Business Visas For Small-Time Operators

I am beginning a small jewelry import business in the USA and need to travel to India to establish relationships with suppliers. The 'company' is just myself, and my official track record and credentials for such a venture are zero.

A proper business visa application requires both an invitation letter from a company in India, as well as a letter of sponsorship from my 'company' vouching for me. And so I have problems on both ends.

How can I get a letter of invitation from an Indian company, when I have yet to meet or establish a relationship with any? (I don't want to solicit a potential supplier for an invitation, as I worry that it would create an obligation on my part to ultimately do some kind of business with them whether I thought they were a good outfit or not.)

And how does a 1 person sole proprietorship (which is a very legal business entity in the USA) write a sponsorship letter on it's own behalf?

I'm tempted to just go on a tourist visa, and chance it. Is this risky? Several of the cooperatives that I may be interested in potentially buying from have layers of red tape that they must go through before export orders are approved. And so I'm concerned that I will end up crossing paths with some government paper shuffler or jittery exporter who is going to expect to see good business visa credentials.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Try to jumpstart your business by importing stuff from south of the border a.k.a mexico. If you can make that work, then move to working the India sourcing into the mix. If your business fails, it will fail for reasons other than for the want of B visa requirements.


Running any business from scratch is hard work. On top of it, you will eventually have to show invoicing of about USD 200,000 per year as far as India is concerned. Talk to a tax accountant in the state of your incorporation (or would you rather register it in Romneyland ? Cayman Isl., Bahamas, BVI ? )

If the reason for wanting a B visa is other than running a jewelry business from scratch, then try to achieve that goal without paying for Maalox ®