Articles Posted in E2 Investor Visas

Many clients often ask me what is considered to be a Marginal Investment for E2 visa Purposes? The marginality of a business is also one of the most common reasons why investors in smaller businesses are denied E-2 visas. For this reason, investors must pay very close attention to this factor.

In order to qualify for E-2 status, the applicant must not have invested in a marginal enterprise solely for the purpose of earning a living for him– or herself and his or her family. A marginal business is an enterprise that does not have a present or future capacity to generate more than enough income to provide a minimal living for the treaty investor and his or her family. However, an enterprise that does not have the capacity to generate such income but does have a present or future capacity to make a significant economic contribution is not considered a marginal enterprise.

In other words, if the investment will indirectly expand job opportunities locally or otherwise have a positive significant impact on the local economy, the applicant may still qualify even though the income from the business may only be enough to sustain the investor and his or her family. For example, an investment that indirectly creates jobs in the local area should be able to establish that it is not a marginal business.

Many of our Blog readers have been inquiring about the status of the E2 visa for Israel. The following is a recent update by the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

In June 2012, President Obama signed into law legislation that adds Israel to the list of countries eligible for E-2 treaty investor visas. Regrettably, Israel nationals remain ineligible for E-2 status because of delays in implementing the new law.

The legislation is conditioned upon visa reciprocity. Accordingly, once the new law was sent to the State Department for implementation, teams from the United States and Israel began discussing the terms and conditions that E-2 status will provide to Israeli investors in the U.S. and examining whether Israel will provide similar terms and conditions for American investors in Israel. These discussions were complicated by the fact that Israeli immigration law does not currently provide for a visa category that parallels the E-2 visa.

We have been waiting anxiously for updates on the processing of the E2 Treaty for Israeli Nationals, so far no news from the Israeli side.

Recently the Law firm of Mintz Levin inquired with the US Embassy in Tel Aviv and here is a report from their end:

Recently, Mintz Levin inquired with the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv about the status of plans to implement the E-2 visa. Specifically, we requested a projected timeframe for E-2 visas to become available for our Israeli citizen clients, many of whom are waiting to file E-2 applications. The response we received indicated that the Embassy is clearly taking steps internally to be in a state of preparedness to issue E-2 visas as soon as the law is implemented. However, the news is mixed: there is a delay within the Israeli government. Specifically, the Embassy is waiting for the Israeli government to specify the reciprocal treatment to be offered to Americans seeking a comparable visa. According to the Embassy, this requires government coordination between the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Trade and Labor and possibly the Ministry of Justice.

I am writing this Blog post from a Hotel room facing the Ocean in beautiful Maui. Maui is great place to visit this time of year, unless you happen to be there in the middle of a Tsunami (we experienced a long night evacuating from our Hotel last night). During the long waiting hours, I met an interesting person, who is also an international real estate investor. He was interested in my line of work and told me several facts about investment in Hawaii.

The Hawaii Real Estate Portal has some interesting facts about Foreign investment in Hawaii:

In recent years, total of 1,596,336 non-immigrant aliens came into Hawaii. Those in some selected categories are:

The immigration business plan is a unique document because it is drafted for an audience one. The only person reading the plan will be the reviewer at the immigration service center or a consulate. These civil servants start each day with a stack of visa applications. The document on the top of the pile of papers is the business plan. The quality of the business submission will set the tone for the evaluation of the visa application.

The purpose of the business plan is to convince the reviewer that the company is capable of staying in business for 3-5 years (depending on the visa). They want these questions answered:

• What is the company’s business

We had a lot of interest in the past few weeks from our Blog readers as well as the Facebookpage (facebook.com/myimmigrationlawyer), about the future of Entrepreneurs in this country. There are many concerns that our current immigration system is driving talented people away.

I wanted to share this great article by Stuart Anderson about the American Dream.

Immigrant entrepreneurs capture the imagination and provide economic benefits to the United States. Nothing more symbolizes the American Dream than the “rags to riches” stories of immigrants who came to this country with little more than the clothes on their backs and started a successful business. Immigrants like Ovidiu Colea.

Recently, USCIS issued new procedures for applying for, submitting, and renewing E visas at the U.S. Consulate in Italy. The new procedures concern renewals, additional applicants for an already existing E visa enterprise, and first time applicants. All E visa petitions are being processed through the U.S. Consulate in Rome, Italy.

There are two types of renewals for an E visa, either with an interview or without an interview. For those cases that do not require an interview, the E visa renewal must meet the following requirements: You are a citizen or permanent resident of Italy and currently present in Italy; all ten fingerprints were captured at a prior consular interview (not at the airport); your previous visa is currently valid, or has expired within the last twelve months; you are applying for the exact same type of visa as your current/previous visa; your visa does not have Clearance Received annotated on it. If your E visa petition meets these requirements, the E visa package will require the DS 160 form, DS 156E form, last three years of corporate tax returns, passport, and original receipt of processing fee.

If the E visa renewal does require an interview, one must write to the U.S Consulate in Rome at RomeEvisas@state.gov by putting “E VISA RENEWAL WITH INTERVIEW” in the subject line. The Rome Consular Section will contact you to make the appointment. The required documentation (DS-160; DS-156E; original receipt of processing fee; passport and last three years of corporate tax returns) must be hand carried to the interview.

I am currently in Israel enjoying a much needed vacation. The upcoming E2 visa for Israelis is a hot topic around here, and once people know what I do, the questions start coming.

During my stay here, I have communicated with the Israeli Embassy in Tel Aviv, in an effort to get some answers about the future filing process. I have to say that this Embassy is one of the most efficient to respond and communicate back, and I am sure it will be very useful in the future.

This is the response i received from this post:

Since President Obama signed the E2 Investor Visa Bill with Israel, we get a lot of questions from prospective applicants as to when can they start applying for the Visa.

The most updated information on this subject was provided at the American Immigration Lawyers Association National Conference in Nashville, TN, that I attended as well. The information was presented at the Department of State open Forum by Mr. David S. Newman, Director, Office of Legal Affairs, Visa Services based in Washington DC. Mr. Newman stated that reciprocity must be established at this time between Israel and United States before the Visa filing can take effect.

The implementation of the Investor Visa with Israel will not be effective until the terms and conditions of the final agreement are determined between the two countries, issues of binding commitment from Israel on all terms of the agreement.

We have been following the E2 visa Bill for Israel for months, well the wait is over.

President Obama, today, signed into law legislation making Israelis eligible for two-year investor visas.

The legislation from Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) cleared the House and Senate without objection. Israel is already one of the largest sources of foreign direct investment to the United States, but the E-2 visas for investors to come investigate business opportunities should help both the United States and Israel.