I just wanted to write and thank Fadi and Danielle for helping me to obtain an E-2 Visa.

Everything was worth it. They advised me on exactly what I needed, they gave me a synopsis of the process and they were adamant on what information I had to supply before they would submit my application. I could have never had done it on my own. The whole process from start to finish was worth it.

I know where I will go to if needing immigration lawyers in the future, Niren & Associates. I can now start my chocolate store in New York City.

Thanks very much

Cheers,

Shannon Thieme
Eat My Chocolate
New York City

Q. My lawyer filed an E-2 Visa at the Texas Service Center  which was approved. I received my E-2 and began working in my business in the US. I am Canadian and wished to travel back to Toronto for a visit. I then tried re-entering the US but was turned away by US Customs who told me I have to re-apply for the E-2 Visa at the Toronto Consulate. My current E-2 is valid so I do not understand this. Please help

_____________________

A. Unfortunately is appears that the CBP Officer is correct. If you apply for your E-2 from within the US at a US Service Center, what you are getting is not a Visa per se but a rather status document. The legal affect of this is that it grants you status in the US to work there but not traveling privileges. Only Visas can give you the ability to travel into the US  to work and only Consulates and Embassies outside the US can issue visas. A technical detail but an important one.

Frankly, your lawyer should have warned you about the travel restrictions associated with an E-2 application filed from within the US as opposed to the US  Consulate. In any case, you will have to apply again for the E-2 Visa at the US Consulate in Toronto on University Avenue. This application can take up to three months for processing. Hopefully, you have someone in your business in the US who can take over for you while you are waiting for your Visa to be processed.

Q. I am in the US as a visitor and wish to buy a US business and apply for an E-2 Visa. Since I am in the US, can I file the E-2 Visa application at a US Service Center in the US rather than at the US Consulate outside the US? I am from Toronto.

_________

A. You can indeed file the E-2 Visa from within the US at your local Service Center. But there is a major downside to this. Even if you are approved for the Visa, should you wish to leave the USA after receiving the E-2, you would have to re-apply at a US Consulate in order to reenter the US. This is because only consulate issue Visas, that is, travel documents. At the Service Center, you get an E-2 but its not really a Visa properly understood. Rather it’s a status document that gives you E-2 status to work in the US. But there are no travel features associated with it.

In order words, for applicants who require to travel while on an E-2 Visa, it is strongly recommended that you apply for the E-2 at a US Consulate rather than at a Service Center.  For more information about E-2 Visas see our website here and our blogs here.

Q. I have been an employee in Canada in HR for over 10 years. I wish to invest in a restaurant  in the US. However, I have no experience in working or owing a restaurant. Can I qualify for an E-2 Visa?

_____

A.  For applicants wishing to establish or to invest in a business in the US under the E-2 Business Visa category it is always helpful to have relevant business experience. Having such experience will add credibility to your application. However if you have a good business plan clearly outlining your ideas from a marketing, operational and financial perspective, any lack of experience can be overcome by lots of planning and preparation.

Of course beyond business experience, there are many other, more important, criteria that makes a winning E-2 Visa application. We have written about the various issues concerning E-2 Visas here and here. In Toronto E-2 Visas are submitted to the US Consulate and having business experience does not hurt. But we have found that a well presented application showing how, despite an applicant’s lack of experience, their US business will succeed is much more important.

We have written about E-2 Investor Visas in the past: those US Work Permits for investors starting or buying a business in the US. Such business are often launched by entrepreneurs taking on great personal risk in the hopes of creating employment for themselves and other American workers.

In times of economic hardship in the US, you would think that USCIS and the various Consulates that process E Visas, would welcome such applicants and do what they could to approve them. Not so it seems. At our office, we handle many E-2 Visa applications, many of which, represent great opportunities not just for their Canadian applicants but for prospective US employees who would be working in these businesses. Canadians generally have a very good track record of success in the US in virtually every industry. The E Visa process is a gateway to the US for Canadian entrepreneurs who can be properly regarded as a source of US employment.

However, we are often shocked to discover that after carefully preparing our client’s E visa applications and waiting for the US Consulate to process them, we sometimes get letters of refusal.  Reasons such as “lack of marginality”, “passive, not-at-risk investments”, not “substantial, uncommitted”, are often cited. While not all prospective E-2 businesses will meet the regulatory criteria, it is not necessary that E applications have to be virtually guaranteed to succeed and will hit home runs right out the gate either.

But based on some of the refusals, it appears that perfect cases are what it takes.  And a what is a “perfect case” anyway?  To make matters worse, we have seen incredibly well capitalized businesses with proven success operated by experienced applicants nevertheless get refused. Frankly there is no good reason for this.

Our experience is shared by other US immigration attorneys in Canada and within the US who have to tell their frustrated clients the bad news.  Other creative strategies to get our clients to the US have to be employed often involving longer wait times and greater expense and risk. Prospective US employees waiting for work will have to wait longer.

But it is not all doom and gloom. E Visa applicants are still getting approved but not at the levels seen in the past. Given the strained economy south of the border, one would think we would see the contrary trend. Sadly the gate keepers to the US seem to have another perspective. Let’s hope that the tide will turn soon. All we can do is keep trying.

Q. I am a Canadian Citizen. I wish to move to the US and invest in a business there. I heard that I can get a US business Visa if I buy a business. Is this true?

________________

A.  There are different “US business visas” available for Canadians. If you wish to buy a business in the US, you may be eligible for what is called an E-2 Visa. E-2 Visas can be issued at the US Consulate for applicants that make a “substantial investment” in a US business in the US, and own at least 50% of their business in the US. For more information about E-2 Visas you can go here