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E-2 Visa Information & Application Process

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Visas are mere entry documents and are usually issued for various categories. Basically without migrating to the US, it is buying an entry to the US. E2 visa is an Investor visa and is considered as a non immigrant visa which allows one to live and work in the US based on the investment. This in turn will help one to contribute to the economy of the US.

Qualifications for an E2 visa:

Each visa category requires certain qualifications to be met. The qualifications required for E2 visa are as follows:

  • You have to be a national of a treaty country which means the country maintains the commerce and navigation with the United States for the E2 visa purposes.
  • Your investment must be sufficient enough to operate the enterprise though it is on the higher side or low side
  • Your investment should be a true operating enterprise rather than passive investment which does not qualify.
  • Your investment should have the capacity to generate more income and have a substantial impact in the US
  • You should have a control of funds and should bear the risk of investment

The E 2 treaty visas generally allow bilateral agreement with the foreign nationals and the US with a substantial amount invested by the foreign nationals which will help in the development of the enterprise. The E2 visa is beneficial in many ways like:

  • You can work in the US legally.
  • With a valid E2 Visa you can travel freely in and out of the US.
  • By maintaining a valid E2 visa you can stay for a long time with unlimited two year extensions.
  • You can bring your spouse and children who are your dependents to stay with you in the US.
  • Your spouse can apply for work by filing for an Employment Authorization Document.

The individuals having the E2 visas can also do the following:

  • Substantial investment on an already existing US enterprise.
  • Directing and developing the enterprise in which they have invested.
  • Direct and develop investments from the treaty country.

Regardless of the nationality, the spouse and the unmarried children who are below the age of 21, will receive derivative E2 visas to accompany the principal alien. The E2 visas are generally applied at the US Consulate or the Embassy having the jurisdiction over the place of the permanent residence. Generally an interview is conducted by the embassy as a part of the application process. Individuals who are less than 13 years of age and more than 80 years of age are not required to take the interview. The E 2 visa application process varies from place to place. Before submitting the application the requirements should be reviewed.

Generally the treaty visas are issued for four to five years. These visas can be extended for an unlimited number of times depending on the investments and will be reissued for an additional five years if required. The E2 visa treaty visa will not allow you to permanently stay in the US.


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Business StartUp Visa for US

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On February 24, the first positive US Immigration reform legislation was officially introduced to Congress co-sponsored by Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Lugar (R-IN). As you know we strongly opposed the H1B visa and L1 visa reform legislation introduced to Congress by Senator Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Grassley (R-IA) as being short-sighted, anti immigrant and ultimately bad for the US and the US economy.

So this new bill titled the StartUp Visa Act of 2010 has been what many venture capitalists, industry leaders in the Silicon Valley and technology space and prominent academics like Vivek Wadhwa had been calling for to help drive job creation and increase America’s global competitiveness by allowing immigrant entrepreneurs to remain in the US and innovate. Ultimately bringing great wealth to the US, thousands of new jobs to the US economy and ultimately prosperity to the US economy and people as a whole via greater tax revenues.

There is great precedent for this as according to American Made: The Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Professionals on U.S. Competitiveness, a 2006 study commissioned by the National Venture Capital Association, 25% of U.S. public companies that were backed by venture capital had immigrant founders. The list reads like a who’s who of the tech industry with Intel, Sun Microsystems, eBay, Yahoo and Google. Additionally of current venture funded organizations, that number rises to 50% for immigrant founded companies.

So you can see we are talking about millions of Americans directly and indirectly employed and involved in these industries and a huge injection to the US economy as a whole that if it didn’t exist in whole or partially would mean a radically different US today and most probably a completely new world economic superpower where these companies did reside.

Essentially a new visa category would be created called EB-6 for immigrant entrepreneurs, and take a portion of visas from the current EB-5 visa category which allows foreigners who invest a minimum of $1 million into the U.S. economy, and create ten jobs to be able to get a green card.  The EB-5 has many strict conditions attached to it, including around location of operation making it a less desirable option.

The StartUp visa will be made available to qualified candidates if they can suffice the following criteria;

– have a qualified venture capitalist or angel investor that has invested a minimum of at least $100,000 per immigrant founder, totaling a minimum amount of $250,000
– following proof of securing the initial funding capital, after two years, the immigrant can show that he or she has generated at least five full-time jobs in the United States (beyond immediate family members), and attracted another 1 million in investment funding or generated $1 million in revenue, then that person would receive permanent resident status (i.e. a green card)

Already as mentioned this has wide industry support but no doubt the dark forces of short-sighted lobby groups, bigoted members of society and dopey congress people will no doubt not see any of this overwhelming evidence and try and torpedo this effort at true US Immigration reform that benefits the country.

To read some extra details about this new StartUp Visa and the full Act itself go to the highlighted link.and also sign their petition in support of the legislation.

CJ

P.S. There is a major Immigration Rally taking place in Washington DC on Sunday March 21  organized by over 700 committed organization championing real change and you can click on the link to either participate or support this great cause.