WR Immigration Director of Visa Consulting Charlie Oppenheim, Partner Charina Garcia, and Senior Associate Laura Bloniarz update HR professionals with the latest information from the January 2024 Visa Bulletin. They dive into an analysis of employment-based and family-based immigrant visa categories, 2024 predictions and an extensive Q&A session from live attendees and submitted questions. Watch below!
By: Allison-Claire Acker, Esq. and Joseph M. Barnett, Esq. In a positive development for promoting trade and commerce between the U.S. and France, the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France has recently allowed certain large, multinational corporations to undergo an expedited scheduling program for certain Treaty Trader (E-1) and Treaty Investor (E-2) visa applications. We are hopeful that this program will be used as a pilot for E-visa application processing worldwide. The E-1 and E-2 nonimmigrant visa categories are for citizens of countries with which the United States maintains treaties of commerce and navigation. An applicant must be coming to the U.S. to engage in substantial trade, including trade in services or technology, in qualifying activities, principally between the U.S. and the treaty country (E-1), or to develop and direct the operations of an enterprise in which the applicant has invested a substantial amount of capital (E-2). Employees of the Treaty Investor engaged in executive or supervisory duties, or if employed in a lesser capacity, have special qualifications which share the same nationality of the principal alien employer also qualify for E-2 visa classification. To apply for an E-1 or E-2 visa, an applicant must complete a number of steps. The order of these steps and how […]
By: Joseph Barnett, Esq., Bernard Wolfsdorf, Esq., and Robert Blanco, Esq. 80 countries have treaties with the U.S. that permit foreign nationals to obtain E-2 Treaty Investor visas, which allow an investor or certain key executives permission to work in the U.S. However, the E-2 visa does not lead to a U.S. green card, and minor children can only stay on their parent’s visas until reaching 21 years old. So, the question arises: How may an E-2 Treaty Investor convert his/her nonimmigrant visa to an EB-5 investor green card to allow him/her to remain permanently in the U.S., and after 5 years, apply to be a U.S. citizen. Careful planning and having a detailed strategy is essential to ensure that E-2 investors carefully structure their E-2 business in order to possibly convert the visa into an EB-5 green card. Introduction The E-2 Treaty Investor visa grants nonimmigrant status to nationals of a treaty country (not Brazil, Russia, India, or China) who invest a substantial amount of capital in a U.S. business. Qualified Treaty Investors are issued an E-2 visa valid for up to five years, depending on their country of citizenship and reciprocity. Extensions of stay may be granted in increments of up to two years each, as long […]
