Tag: e2 cbi

L-1 Visa for Manager of Small Business

New E-2 Visa Approval as Embassies Grind Back into Gear Worldwide

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Davies & Associates secured yet another approval for an E-2 Treaty Visa client, this time for a Pakistani client who is starting up a marketing consultancy in the United States. The client’s E-2 approval – at the US embassy in Islamabad – shows that visa processing is slowly returning to normal after the disruption caused by Covid-19.

The situation continues to remain mixed globally. The availability of visa appointments depends upon local restrictions and the level of pent-up demand. If you are hoping to move your business and/or family to the US soon, it could be wise to prepare an application and position yourself in the queue. While visa processing for the E-2 visa takes place at embassies,  L-1 Visa USA applications and EB-5 Visa applications also required the involvement of the US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), which has also been affected by Covid-related shutdowns and slowdowns.

The E-2 approval in Islamabad follows on from a recent E-2 approval for a client from the US embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh, pointing to the green shoots of recovery.

E-2 Visa Company

The Pakistani E-2 Treaty Investor will operate a marketing consulting company that offers blended perspectives on technology architecture, human psychology, user experience design, and communications. Unlike competitors that focus on one angle, the company can use its collective insights and experiences to deliver projects, ideas, or strategies that are more nuanced and cohesive.

The E-2 Company offers ongoing communication services, time-bound services, and strategic brand development services, as well as content-based products such as online courses and books. The Company operates on a service-based business model, where revenue is generated from short-term client contracts (fixed price and duration) and long-term client contracts (ongoing monthly retainers).

E-2 Visa Investment Amount

The applicant invested $100,000 in the new business. There is no fixed investment amount for an E-2 Visa, but normally the US authorities expect an investment upwards of $100,000. That said, we have managed to secure visas for clients investing less than this. The investment does not need to all be cash; inventory and IP can also be acceptable forms of investment.

The client received the $100,000 as a gift from her father. Gifts are an acceptable source of funds for US investor visas – but the person gifting the money may also need to document the source of their funds. In order to minimize the client’s, her risk money was committed to an Escrow account. This allows her to demonstrate her plan to invest, but allowed her to regain the cash should her application not succeed.

E-2 Visa Eligibility

To be eligible for an E-2 Visa you must be a citizen of a Treaty Country. Click here to check the list of countries. If your country is not on the list, you can become eligible for the E-2 Visa by first obtaining citizenship by investment of Grenada. Grenada offers a fast and cost-effective route to citizenship. Processing has continued in Grenada during the Covid pandemic.

To learn more about the E-2 Visa, please contact Verdie Atienza, Senior Immigration Attorney and Head of E-2 & L-1 Visa Practice at Davies & Associates.

This article is published for clients, friends and other interested visitors for information purposes only. The contents of the article do not constitute legal advice and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Davies & Associates or any of its attorneys, staff or clients. External links are not an endorsement of the content.

US Citizenship parents

Do the Employees of E-2 Treaty Investors Qualify for US Visas?

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By Verdie Atienza, Senior Immigration Attorney, Head of E-2 Visa Practice, Davies & Associates

There is a wealth of information regarding the  USA E2 Visa, but not a lot of people know that the E-2 Enterprise may also file an application for a foreign national of the same nationality as the E-2 Treaty Investor to qualify for an E-2 Treaty Employee visa. The E-2 employee may be an executive or supervisory employee. The employee may also be employed in a lesser capacity provided  that he or she has special qualifications.

It should be noted that the E-2 Treaty Investor need not be an individual. The E-2 Treaty Investor may also be an enterprise or organization at least 50% owned by persons in the United States who have the nationality of the treaty country. 

More interestingly, these owners do not necessarily have to maintain nonimmigrant E-2 treaty investor status in the U.S. They just need to be classifiable as nonimmigrant treaty investors, if they were to seek admission to the U.S. In this regard, an E-2 enterprise may still bring E-2 treaty employees to the U.S. even if the E-2 Treaty Investor does not want to apply for the visa or if the E-2 Treaty Investor is actually an organization or an entity.

To qualify for E-2 treaty employee visa, the duties of the applicant must be executive or supervisory character, which means that he or she will have ultimate control and responsibility for the enterprise’s overall operation, or a major component of it.  If the applicant is seeking to apply as someone with special qualifications, the skills and/or aptitudes must make the employee’s services essential to the efficient operation of the treaty enterprise. 

There are several qualities or circumstances that could, depending on the facts, meet this requirement. These include, but are not limited to:   

  • The degree of proven expertise in the employee’s area of operations
  • Whether others possess the employee’s specific skills
  • The salary that the special qualifications can command
  • Whether the skills and qualifications are readily available in the United States.

It should be noted that knowledge of a foreign language and culture does not, by itself, meet this requirement. 

D&A recently obtained an E-2 Treaty Employee for a UK national to occupy a General Manager position of an E-2 company engaged in selling gold coins and bars through its user-friendly online platform. The company builds on the expertise of its highly successful affiliate in London, which operates in the same industry. The E-2 Company specializes in the sales of LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) approved gold and silver bars and coins to both national and international clients. 

The E-2 investment was made by a UK entity that is owned by a UK national who does not wish to enter the US on an E-2 Treaty Investor visa.

To find out more about the E-2 Treaty Investor Visa, click here.

This article is published for clients, friends and other interested visitors for information purposes only. The contents of the article do not constitute legal advice and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Davies & Associates or any of its attorneys, staff or clients. External links are not an endorsement of the content.