# renewing E2 visa or change ot L1 possible?



## twistedpixel (Mar 16, 2013)

hi folks,

4 years ago, the UK company I work for set up a US office. I was lucky enough to be offered a position out here in California in 2013 and moved over on an E2 visa. I was classed as an essential worker or manager with essential experience - I'm the Customer Support Manager with 8 years of experience on our software application.

Since then, we have opened another US office in the East coast and transferred a second UK person out there. We also now employ about 20 US people in both locations.

My current E2 visa expires in June and needs to be renewed, but I have a couple of questions that I'm hoping someone can answer

My understanding is that it isn't a renewal, but an extension and there are no limits to the number of times an E2 can be extended, as long as the employment conditions haven't changed - they haven't.

however, I have also read that the maximum extension each time is 2 years.

this is going to be a problem since a 2 year visa means the ability to get financing etc is greatly reduced, a 3 year is just about doable, but 2 years is not liked at all.

What about requesting an L1-b visa instead? I do have specialized skills as I have worked for my company for 8 years and since I manage a team of support staff, my skills and knowledge are essential to ensuring we provide a certain level of application support to our customer base. In addition, from an L1 I understand there is a possibility of applying for a green card?

if I apply for an L1 but don't get it, does that invalidate my E2 visa?

any tips or advice is very welcome of course


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## EVHB (Feb 11, 2008)

Sometimes, they will give 5 year extensions. 

If you qualify for L1-b visa, is best to discuss with an immigration lawyer.


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## twistedpixel (Mar 16, 2013)

EVHB said:


> Sometimes, they will give 5 year extensions.


every on-line bit of information I've read says it's a 2 year maximum sadly


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

twistedpixel said:


> this is going to be a problem since a 2 year visa means the ability to get financing etc is greatly reduced


Financing for what? What's the problem you're trying to solve?


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## twistedpixel (Mar 16, 2013)

It relates to auto financing/leasing. I have been told that as a non-resident you can't have a loan or lease period that extends past your visa expiry date. Since the extension can only be two years, that means all lease periods have to be two years or less and that bumps the costs up considerably, and of course as a non-resident I will be stung with a big deposit also. 

It's crazy. I earn over $110k a year and have a credit score of 785. A dead beat with poor credit history could get finance easier than I could!!


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

So why are you interested in leasing a new vehicle for even 3 years? Can't you self finance a vehicle by now at $110K/year? The E-2 is a treaty investor visa. "Investors" don't normally have a problem buying a $20,000 automobile outright. (I'm even being generous on the "safe, reliable transportation" budget allowance.)

If you're on the wrong visa, OK, so it is, but one might see USCIS's/the government's point here, right?

You can get a conventional car loan with a 20 or 24 month term, by the way, and it's not expensive to do that with a 785 credit score. Financing $18,000 at 4% (too high, I think -- advertised rates are below 3%, a new car financing is often offered at 0% interest) for 24 months is $782/month, and you own the car at the end and have no mileage limits. A treaty investor cannot swing this on $110K/year, some years after first arrival? There's no credit union, no automobile dealer who will do this for you if you want a safe, reliable, new car -- a reasonably optioned 2016 Ford Fiesta, Nissan Versa, Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, Toyota Corolla, Ford Focus, Mitsubishi Lancer, or VW Jetta, to pick some examples?

Forgive me for being a bit incredulous, but I'm trying to understand the actual problem in order to offer better advice.


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

It does not sound like OP is looking at compact cars for 18k.


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

Period of Stay

Qualified treaty investors and employees will be allowed a maximum initial stay of two years. Requests for extension of stay may be granted in increments of up to two years each. There is no maximum limit to the number of extensions an E-2 nonimmigrant may be granted. All E-2 nonimmigrants, however, must maintain an intention to depart the United States when their status expires or is terminated.

An E-2 nonimmigrant who travels abroad may generally be granted an automatic two-year period of readmission when returning to the United States. It is generally not necessary to file a new Form I-129 with USCIS in this situation.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

twostep said:


> It does not sound like OP is looking at compact cars for 18k.


The loan is $18K in this example. The car's purchase price is more than the loan amount ($20K in this example). Some money down is assumed here (10%). A wide variety of safe, reliable cars _in several size categories_ is available in this example price range.

