It is important to remember that visa E-2 is a treaty visa and is available only to nationals of countries who had signed and ratified the respective treaty with the United States. This list is subject to updates so be sure to check it if you haven’t for a while. You can view current list of treaty countries on the Department of State’s website: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/fees/treaty.html
Although both L-1A and E-2 visas are suited for individuals who own or manage business at senior levels, the emphasis differs greatly.
Visa L-1A application eligibility review will have a less focus on viability of business itself but rather on a ‘seniority’ of a position of a proposed visa L-1A beneficiary and number of employees hired by the business.
To the contrary, USCIS officers will much more closely look at business’ viability, size of investment and amounts of profit that it generates when reviewing visa e-2 application.
Therefore, not all businesses you may want to start or buy will be suitable for your E-2 visa qualification.
To qualify you for visa E-2, business must be bona fide i.e. it must be a real, active and entrepreneurial undertaking. Buying an apartment and passively renting it out to a tenant is not the type of ‘business’ that will hand you an approval for your E-2 visa application.
It should not also be qualified as a ‘marginal’ one, meaning that your business should produce more income than it is only enough to provide a minimal living for you and you family.
Though there is no formal requirement as to the minimum dollar amount of investment that must be made, not every business will qualify you for E-2 visa.
You can view full list of requirements on the USCIS official website: https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/e-2-treaty-investors
There are several types of businesses you can consider that include existing businesses you can buy, businesses you can start from scratch and businesses you can start under a franchise.
The latter option can often be the most beneficial because when you go with a franchise business, you leverage other people’s experience in the industry and have ongoing support from the franchise management team.
Contact Filimonov Law Firm PLLC and let’s start planning your E-2 visa case.
Why us? We are uniquely positioned as one of the very few law firms in the US who can offer business immigration at it’s fullest.
Before coming to the United States, Mr. Filimonov practiced as Russian business and corporate attorney. He understands both the nature of business in general, as well as it’s legal component.
Mr. Filimonov has offered transaction support and legal services in acquisition of properties and enterprises with a combined value of more than $300 Millions of US Dollars. businesses He knows first-hands all practices and specifics of doing and structuring business in former CIS countries, including variety of cross-border arrangements, and is able to identify every opportunity one may have to qualify for E-2 visa and, often, a Green Card.
This article provides general outlook of the recent practices and was written for informational purposes only. Nothing in this article should be construed as, or considered to be a legal advice. You should not act, or refrain from acting, or rely on the basis of any information contained in this article or on the US-Immigration.law website without seeking and retaining the advice of an attorney.
]]>Visa L-1A is probably the most ‘famous’ and affordable visa of three major so-called ‘business’ visas used by businessmen and investors seeking to work in, or immigrate to the United States.
Why? Visa L-1A is a great alternative to more ‘expensive’ EB-5 Immigrant visa. Visa L-1A is dual-intent which means that holder of L visa often can apply for the Green Card almost immediately, provided that he or she meets certain requirements. Visa L-1A has no requirement as to the size of an investment that must be made in order to qualify for the visa. Unlike treaty visas E-1/E-2, visa L-1A available to virtually any national without any ‘nationality’ limitations.
There are multiple online resources listing visa L eligibility criteria but, unfortunately, most of them contain incomplete or outdated information. We recommend to always check the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) official website for most accurate and up to date information.
However, in this article we would like to address certain practical aspects that aren’t normally covered by other sources.
Should you choose Visa L-1A, E-2 or EB-5 if you are eligible for any of them? Yes, visa L-1A is arguably the best option because – unlike visa E – it is dual-intent and you keep more flexibility in terms of your business as it is often the case with EB-5 visas because of certain requirements it imposes on the business you start, buy or invest in. Also, as mentioned above, in many cases it may take less time from Visa L approval to getting your non-conditional Green Card than with EB-5 Visas. However, Visa L-1A is associated with several problems that often discourage individuals seeking to buy existing or start a new business in the US.
Filimonov Law Firm, PLLC prides itself in elaboration of certain proprietary strategies that allow you to mitigate or completely overcome many of these challenges that are briefly outlined below.
First: Timing of employment requirement. An individual seeking visa L-1A must be employed at a senior level at existing foreign business for at least 1 out of 3 trailing years. Many businessmen see this as an unresolvable problem. However sometimes it is not.
