# E2 Visa



## crys (Feb 20, 2009)

After loooking through my options, i have been told by an immigration lawyer that an e2 visa would be the best and quickest option for me as i have around £200K capital to invest - i have done extensive research on the subject the last 10 days however just wanted to know if anyone has been down this route or whether it is not deemed a safe route to go? i note that fat brit has said on another psoting that "if you love your kids, dont go down the e2 route" so just wanted to know what he meant by that, if anyone else has looked at this route and what the outcome was really?


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

crys said:


> After loooking through my options, i have been told by an immigration lawyer that an e2 visa would be the best and quickest option for me as i have around £200K capital to invest - i have done extensive research on the subject the last 10 days however just wanted to know if anyone has been down this route or whether it is not deemed a safe route to go? i note that fat brit has said on another psoting that "if you love your kids, dont go down the e2 route" so just wanted to know what he meant by that, if anyone else has looked at this route and what the outcome was really?


Its not a bad visa for young couple or singles. but it does not give you a green card anytime... so if you ever want to retire you have to leave the US
You cannot get the Florida home exception on your property taxes... 
For children ..they are never allowed to work and at 21 have to leave the US 
and other various difficulties arise 

There are E-2 forums about that go deeper into the advantages and disdavantages


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## crys (Feb 20, 2009)

so if my partner (im married) has a right to work in the country on a green card whilst i am running the business, is he not able to then claim citizenship after 5 years? can you point me in the direction of any of these forums if there are more specialist forums? I have done as much reasearch as i can and the attorneys and articles i read have painted it to be quite easy - i am a realist and know that it is not the case so would like to get some feedback from people that have actually gone down this route.


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

crys said:


> so if my partner (im married) has a right to work in the country on a green card whilst i am running the business, is he not able to then claim citizenship after 5 years? can you point me in the direction of any of these forums if there are more specialist forums? I have done as much reasearch as i can and the attorneys and articles i read have painted it to be quite easy - i am a realist and know that it is not the case so would like to get some feedback from people that have actually gone down this route.


Ah!! you never mentioned that twist...

If your husband has a Green Card and he is living in the US 
then yes...he can eventually get his citizenship

So you just want the E-2 so you can accompany him is that correct


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## crys (Feb 20, 2009)

no, sorry, i am confusing you. I have spoken to three immigration lawyers this week who have all told me (if i am getting what they are saying correctly!) is that because i am married and will be the "investor" my husband will be entitled to work in theUS at the same time - is that not a green card?

so basically if he is entitled to work there whilst i am managing the business, after a certain period of time, can he (or i for that matter) then apply for naturalization or permanant residency? attorneys have said that you can, but people i have asked have said they dont think i can???

i checked out these three attorneys before contacting them to make sure they were legit, however you sometimes get the feeling they are after your fees more than they are to help you!!


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

crys said:


> no, sorry, i am confusing you. I have spoken to three immigration lawyers this week who have all told me (if i am getting what they are saying correctly!) is that because i am married and will be the "investor" my husband will be entitled to work in theUS at the same time - is that not a green card?
> 
> so basically if he is entitled to work there whilst i am managing the business, after a certain period of time, can he (or i for that matter) then apply for naturalization or permanant residency? attorneys have said that you can, but people i have asked have said they dont think i can???
> 
> i checked out these three attorneys before contacting them to make sure they were legit, however you sometimes get the feeling they are after your fees more than they are to help you!!


No!! ..He will never get a permanent status either...(Green Card)
What he will get at $340 a year is an EAD 
Employment Authorization Document which entitles him to work ..
thats all... any attorney thats says different is either confusing you 
or just plain lying..


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## crys (Feb 20, 2009)

thank you, i think i am just taking it in all wrong! so much to take in but worth every bit of research if your serious about doing it! thanks for the advice!!


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Crys you need to get your ducks in a row. 

Here is a link to E2 explaining it in plain English. 

