E2 Investor Visas

March 9, 2012

E2 Investor Visa for Israeli Citizens: Current Congressional Bill H.R. 3992

As we reported previously on this blog, on February 9, 2012, legislators introduced H.R. 3992 which would allow otherwise eligible Israeli nationals to receive E–2 nonimmigrant visas if similarly situated United States nationals are eligible for similar nonimmigrant status in Israel. We have provided below a copy of the Bill. At this time this is not Law yet, and the Bill will need to go through several stages if and when it will become effective.

Upon introduction, bills are assigned a number. At the beginning of each biennial session. Separately, the Senate and the House debate the bill, offer amendments and cast votes. If the bill is defeated in either the Senate or the House, the bill dies.

Sometimes, the House and the Senate pass the same bill, but with different amendments. In these cases, the bill goes to a conference committee made up of members of Congress. The conference committee works out differences between the two versions of the bill.

February 9, 2012

E2 Visa Attorney – Israel may soon be part of the Investment Treaty E2, Historic development

by Jacob Sapochnick

Israelis may soon be able to live and work in the US as small Business owners by investing money in active and new Businesses. The US Congress is currently legislating a bill that, if passed, will make it easier for Israeli businessmen and investors to receive a visa to the US.

Jewish US Congressman Anthony Weiner from New York placed a bill on the House Judiciary Committee’s table that will allow Israeli investors access to this benefit.

The E2 visa is a special non-immigrant visa available to nationals of treaty countries entering the US to do the following:

November 30, 2011

E2 Visa Attorney – New E1 and E2 Visa Processing Requirements in Italy

by Jacob Sapochnick

A few updates for our Italian Investor clients, Effective December 1, 2011, all E visas applications will be processed in Rome. Therefore, all new E1 Visa and E2 visa applications submitted after December 1, 2011 should be sent to the E Visa Section in Rome following the directions on the web. (http://italy.usembassy.gov./visa/vis/vis-6-en.html) All cases will be processed in the order received. All pending cases sent to Milan prior to December 1, 2011, will be processed to conclusion in Milan, in the order they were received.

In a Small Business Administration (“SBA”) study, the report found that, “Immigrants are nearly 30 percent more likely to start a business than are nonimmigrants, and they represent 16.7 percent of all new business owners in the United States.” This SBA report also found that nearly 30 percent of all new business owners per month in New York, Florida, and Texas, are immigrants. In addition, business owners from Europe constituted a growing share of immigrant business owners.

The E Visa for those unfamiliar with the opportunity, provides nonimmigrant visa status for a national of any of the countries with which the United States maintains an appropriate treaty of commerce and navigation, who is coming to the United States to carry on substantial trade, including trade in services or technology, principally between the United States and the treaty country, or to develop and direct the operations of an enterprise in which the national has invested, or is actively in the process of investing substantial amount of capital.