Second: Meeting “Executive” definition. To qualify for L-1A visa, you must be employed at a top level executive position which means you should not be ‘hands-on’ on many tasks that traditionally would have been delegated to lower-level executives and middle management or other staff. Therefore, a smaller business, such as auto repair shop or small pizza take-out restaurant, can be unsuitable for L-1A visa qualification. But, although, it is not possible to absolutely mitigate risks of USCIS seeing you not meeting ‘executive’ requirement, there are lawful but little-known strategies that will allow you to structure and position you business role the way you will meet this requirement.
Third: Visa extension after 1st year. If you are just opening your business in the US, you will receive Visa L-1A for one year only, and will need to apply for an extension, – or a Green Card, – at the end of this first year of your new business. But running a business has never been easy, specifically during it’s first years, with hardships rising exponentially in an unfamiliar business and cultural environment. Many L-1A visa holders can not make it through the first year and end up with visa not being extended. Therefore, it is important to affectively address variety of issues arising during the first year of holding your visa L-1A when applying for visa extension or status change.
All these – and many other – issues can be effectively addressed, and visa denial risks mitigated, by planning your business immigration strategy in advance, before you come to the United States to extend existing, or find your ‘dream’, business here. At Filimonov Law Firm PLLC we can offer you effective strategies you can employ that will be 100% compliant with existing US Immigration Law.
Contact Filimonov Law Firm PLLC and let’s start planning your L-1A visa case.
Why us? We are uniquely positioned as one of the very few law firms in the US who can offer business immigration at it’s fullest.
Before coming to the United States, Mr. Filimonov practiced as Russian business and corporate attorney. He understands both the nature of business in general, as well as it’s legal component. He knows first-hands all practices and specifics of doing and structuring business in former CIS countries, including variety of cross-border arrangements, and is able to identify every opportunity one may have to qualify for L-1A visa and, subsequently, a Green Card.
]]>Visa O-1 allows creative and artistic persons that have notable achievements is their field, to come to legally live and work in the United States. However, the definition is too vague and is lacking a lot of more specific information that can be ‘consumed’ by a non-lawyer, and it often can be unclear what types of occupation can be considered for O-1 visa application and approval.
In fact, there are multiple professions that can potentially qualify you for visa O1, with a list of such professions aggregated below. If you are an artistic and creative person, please, read through this list of professions to find if visa O-1 can be the right visa for you.
Visa O-1 for Music Professionals: Conductors, vocalists, accompanists or soloists (various music instruments), sound producers and sound engineers, art and creative directors, song writers, composers, music producers, disc jockeys,
Visa O-1 for Ballet, Choreography and Dance professionals: Dancers, choreographers, directors, dance writers, producers, art and creative directors, production directors.
Visa O-1 for Writing and Publishing Professionals: writers, authors, editors, publishers, journalists, professional critics.
Visa O-1 for Theater, Television and Motion Picture Industry Professionals: performers of various genres, actors, costume and makeup designers, playwriters and screenwriters, producers, directors, dramaturgs.
Visa O-1 for Fashion and Clothing Industry Professionals: fashion and clothing designers, textile and accessory designers, art and creative directors, production directors, visual presenters and stylists.
Visa O-1 for Photography and Visual Arts Professionals: art painters, photographers, graphic designers, special effects artists, 3D artists, animators, projection mapping artists, web designers, interior designers.
Visa O-1 for Culinary Industry Professionals: chefs and cooks.
Visa O-1 for Beauty and Fashion Professionals: makeup artists, hair, brows and eyelash stylists, stylists and fashion consultants.
Visa O-1 or a Green Card: what way to choose?
If your are a truly internationally acclaimed professional, and your background of achievements is very strong, you may be eligible to apply for a Green Card without having to apply to visa O-1 first. However, in many cases it can be a safe practice to obtain O-1 visa first and work towards strengthening your portfolio of achievements while forking in the US to improve your chances for a Green Card.
Filimonov Law Firm, PLLC can help you create your O-1 visa case and file visa application which includes the following:
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Traditionally, when O-1 visa is mentioned, we first think of athlets, celebrities or Nobel laureats. Well things have changed. Recent developments are re-shaping our reality and, as new technologies advance, they require a multitude of superior skills and allow for bigger exposure, certain types of professions have been added to consideration – and successful approval – under the EB-1 category or for Visa O-1. So, yes – these days even a digital nomad can probably get a visa reserved for Nobel laureats.
If you are an app or web applications developer, inventor, startup founder or – as often the case – wearing all the hats, – read on.
Work visa O-1 and Immigration Visa EB-1 are reserved for those of extraordinary ability or achievement in science, education, business or athletics, who can demonstrate sustained national or international acclaim.
