifts, refunds, investment proceeds, or payments attributable to earlier employment.

Residence Abroad and Continuing Foreign Ties

• What USCIS may ask for: Evidence of your foreign residence, family or financial ties, and the effect of the U.S. stay on foreign employment or residency.
• How to respond: Explain the actual living arrangement abroad. Relevant evidence may include a lease, property records, household records, or a family member’s letter confirming that you maintain a home there and are expected to return and continue living there after your time in the United States. If you live with your parents, say so; do not imply that you own their property. Discuss genuine family responsibilities, professional commitments, or other obligations abroad where relevant. If there is no current foreign job, explain that fact rather than inventing one. Address how these facts support a temporary visit and a continuing residence abroad.

Departure Arrangements and Remaining U.S. Obligations

• What USCIS may ask for: When and how you will leave, how you will pay for travel, and whether remaining U.S. commitments undermine the temporary nature of the stay.
• How to respond: Provide a realistic proposed departure date or timeframe, destination, available funds, and any actual reservations. Clearly distinguish a proposed flight from a purchased ticket. Reward-point balances may help show a transportation resource, but explain their practical availability rather than treating points as equivalent to a confirmed flight. An existing lease, vehicle loan, or household belongings may explain departure preparations. Support that explanation with lease-end or sublease correspondence, shipping estimates, vehicle-sale arrangements, or records of disposing of belongings, as appropriate. These obligations help to establish the full context of your stay and anticipated timeline

Gathering Evidence for Completed Activities, Itinerary Changes, and Ongoing Leisure Plans: For completed activities, use records of what actually happened. Reconstruct the chronology from reservation emails, photographs, messages, account histories, and host recollections. Identify approximate dates as approximate. If a trip was canceled, distinguish the original plan from the activity that replaced it.

For future activities, provide a separate proposed itinerary identifying destinations, anticipated dates, hosts or accommodations, estimated costs, and the expected end of the visit. Invitations, host correspondence, tentative reservations, and a realistic budget can support those plans. Label tentative arrangements honestly; purchasing unnecessary nonrefundable travel does not cure a weak explanation.

Future plans cannot replace an answer about past conduct. Conversely, a record of completed trips may not explain why additional time is needed. Where the RFE reaches both subjects, address each separately and explain changes from the original application. Keep the chronology consistent across the personal statement, activity tables, and supporting documents so the officer can readily distinguish completed events from proposed activities.

Next Steps for Responding to a B-2 RFE: Receiving an RFE does not mean your B-2 application will be denied. It is an opportunity to provide USCIS with a clearer picture of your temporary stay and address the questions raised in the notice. A detailed personal statement, an organized chronology of your activities, and supporting documentation can help demonstrate what you have done, how you have supported yourself, and how your plans remain consistent with a temporary visit.

Because each RFE and immigration history is different, consulting an experienced immigration attorney can help you identify the issues USCIS is asking about, gather relevant evidence, and prepare a complete response by the deadline. If you have received a B-2 RFE after your H-1B employment ended, contact Reddy Neumann Brown PC to discuss your case and the steps needed to respond.

For more information or to discuss B-2 Change of Status RFE, please schedule a consultation here.

By: Kasey Shell

As an Associate Attorney at Reddy Neumann Brown PC, I advise individuals and companies on a range of employment-based immigrant and nonimmigrant visa matters. My work includes preparing and reviewing H-1B and other nonimmigrant visa petitions, I-140 immigrant petitions, I-485 adjustment of status applications, and responses to Requests for Evidence and other USCIS inquiries. I also counsel clients on immigration strategy, eligibility, case planning, and maintaining compliance throughout the immigration process.