The E treaty visa category

This category is limited to nationals of certain countries that have a treaty with the U.S. for trade and commerce.  An E-1 visa is available to a foreign national who wishes to come to the US to carry on substantial trade, principally between the US and his/her own country.  An E-2 visa is available to a foreign national who is coming to the United States to develop and direct the operations of an enterprise in which he/she has invested, or is actively in the process of investing, a substantial amount of capital.

This is suitable for hard to find skills, it has been used for professionals and skilled trades such as welders and fitters.

E-1 AND E-2 VISAS

Treaties between United States and many countries allow foreign persons to come to the United States to conduct trade (import/export activities) or to manage investments. Unlike the Immigrant Investor visa there is no fixed dollar amount for the investment. The E-1 visa is used to conduct trade between the United States and the country of nationality. The E-2 visa is used for overseeing investments in the U.S.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR AN E VISA

1. A Treaty of Commerce and Navigation or a Bilateral Investment treaty must be in effect between the U.S. and the country of nationality of the foreign company or investor.
2. The company or the individual engaging in trade or investment in the U.S. must be of the same nationality as the treaty country.
   1. The nationality of an individual is the country of citizenship.
   2. The nationality of a corporation or partnership is determined by the citizenship of the individuals having controlling interest (stock ownership or partnership interest in the business entity). Controlling interest means at least 50% ownership. For treaty purposes, citizens of the treaty country who have acquired U.S. permanent residence status can not be counted in determining the 50% ownership. However, citizens of the treaty country who are in the U.S. in E visa status can be counted in determining the 50% ownership.
3. The employee or principal who is applying for E visa status must have the same nationality as the treaty entity. Spouses and children of the employee or principal may obtain derivative E status without being a citizen of the treaty country.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR E-1, TREATY TRADER VISA

1. Substantial Trade

The company must be involved in substantial trade principally between the U.S. and the treaty country.

The definition of trade, for purposes of the E-1 visa, has broadened considerably. Previously, the E-1 visa was only available to businesses involved in the exchange, purchase or sale of tangible goods. Now, E-1 visa status is also available for businesses involved in the exchange, purchase, or sale of services as well as tangible goods.

Accordingly, businesses involved in services such as advertising, consulting, accounting, engineering or law may qualify for E-1 status. Also, companies involved in technology transfers may qualify for E-1 status if title to the technology passes from one company to another.

No specific minimum dollar amount is required to meet the requirement of substantial trade. Instead the dollar amount and the number of transactions are taken into account as well as the requirement that the trade be continuous. A single large transaction will not qualify while numerous small transactions may.

For the trade to be considered principally between the U.S. and the treaty country more than 50% of the dollar volume of the international trade must be between the U.S. and the treaty country.

1. Principal Trader

The person who is accorded E-1 visa status must be coming to the U.S. as the principal trader or in a supervisory or executive position or must have “skills which are essential to the successful operation of the enterprise”.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR E-2, TREATY INVESTOR STATUS

1. Substantial Investment

There is no specific dollar amount which must be invested to meet the “substantial” requirement but the investment must meet one of two tests:

1. 1. It must represent a significant proportion of the total value of the business enterprise (this test is usually applied to investments in existing businesses), or
   2. It must be sufficient to establish a profitable and viable business of the type contemplated.
2. The investment must be in an active business.

Investment in property held for future appreciation, bank deposits and investments in stocks and securities would not qualify for the E-2 visa. The investment must be in an enterprise which produces some service or commodity.

1. The investment should create job opportunities for U.S. workers.

While it is preferable to have the U.S. workers hired at the time of application for the E-2 visa, reasonably achievable projections of jobs that will be created is often sufficent.

1. The E-2 visa applicant must play a key role in the operation of the business.

The visa applicant must either be the investor who is coming to the U.S. to develop or direct the investment or must be a manager or a highly trained employee with special skills necessary for the development of the investment.

