I recently blogged about investor visas, which is a path to
citizenship and requires a large investment. What if you don’t want to
permanently move to the United States or don’t have a large sum of money to
invest? The United States has a nonimmigrant investor visa that allows
foreigners to invest in smaller businesses and allows them to stay in the
United States as a nonimmigrant. The US has negotiated treaties with several
countries that allow a citizen of the treaty country to invest in
businesses in the US and bring their family to live and work in the US.
So how does a E-2 treaty visa work? The alien must place “capitol,
including funds and other assets, at risk in the commercial sense with the
objective of generating a profit. Your investment may be for the purpose of
establishing a new business venture, or purchasing a pre-existing business. In
either scenario, you must demonstrate that the capital you are investing is
substantial.[1]” What
a sterile definition. Let me break it
down into a few simple rules listed in the definition.
1.
The business: The alien must invest capitol in a
commercial business. The business cannot be marginal; meaning that it cannot
merely make a minimal living for the alien and their family, it must produce a
profit. An alien can demonstrate that by producing a detailed business plan,
payroll summaries (W-2s, etc.), financial statements, and tax returns. The
business must also be a bona fide venture. Meaning it cannot be some cover to
launder money, sorry to all the would be felons who were hoping to get around
the immigration laws. To be a bona fide venture “is a real, active commercial,
or entrepreneurial undertaking which produces services or goods for profit.[2]”
A bona fide venture may not be an idle investment in land or stocks which the
investor does not intend to direct.
2.
Capitol: The investor must be in possession of
the funds to be used in the investment. The investor must also prove that he has
committed those funds to the development of the enterprise. The amount of the
investment is not specifically defined in the statute, but it does need to be substantial
in relation to the total amount spent in acquiring the business or building a
new one. One can prove that the investment was substantial by providing the
bill of sale, valuation of the business assets, purchase agreement for business
assets, etc.
3.
Funding: the funding for the investment must
come from a legitimate source. A paper trail of the funds must be provided when
applying for the visa. An alien must demonstrate that all sources are not
gained by criminal or illegal means.
4.
Develop and Direct: The last requirement is that
the alien intends to come to the US to develop and direct the company that the
alien intends to invest in. Why else would one be applying for a visa if they
do not intend to be in the US to develop and direct the company that he invests
in?
There you have it. Four steps to gaining a nonimmigrant
investor visa without investing $1 million dollars. If you have other questions
about an E-2 visa or other type of employment based visa, please contact me or
leave a comment.
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