Introduction to the E2 Visa

Here the official version by USCIS
Temporary Benefits Employment Categories and Required Documentation

No matter which way you skin this cat - there will be no permanent status for investor or spouse.

Green card means permanent residency (within renewal periods), free to work for any employer ... Normaly a step on the way to citizenship.

I have seen my share of bad lawyers and my share of good ones. Why do you come to the US? What kind of business do you plan to run? Where do you plan to do this? ???


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## crys (Feb 20, 2009)

yes, i beleive that what you are saying is the same advice given to me by the attorneys i have spoken to, however i think i am bundling myself with research on residency and am getting my wires crossed two step!

basically, my whole family (bar my mother) live in the us and are citizens through birth. my mother moved back here when she was a child but the rest of my family still live out there. when i say family, i mean aunts uncles grandparents cousins, not siblings (so cant be sponsored unless my mother says she will return to live in the us, which she has no plans to do so that route is out of the question, not to mention the 8 year wait!)

my husband and i regularly go to the states, i have family in CA, NV UT and Virigina, so we go out around 3-4 times a year and we love the way of life and have always wanted to move there. We both work full time, but also run a small business on the side doing energy performance certificates for domestic properties (mandatory in the UK when buying or renting a property) and a small online website sellnig training cdourses to other people in our professional, so we are not novices at running and seting up a business (though as i say our company is small scale)

I am not too sure what business we would look at opening, the e-2 visa thing is something i have only come accross in the last 10 days and i am only looking at this provisionally at the moment. I have, however, been writing up a business plan for the last 10 months on opening an indoor childrens soft ball area in the UK but have put that idea on hold because of the recession. I think that if we were to open a business, perhaps we may go down this route, if not then something along the lines of a healthy eating food store or resturant as i have catering experience. We would be looking to move somehwere in the envada/california border areas so we could be close to family, in particular my grandafather in LA who is elderly and whom i am quite close to.

As i have said this is all in the very early stages and i would need to do some more research but if i dont try, i will never know! i would rather research and find out that it would not work for me, than not do it and always wonder what could have been!


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

Crys you still have a long and hard road ahead of you.

Business - google a bit catering associations, SBA, small business owners association, ... in the geographic areas you are targeting. Do you realize how many of those have closed during the last six months? Energy performance is not mandatory here - so not much in demand. With people and school systems scaling down - an indoor softball arena may not be a good idea. In general - your timing is lousy. From Trader Joe's to Fresh Market - where do you see a niche in health food for you? What do you do for your "normal" jobs?
E2 is a temporary crutch only. What will you do when it does not get renewed?
Keep working on it!


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## crys (Feb 20, 2009)

two step - as i said in my psoting, this idea is 10 days old, i have also said i have done no research and this was in very early stages. I do not expect to know what would be the best business idea to go with at this point in time, i know that energy ratings are not mandatory over there, that catering and food stores are clsoing down etc but you asked for my background and i gave it to you. i have business experience but at this point i also do not know what we would do as we have only just started looknig down this route. i also do know i have a long and hard route ahead of me, i do not expect to be over in 6 weeks and living the life of riley, but what i do have is capital, some business experience and a whole heap of determination to suceed. i think thats a pretty good basis before doing any reasearch. i am also a realist but i do find your negativity sometimes is really demotivating for some other posters. you seem to shoot down anyones ideas/dreams/aspirations but i dont really see you coming up with any positive suggestions??? if all of my ideas are rubbish, please enlighten us all twostep on what you think would work! you seem to have all the answers!

Sucess at something is picking yourself up when you fall and brushing yourself down and getting back up and trying again - if i dont get an e-2 visa, then i will think of something else, if i get accepted and my business doesnt do well, then i will leave the US and return home. thats the chance you have to take.

my original posting was to ask for peoples comments with regards to whether they have been down this route and what they went through, if anyone is happy to share their experiences then i would be happy to hear them.


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## crys (Feb 20, 2009)

oh my normal jobs - i am an office manager in social services for elderly people and my husband is a management accountant.


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