Canadian Student, J-1 vs. B-2

Hi all,

I'm a Canadian PhD student, currently enrolled in a Canadian university. I am going to spend 4 months (beginning in January) at a US university, basically working on my Canadian thesis.

I will have no official status at the US university. I just have an agreement with some professors there that I can hang around the lab, ask questions, go to talks, etc.

I figure I should be able to enter the US with a B-2 status, but I am a bit worried that they might ask for J-1 (and thus a DS-2019 form, which might be hard for me to get, especially on such short notice).

Any advice on that? What should I tell the POE officer?

Thanks for the help!

Nicolas

Part-time study is okay on B-2, full-time requires F-1 or something along those lines.

Thanks for the answer, Steven. That's reassuring, since it's not even "part-time"; more like "visiting scholar" or something like that.