Business/Employment Visas

One of the aims of immigration regulations is to support the American economy, both by protecting native workers by limiting the ability of foreign nationals to work in the country and by encouraging skilled workers, entrepreneurs, and investors from other countries to work and do business in the United States.

To achieve these goals, certain qualified foreign nationals can apply for visas that permit extended stays in the United States for work-related purposes, and they can also gain derivative visas for their spouses and dependent children. In some cases, aliens who invest substantially in America are rewarded with permanent residency.

The President in his 2011 State of The Union Address has asked Congress to grant foreign students on F 1 visas greater rights to apply for employment visas upon graduation from U.S. Universities in their chosen field of endeavor. He wants to encourage start up businesses by university graduates and others who have gained an education in the United States. These start up businesses would be authorized thru and L1 visa, and E 2 visa or EB 5 visas.

The President wants to encourage these graduates to remain in the U.S. to work for U.S. employers rather than return to their home countries to compete against U.S. businesses. This could be done through extension of the H 1 B and TN visa categories.

INVESTORS

Foreign nationals who wish to start or invest in companies in the United States have several visa options. The links below will take you to our Las Vegas affiliate Web site, where we already have a comprehensive explanation of these processes available online:

L-1A Visas
This class of visa is available to foreign nationals (owners or managers) interested in opening a subsidiary or foreign branch of their company in the United States. An L-1A Visa permits stays of up to three years with a cap of seven years total.

E-2 Visas
These visas are available only to foreign nationals from one of about 80 countries who have signed a reciprocity treaty with the United States. Investors from these countries who wish to purchase an existing U.S. business or invest substantially in a new one can obtain a visa for themselves and their spouses and dependents that does not expire as long as they continue their business relationship with the company.

EB-5 “Million-Dollar Investor”
Visas Foreign investors who can make a large investment (usually of $1,000,000 or more, though there are different tiers based on locality) can earn lawful permanent residency (a Green Card) directly as a benefit. The investment has to create at least ten “permanent” jobs for LPRs or U.S. citizens.

EMPLOYEES

There are also immigration opportunities available to certain skilled workers. Learn more about these options by visiting these links to our sister site:

H1-B Visas
These visas are available to foreign nationals who have both a four-year university degree and a firm job offer to work in the United States in a position that utilizes that training. Three years of work experience can also be substituted for each year of university training. These visas have an annual quota of 65,000, and in most years the quota is reached within weeks of the April 1 opening of the application period. The spouse and dependent children of an H1-B Visa holder can also reside in the United States during the two three-year stays allowed through the visa.

TN Visas
The TN Visa is identical to the H1-B visa except that it is specific to foreign nationals from Canada or Mexico only. These U.S. neighbors benefit from lower application fees, easier processing, and no annual cap on the number of visas available.

L-1B Visas
These visas are available to workers or managers with “specialized knowledge” that is needed by an American subsidiary or branch office of a multi-national company. Along with their spouses and dependent children, L-1B Visa holders can spend up to three years at a time in the United States for a total of seven years.

(Employers should also be aware of the L “Blanket” visa, which is helpful when a company has multiple employees eligible for L-1B visas.)

E Treaty Visas
The “Treaty Trader” visa is available to aliens who wish to come to the U.S. The alien must be “essential to the efficient operation” of the company s/he will work for and must assist in conducting “substantial trade” between the United States and his/her country of origin. Treaty Traders and their families are also allowed indefinite stays in the U.S. as long as their business activity continues.