Moving to the U.S.?

Of all the types of immigration options we offer, our favorite immigration option is the E-2 Treaty Investor Visa (or status); It is the option which, we believe, grants the applicant the more control over the strength and viability of their application than any other employment or business-based immigration visa. Want an already thriving business that only needs new owner to continue steering the ship? Wish to build your own startup with all of the tools and resources out there? Want to move to the U.S. based on the purchase of residential or commercial real estate? The E-2 visa “checks all those boxes”. If you already have a couple of houses in your name being used for AirBnB or short-term rentals, these can become the nucleus for a property management business which gives you access to an E-2 Investor Visa (or even an L-1 Visa if you have an existing business in your home country). Let’s break it down here.
The E-2 Treaty Investor Visa is a visa category available to nationals of certain countries that share a Friendship/Commerce/Navigation Treaty with the U.S. Unfortunately, not all countries have this treaty with the U.S., but for those nationals from the countries that do, you may apply for a visa and status based on the purchase or creation of a U.S. based business. Another key requirement of this visa is that the business you submit for approval must be a real and active commercial enterprise.
The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS) and the U.S. Dept. of State, generally, will not approve speculative investments where one merely invests X amount of dollars and waits Y amount of time in order to profit from the appreciation of its value. They want to see your enterprise grow in personnel size and revenue, which requires more than an investment in a plot of land or a house. Your business must offer a service or product.
So, if you have sufficient real estate assets and have a desire to move to the U.S., you need to register your first company (if you don’t already have one), transfer titles of your real estate assets to this company, and then have that company offer a service related to real estate. Because of the application’s flexible requirements when it comes to employment with new startups, you only need to hire one person to manage your properties and offer property management services to other property owners in the area. Give this property manager the tools (computer, website, marketing, office) to do their job, and you are one step closer to having your commercial enterprise with real estate assets. And if by chance you prefer to keep the properties in your personal name, you can also have your enterprise manage your own properties as its own client.
Before thinking that this combination is expensive, you should also know this visa option requires no minimum amount of capital to invest. The investment simply must be “substantial” enough to support the operations of the business. USCIS and the Dept. of State really are encouraging of applicants to determine their own start-up costs. Hopefully, the Dept. of State will re-open U.S. embassies and consulates around the world early next year so that you can start this process from the comfort of your home country.
If this type of visa is appealing to you, please contact Robert Santos (rs@abogadomiami.com). He will be happy explore options and strategies with you.
Geoffrey Wayne Wayne