Traditionally we would think about a Nobel prize nominated scientist or a movie star but how about humble smart phone applications that nevertheless get hundreds of thousands downloads a month, make positive change in human lives, gets a lot of mentions online and took a hell of extraordinary ability to invent, develop and promote? The good news are that this is now a new field considered for O1/EB-1.
In fact, visa O-1 has recently attained an increased popularity as an alternative to visa H1B due to the fact that during a couple of recent years it has been consistently filling it’s yearly cap within the first days of the application period leaving many extraordinary job applicants without a chance of starting their employment.
But less known is the fact that you do not necessarily have to receive a job proposal to apply and get visa based on your extraordinary ability or achievement. Many developers, inventors and startup founders can self-petition for EB-1 visa under Extraordinary Ability or Achievement sub-category and come to the Unites States as independent entrepreneurs.
In generality, ‘Extraordinary Designation’ can be satisfied by showing that applicant has received a significant internationally recognized award, such as Nobel Prize, or at least three of the following:
– receipt of nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence in the chosen field;
– membership in associations in applicant’s field which require outstanding achievements, as judged by recognized national or international experts in the field;
– published material in professional or major trade publications, newspapers or other major media about the applicant and the applicant’s work in the chosen field;
– original scientific, scholarly, or business-related contributions of major significance in the chosen field;
-authorships of scholarly articles in professional journals or other major media in the chosen field;
– a high salary or other compensation for services, as evidenced by contracts or other reliable sources of evidence;
– participation on panel, or individually, as a judge of the work of others in the chosen field or closely related field;
– employment in a critical or essential capacity for organizations and establishments that have a distinguished reputation;
Unlike with artists visas, it is not often a straightforward process to qualify an individual for visa O-1 or EB-1 as their achievements may not be as evident as ones of a famous film director or Olympic Champion.
Yes, it becomes a little bit more complex to get Visa O1 or Visa EB-1 approvals for persons in traditionally less acclaimed categories. USCIS will vigorously examine your eligibility, and has created a list of general criteria persons seeking visas based on extraordinary ability or achievement must meet.
Put more simply, you will need:
A product, software, technology or device you have created or business you’ve build based on innovations
A track record of your success and achievements
Articles, published by others about you
Let’s look at the process in more detail.
O-1 visa is relatively easier to get if you do not have rock-solid evidence of you being at the top in your category. But, since O-1 is a work visa, you will need to have a job offer from either the end user of your skills or an agency who will secure gigs for your talent.
What kind of jobs can it be? Big companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon and alike, as well as various tech start up companies where your skills can be applied in the areas of software engineering, technologies and products creation and promotion. Your employer will be a petitioner asking USCIS (US immigration service) to issue O-1 work visa for you so you can come to work for this employer in the US.
Similarly, you may get a contract with an agency company that will secure short-term job assignments for you- usually on a per-project basis – in your area of speciality and skills.
But if you were lucky enough to invent a ‘unicorn’, then you may skip the process of seeking employment and self-petition for immigration visa in EB-1 category under Extraordinary ability or Achievement subcategory.
What kind of evidence is required to prove your eligibility? Short answer is: the more – the better.
– Collect everything that proves your recognition such as award nominations, certificates, prizes and etc you got for your achievements or proof that you have been appointed to serve in juries to any contests or been invited to be an expert at any event or program in the area of your extraordinarity or achievement.
– Collect every article (paper-printed or online) about you and your work and achievements.
– Collect all your own publications in various mediums. This can even be guest blog posts or articles you written for various online resources.
– If you have won contents or received grants and secured financing to develop your project, provide proof of funds received (or arrangements made);
– Provide letters of recommendation for renowned experts in your field;
– Prove that you have worked at top level positions with responsibilities crucial to the company’s operations in the areas of your extraordinarity or achievement, i.e. you were a product director or headed all tech operations in your company, to name a few.
The more “points” you can score out of those criteria 10 listed above, the better chances you have for your visa O-1 or EB-1 be approved by USCIS.
All these materials evidencing your extraordinary ability or achievement then must be organized, translated (where necessary) and enclosed to your ‘case’ together with a support letter from your employer or yourself (if you self-petition under EB-1 category) and from I-129 (for work Visa O-1) or Form I-140 (for immigration visa EB-1).
If you find yourself eligible for O-1 or EB-1 visas and would like to get started, we invite you to set up an initial consultation to discuss your prospects and first steps.
This article provides general outlook of the current state of the tech and startup industry and recent practices in startup and business communities and was written for informational purposes only. Nothing in this article should be construed as, or considered to be a legal advice. You should not act, or refrain from acting, or rely on the basis of any information contained in this article or on the US-Immigration.law website without seeking and retaining the advice of an attorney.
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