Trying to obtain a work visa or green card through work?

While there are many options for working in the United States, immigration laws are complex.  Furthermore, policies are constantly changing, sometimes closing doors and other times opening them for immigrant workers.  That is why it is important to consult with an immigration attorney who is knowledgeable of current laws and regulations.  At Compass Immigration P.A., our goal is to give you clear and honest advice of your chances for obtaining a U.S. work visa or employment-based green card.

Employment-based immigration can be for temporary visas and non-temporary visa.  It is important to understand that many employment visas do not lead to permanent resident status (a green card).  Depending on the type of employment opportunity and your qualifications, you may be eligible for different employment immigration options.

The process is more complicated than many might expect.  In order to come to the United States and work, you must be sponsored by a qualified employer or you must invest in or open your own business.

Temporary Worker Visas

Temporary worker visas through sponsored employment immigration do not grant permanent residence (like a “green card”), but they can be a path to it.  Some work visas allow your employer to eventually sponsor you for permanent residence while others just allow you to remain in the United States legally for a set amount of time.  With a temporary work visa, you can also open your own business and be your own boss while having your company serve as your sponsor for employment immigration.  Temporary work visas offer real opportunities to take part in the American Dream.

Permanent Worker Visa

Permanent worker visas allow you to live and work in the United States permanently, and your employer can apply for permanent residence status on your behalf.  A wide range of individuals working in the United States may be eligible for permanent residency sponsorship through employment immigration.  These individuals include those hired by U.S. employers or those already working in their home country and who are relocating to the United States for their company.  Some examples of these documents include H-1B and L visas.

Interested in starting your own business? Or even investing in a US business?

Investing in the United States is a great way to live here.  Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need half a million dollars to start your own business or get a visa.  Of course, there are serious monetary requirements to the EB-5 visa, which requires five hundred thousand to a million dollars depending on what region they’re in. However, an E-2 visa is much more accessible for investors or people interested in owning smaller businesses.

E-2 VISA

The E-2 nonimmigrant classification allows a national of a treaty country (see the list below) to be admitted to the United States when investing in or creating a US business.

In order to apply for an E-2 visa, you must be coming to the United States to:

• develop and direct the operations of an enterprise in which you have invested a substantial amount of capital.

An enterprise refers to a real, active and operating commercial or entrepreneurial undertaking which produces services or goods for profit.  A treaty investor or employee may only work in the activity for which he or she was approved at the time the classification was granted.  An E-2 employee, however, may also work for the treaty organization’s parent company or one of its subsidiaries as long as the:

• Relationship between the organizations is established
• Subsidiary employment requires executive, supervisory, or essential skills
• Terms and conditions of employment have not otherwise changed.

Contrary to an E-5 Visa, you don’t need half a million dollars to start your own business. We have assisted foreign nationals and entrepreneurs in setting up small-business investments for as little as $15,000 using the E-2 visa.

Additionally, certain family members of the investor and of the employee’s (spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21) may be eligible for an employment visa.

E-1 VISA

Perhaps you import or produce goods in your home country and want to sell them in the United States?  The E-1 visa allows citizens of countries that have treaties with the U.S. (see the list below) to be admitted to the U.S. to participate in international trade.

The individual must engage in substantial trade, including trade in services or technology, in qualifying activities, principally between the United States and the treaty country.  This means, the individual’s principal trade (more than 50%) must be between the U.S. and the country that qualified the individual for the visa.

Qualifying trades include technology, transportation, goods, services, tourism, news-gathering, international banking, and insurance.  To be considered substantial, the trade must be continuous for the duration of the visa, although there is no minimum amount or monetary value required.

Those who are granted an E-1 visa may petition for their spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 to be admitted to the U.S. as well.

List of Treaty Countries for E-2 or E-1 Visas

Country Specific Footnotes:

1. China (Taiwan) – Pursuant to Section 6 of the Taiwan Relations Act, (TRA) Public Law 96-8, 93 Stat, 14, and Executive Order 12143, 44 F.R. 37191, this agreement which was concluded with the Taiwan authorities prior to January 01, 1979, is administered on a nongovernmental basis by the American Institute in Taiwan, a nonprofit District of Columbia corporation, and constitutes neither recognition of the Taiwan authorities nor the continuation of any official relationship with Taiwan.
2. Czech Republic and Slovak Republic – The Treaty with the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic entered into force on December 19, 1992; entered into force for the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic as separate states on January 01, 1993.
3. Denmark – The Treaty which entered into force on July 30, 1961, does not apply to Greenland.
4. France – The Treaty which entered into force on December 21, 1960, applies to the departments of Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana and Reunion.
5. Japan – The Treaty which entered into force on October 30, 1953, was made applicable to the Bonin Islands on June 26, 1968, and to the Ryukyu Islands on May 15, 1972.
6. Netherlands – The Treaty which entered into force on December 05, 1957, is applicable to Aruba and Netherlands Antilles.
7. Norway – The Treaty which entered into force on September 13, 1932, does not apply to Svalbard (Spitsbergen and certain lesser islands).
8. Spain – The Treaty which entered into force on April 14, 1903, is applicable to all territories.
9. Suriname – The Treaty with the Netherlands which entered into force December 05, 1957, was made applicable to Suriname on February 10, 1963.
10. United Kingdom – The Convention which entered into force on July 03, 1815, applies only to British territory in Europe (the British Isles (except the Republic of Ireland), the Channel Islands and Gibraltar) and to “inhabitants” of such territory.  This term, as used in the Convention, means “one who resides actually and permanently in a given place, and has his domicile there”.  Also, in order to qualify for treaty trader or treaty investor status under this treaty, the alien must be a national of the United Kingdom.  Individuals having the nationality of members of the Commonwealth other than the United Kingdom do not qualify for treaty trader or treaty investor status under this treaty.
11. Yugoslavia– The U.S. view is that the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) has dissolved and that the successors that formerly made up the SFRY – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Kosovo and continue to be bound by the treaty in force with the SFRY and the time of dissolution.