# Canadians seeking E2 visas



## eager.beaver (Mar 22, 2011)

My partner and I are Canadian citizens from Vancouver, interested in investing in the Phoenix real estate market. We have a total sum of $100,000. We would like to use the capital to buy a residential property, make improvements on it, sell it for a profit, and repeat the process indefinitely. I understand that we must apply for the E2 visa in order to do so in the long run. To my understanding, the likelihood of obtaining an E2 visa increases when each of us has a minimum of $100,000 as initial investment. Since we do not have such amount, I was under the impression that we should at least do a few transactions to clearly indicate that we are in fact contributing to the US economy prior to our visa application.

The past Tuesday, my partner and I have decided to transport our personal vehicle from Blaine, Washington to Phoenix, Arizona. Our intention was to save as much money as possible for our real estate investment. We gathered it would be cheaper to have our car transported than to rent one every time we come to Phoenix. At the border, we were asked to go in for secondary interrogation. During the secondary interrogation, I stated my intentions “of opening up a business.” I was not able to provide evidence of ties and equities in Canada for the Customs officer. As such, my partner and I were denied entry into the United States that day.

On Thursday, we tried to cross the border again at the Vancouver International Airport to attend an upcoming real estate investor meeting in Phoenix. Once again, we were asked to go in for secondary inspection. Thankfully, with the documentation we were able to provide to the Customs officers, we were granted controlled entry.
On both occasions, the Customs officers have stated that we must obtain an E2 visa for the purposes of our trip. We were told that we could not earn money in the United States without some sort of visa.

We are currently in the process of purchasing our first property. Given our situation, what are the necessary steps to ensure a strong E2 visa application? Would our chances of obtaining an E2 visa greatly improved if only one of us apply for it with all the capital that we have?

Many thanks for taking the time to read through my long posting. Any insights is greatly appreciated!


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

You are pretty much 4 years too late for the flipping business ...even in it heyday
the chances of getting an E-2 for that purpose was quite slim 

The US consulate in Canada may be more easy going


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## eager.beaver (Mar 22, 2011)

We realize the net profit for each flip could be marginal, especially with all the inventory that is available on the market nowadays. Originally, we thought we could do more flips prior to applying for the E2 visas to prove how our business model benefits the US economy. But the US Customs is not letting us prove it without E2 visas..


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

eager.beaver said:


> We realize the net profit for each flip could be marginal, especially with all the inventory that is available on the market nowadays. Originally, we thought we could do more flips prior to applying for the E2 visas to prove how our business model benefits the US economy. But the US Customs is not letting us prove it without E2 visas..


Please get a grip! 100k for residential real estate plus remodel plus marketing plus taxes and that in AZ's market. Not to mention licenses, insurance, workers comp coverage, utilities plus deposits. Talk to some of the builders and realtors who are still in business. Get some numbers together. Building supplies went up 10-15% since the mess in Lybia started.


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