Investment Consulting- Visa

For many exceptional, savvy business professionals and entrepreneurs, the path to live and work in the U.S. is international investment. This may mean establishing a business or investing in existing businesses, and it can allow you to temporarily or permanently move to the U.S. Navigating the U.S. immigration system is not easy, and you can save frustration by working with an investment consultant who understands the visa options and legal requirements of international investment.

Investment done right can provide you and your family with a path to permanent residency and citizenship in the U.S. It can also enable you and your family to live in the U.S. for a short period of time to visit and seize new business opportunities. In order to achieve these employment-based or investment visas, you must provide certain documentation of certain investments in the U.S.

An investment consultant who is an attorney experienced in business-based immigration is essential to securing these opportunities and limiting the time and stress you undergo during the process.

Investment Consulting for Business-Based Immigration

Investing in other businesses or investing your own business in another country is an important step in growing and expanding your resources. However, it can also be risky if it isn’t done effectively. In order to mitigate the risks of investing, it’s important that you have the right consultant. Investment in the U.S. can enable you to obtain a temporary or permanent visa, depending on your resources and future plans.

In order to select the right visa to support your business or investment plans, you need an investment consultant with experience in business-based immigration. By working with a consultant who is also a legal professional, investing and immigrating can be much simpler and planned more effectively. An attorney helps you mitigate risks and avoid delays in the visa process by ensuring your application and documentation are accurate and on time. In addition to benefiting your application, this takes the strain off of you and your business.

When your investment consultant also understands business-based immigration, they can help you understand the options for an investment visa, their requirements, and which type better serves your current and long-term business and personal goals. These professionals have also worked with other international business professionals and entrepreneurs, and they know how to represent your interests from U.S. soil.

Legal Consulting for Your International Investments

The success and timeliness of securing a visa are crucial to the well-being of you and your business. Delays can significantly affect your financial standing and your future. At International Lawyers PLLC, we understand how important an investment opportunity is, and we treat your goals with the care they deserve.

When our firm consults with you about an investment opportunity in the U.S., we provide you with the information, resources, and legal counsel you need to make the process successful. We learn about your short-term and long-term wishes for investing and living in the U.S., and we determine the right visa option for you. Our attorneys help entrepreneurs and companies around the world invest and establish themselves in the U.S. to grow and expand their corporate goals.

At International Lawyers PLLC, we provide exceptional legal care based on significant legal experience and education. We help companies and individuals in South America, Central America, and as far as Europe. Our firm speaks English and Spanish fluently, and we can provide you with support from the U.S. to wherever you are based.

Visas for Investors

U.S. visas are managed, approved, and provided by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). There are many types of employment based-visas for leaders, employees, and entrepreneurs in business. These visas can be nonimmigrant, or temporary, or they can be immigrant, or permanent visas.

Temporary visas enable individuals to work, learn, live, invest, and travel within the U.S. for a short period of time. Depending on the type of visa, this may be for a period of a year or several years. There is no permanent citizenship path with a nonimmigrant visa. Permanent visas offer a path to a green card, permanent residency, and potentially citizenship once an individual is in the country.

A handful of visas are designed explicitly for investors in the U.S. The main visas for investors are the E-2 nonimmigrant visas and the EB-5 immigrant visa.

Business Visas With Investment Options

Certain other business visas, including L-1A and L-1B visas, can be considered investor visas. They are provided so that existing businesses can send specialty employees, managers, or executives to work in an existing U.S. branch of the business or to establish a brand-new office in the U.S. The establishment of a new office in the U.S for an existing business is considered investing. These visas are not explicitly stated to be investor visas, despite having this option.

Nonimmigrant Investor Visa

The nonimmigrant investor visa is the E-2 visa, which has two forms: a treaty investor visa and a CNMI-only visa.

• CNMI-Only Investor Visa

  A CNMI-only E-2 visa applies to investors living in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. It applies to long-term foreign investors living in the CNMI, allowing them to live there lawfully until December 31, 2029. These individuals obtained their immigrant status under the CNMI system, and this transition period is meant to enable them to obtain status under U.S. immigration laws.

  In order to qualify, an individual must have been admitted into the CNMI on a long-term investor visa prior to November 28, 2009. This residence must have been maintained since that time, and the investments that were required for the status must have also been maintained. The individual must also be qualified to enter the U.S. based on the guidelines in the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act. An individual must have made their initial petition before January 2013.

  Once obtaining this visa, it is valid for two years and can be extended every two years until 2029. This validity period also applies to any spouse or minor children living with the individual.

