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E2 Visas

February 2, 2008 · 3 Comments

As I start to come to the realization that getting an H1b is almost impossible I have been exploring the E2 investor option. I do have some money to invest but the entire E2 visa is hard to understand. Can i start my own business with the visa? I understand it is for investment but do i need American partners to do so? I currently have friends who own two major Italian restaurants in NYC, they are interested in starting a Pizza chain and I was thinking of investing around 100,000 into this new business, would this qualify me for the E2 visa? Any comments would be great…

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3 responses so far ↓

  • Allen Taylor // February 2, 2008 at 2:35 pm

    I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.

    Allen Taylor

  • NicholsEberth // February 14, 2008 at 5:51 pm

    Unfortunately the Regulations prohibit franchises as qualified investments for either E2 or EB5 status. I have never figured out why that is the case, but it is the current state of the law.

    Yes, you can start a brand new business of any sort. However, the more traditional the business (i.e. brick and mortar) the easier. I have filed and received subsequent approval on high-tech ventures and mixed multi-media companies, but you will need a far more comprehensive business plan with five year pro-formas included.

    An E2 application is 50% immigration law and 50% business law.

    One issue to examine is that if you are in the US you can change status to the E2, but the moment you leave you essentially have to re-do the application at the US Consul in your country. This may not be a major issue, but in some countries (in particular South Korea) this can be difficult.

    Edward Walters

    http://www.michiganattorney.com

  • laurentk // February 20, 2008 at 11:01 am

    The E2 visa is apparently not that difficult to get, but the information you get from the lawyers seem to vary from one to another …

    However, some very simple rules apply (51% of the stock must be owned by people/companies of your nationality, investment must be available at full and not a loan,… ;) , and of course logic (you must prove that you will employ americans in the coming years).

    Email me if you wanna chat about that, and good luck !

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