How about we let the original poster respond?


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## twistedpixel (Mar 16, 2013)

The initial period isn't right here, my visa was granted on 10th June 2013 and expires on 13th June 2016 (3 years)

Also, I was talking about a $35k truck, not an $18k ford fiesta

but thanks to everyone for your input


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

So how about a $20K truck, model year 2013 or 2014, say?

Another possible option is to ask your employer to co-sign a longer term vehicle loan, but still with right of recovery from you, even across borders. Many employers would agree to that in the circumstances. Or to loan you the money directly, complete with a promisory note, a lein on the (fully insured) vehicle, and payroll deductions to pay off the loan.

But what's the life plan here? If you can't swing a $35K truck on your own after nearly three years working in the U.S. -- that's about 10% of your income over that period, approximately, and you're at twice the median U.S. household income on your own -- is this where you want to be headed financially? Is there any plan to move the net worth needle off zero (or less close to zero), assuming it's not below zero? I/we can probably figure out a way to keep you in debt and behind the wheel of a $35K truck with a two year visa -- there are a couple ideas emerging, and U.S. credit markets are quite amazing -- but is this a good idea?

Tough questions, I know, but they're questions I ask myself, too.


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## twistedpixel (Mar 16, 2013)

Although I might earn twice the median salary, I live in Silicon valley, so everything is twice the cost of a typical median salary.

I'm financially secure, with savings etc, but that is earmarked for a house deposit. I've never outright bought a car, it's always been financed.

I live with my US girlfriend, so there might be a way of applying through her..I can investigate that option also.


I should add that my current car is leased. I managed to get a deal from volkswagon, although I pay a ridiculous rate that is probably close to twice what a 'normal' US person would pay. But I'd only been in the country for 1 month, had no credit history etc, so didn't have many options.

I just thought that after 3 years, with a good history a few more doors might have opened, but this seems to not be the case.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

twistedpixel said:


> I just thought that after 3 years, with a good history a few more doors might have opened, but this seems to not be the case.


FWIW, it seems to be a pretty standard bank policy that they will only lend money for the term of your current visa if you don't have a green card. (Asked about that one time at my US bank because a friend of mine was looking for a mortgage with her foreign spouse.) Now, if things are getting serious, and you're thinking of marrying the girlfriend....
Cheers,
Bev


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

twistedpixel said:


> Although I might earn twice the median salary, I live in Silicon valley, so everything is twice the cost of a typical median salary.


OK, got it. But that also means your lifestyle necessarily has to be median or less/better (overall), and a $35K truck isn't actually median. Come to think of it, any truck isn't median in Silicon Valley. 



> I live with my US girlfriend, so there might be a way of applying through her..I can investigate that option also.


Any willing and qualified co-signer works. I'd check the possible employer options first, though.

Do you have any collateral you could use? Once upon a time I got some credit from a credit union simply by letting them keep a stock certificate in their desk drawer, shares of my employer in fact. Also to purchase a vehicle, slightly foolishly perhaps. It was like a safe deposit box, and I was OK with them hanging onto the shares for a while. I think they valued them at about 80% of the market price, and that worked.



> I should add that my current car is leased. I managed to get a deal from volkswagon, although I pay a ridiculous rate that is probably close to twice what a 'normal' US person would pay.


Well, you'll do better this time around. I'm not a fan of leases, for what it's worth.



> I just thought that after 3 years, with a good history a few more doors might have opened, but this seems to not be the case.


No, it opens some doors. More/better credit cards if that's your thing. And installment plans for smartphones with overpriced cellular service (also not a fan, but thank you T-Mobile for working on this problem). You can rent furniture and buy a washing machine on credit to pick a couple other examples. Landlords are likely to offer you better terms on leases, although in Silicon Valley that's relative. You can get an overdraft facility on your checking account to pay high interest rates instead of bouncing a check, and probably also a margin account at a brokerage to lose more money faster day trading pork belly futures. Casinos will be more willing to extend credit, but that's really just repeating the pork belly futures bit. Utilities won't demand as many account deposits to establish service, and that's probably the one unambiguously good thing. Congratulations, you've (mostly) arrived! You now have more open doors to debt.


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