• Treaty Investor Visa

  The treaty investor E-2 visa is for investors who are nationals of a treaty country. A treaty country is one of the following:

  1. A country with a treaty for commerce and navigation with the U.S.
  2. A country with a qualifying international agreement with the U.S.
  3. A country considered a qualifying country through legislation

  The list of countries that are considered treaty countries is maintained by the U.S. Department of State. The investor of a treaty country can enter the U.S. on a temporary visa to invest a significant amount of capital into U.S. businesses. This visa may also apply to the employees of the investor.

  The investor must be a national of a treaty country, have previously invested or be in the process of investing a substantial amount of capital, and be planning to enter the U.S. for the only purpose of guiding and developing the investment. In order to show that entering the U.S. is done for investment purposes, the individual must either have half ownership or be in a managerial position.

  To have an effective application, the individual must be able to prove that the capital is not obtained criminally, the capital meets the USCIS standards of substantial, and the enterprise being invested in is real and meets the legal expectations for doing business.

  The E-2 treaty investor visa allows for a two-year stay in the U.S., which can be extended. The extensions will last for two years each, and there is not a limit to the number of extensions granted. The investors must still intend to depart once the visa has expired, as it is a temporary visa and not a path to permanent residency.

Immigrant Investor Visa

The primary immigrant visa for investors is the EB-5 visa, or the employment-based fifth-preference visa. The goal of the EB-5 visa is to encourage job creation and financial investment from international investors.

The basic qualifications for the EB-5 visa are both of the following:

1. Making a certain level of necessary investments into commercial enterprises in the U.S.
2. Planning to make or maintain ten permanent full-time jobs for qualified employees in the U.S.

An investor meeting these qualifications can apply for a green card, as can their spouse and any of their children under the age of 21 who are unmarried.

The qualifications listed for the EB-5 visa were modernized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2019, but this rule was vacated by a U.S. District Court in California in 2021. Until this is resolved by the USCIS, the EB-5 operates under the qualifications stated prior to the 2019 update.

One of the prominent changes was to the level of investments required to obtain the visa. The changes would have increased the minimum investment from $1 million to $1.8 million, and the minimum investment in a targeted employment area (TEA) would have increased from $500,000 to $900,000. These changes would have accounted for inflation since the establishment of the qualifications, and they would have been continually updated every five years. Currently, the $1 million and $500,000 minimums are in effect.

If the modernized rules are implemented, other changes to the EB-5 program would include:

1. Keeping priority dates for certain investors who have previously been approved for an EB-5 visa when they file a petition
2. Changing TEA designations, including the direct reviewing of certain TEA designations with high unemployment and other changes that push investment to in-need locations
3. Specifying when conditions are removed for permanent residence

In order to determine if you qualify for an EB-5 visa and ensure you can meet the appropriate requirements, it’s crucial that you work with a skilled investment consultant attorney.

How Does a Legal Consultant Help With Visa Applications?

There are several benefits to working with an investment consultant for your business-based immigration needs. An investment consultation attorney can help you with visa applications and other business needs in several ways, including:

• Provide you with trusted, legal, and professional advice about U.S. immigration laws and up-to-date information with changing laws
• Help you make informed decisions for the growth of your business and capital
• Determine your investment, business, and personal goals and provide you with the relevant information based on those goals
• Collect and list important information necessary for visa applications, including financial documents, proof of business, and investment information
• Create a plan for the transfer of the funds or capital you are investing into the U.S.
• Determine who may be eligible for certain visas alongside you and how this affects the visas you wish to apply for
• Facilitate communication with immigration authorities on your behalf
• Review a visa application to ensure it is complete and accurate, therefore limiting the likelihood of administrative delays
• Answer any questions you have throughout the process, ensuring you are well-informed
• Monitor your visa application from the U.S. over time
• Protect your rights and interests during the process

By establishing a professional working relationship with an American attorney, you will also have legal support while abroad and once you are in the U.S., whether you are on a temporary or permanent visa. If you wish to adjust your immigration status or have other legal issues, your attorney can help.

At International Lawyers PLLC, we can help you with this process and secure the investment opportunity you’re hoping for.

Investment Consulting With International Lawyers PLLC

An attorney with relevant education in immigration law, visa requirements, and business investments is essential to aid in your investment planning.

International Lawyers PLLC can consult with you about your business investments and other investment goals. Our firm is San Antonio based, with strong ties to Hispanic communities all over the world. We know it can be frustrating to navigate U.S. immigration law requirements, and we’re here to make it easier. Contact International Lawyers PLLC today and learn how we can help with your investment objectives