STATUS OF FAMILY MEMBERS

Family members (spouses and unmarried children under 21) of the principal E visa employee may obtain derivative E visa status which allows them to live in the U.S. and attend school. Family members are not authorized to work unless they independently qualify for a visa.

DURATION OF STAY IN THE U.S.

E visas are generally issued for four or five years. E visa holders are admitted to the U.S. for two years and extensions of stay may be granted for up to two years at a time. Extensions are generally unlimited as long as the trade or investment continues. An E visa may often be reissued for an additional five years by the State Department Visa Office in Washington D.C. In this event it is not necessary to return to the home country to renew the visa.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

The E visa application can be made through a U.S. consulate abroad or through a U.S. office of the Immigration & Naturalization Service. However, the reader is strongly advised to obtain the advice of a U.S. attorney prior to beginning the trading activities making the investment or applying for the visa.

E VISA Treaty Countries

Treaties which provide for trade and investment status (both E-1 and E-2 Visas) are in effect with the following countries:

1. • Argentina
   • Australia
   • Austria
   • Belgium
   • Canada
   • China (Taiwan)
   • Colombia
   • Costa Rica
   • Estonia
   • Ethiopia
   • Finland
   • France
   • Germany
   • Honduras
   • Iran
   • Ireland
   • Italy
   • Japan
   • Korea
   • Latvia
   • Liberia
   • Luxembourg
   • Mexico
   • Netherlands
   • Norway
   • Oman
   • Pakistan
   • Paraguay
   • Philippines
   • Slovenia
   • Spain
   • Suriname
   • Sweden
   • Switzerland
   • Thailand
   • Togo
   • Turkey
   • United Kingdom
   • Yugoslavia

Treaties conferring only E-1 treaty-trader status exist with the following countries.

1. • Bolivia
   • Brunei
   • Denmark
   • Estonia
   • Greece
   • Israel

Treaties conferring only E-2 Treaty-Investor status are in effect with the following countries:

1. • Armenia
   • Bangladesh
   • Bulgaria
   • Cameroon
   • Congo
   • Czech Republic
   • Ecuador
   • Egypt
   • Georgia
   • Grenada
   • Jamaica
   • Kazakhstan
   • Kyrgyzstan
   • Moldova
   • Mongolia
   • Morocco
   • Panama
   • Poland
   • Romania
   • Senegal
   • Slovakia
   • Sri Lanka
   • Trinidad & Tobago
   • Tunisia
   • Ukraine

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An H-2B Guest worker visa program guide for employers and corporations.

America has always been the dream destination for many people, especially foskilled professionals as the wages and facilities that one employee can earn while working inside USA is often more than they can earn at home, or it has more value in USA than it has at home due to the reasonable costs of living for basic things like clothes, food and travel.

We recently did a poll of all our applicants and USA was the top choice destination by far, which would support the fact that the US consulates are very keen to make sure that non immigrant workers intend to return home after their contract has finished.

USA work visas and guest work programs have different options according to the demands and the type of available jobs in USA.  The H-2b visa program for seasonal jobs is the main visa for lower skilled workers and often is the preferred USA work visas or guest worker program for employers. It allows  employers to hire foreign workers to get engaged in any kind of non-agricultural job for a short term, non immigrant stay in the USA.

The H2B Guest worker program offers  an extension option for up to three seasons, typically each visa is issued for 190 months or less at a time depending on the seasonal need.

This is a good visa for  people looking for some travel and fun jobs while residing in the US. Employers need temporary foreign employees for short time seasonal employment. The  H2b visa sponsorship is popular for it’s easy application and relatively hassle free approval process for the Labor certificate and the petition as long as the application has been handled correctly and with the right information, documents and approach submitted to both the department of labor and the USCIS at the time of applying for the I-797 petition.

Employers need proper advice before submitting documentation and all the necessary extra information before they apply for a labor certification approval to allow them to participate in the  H2b USA work visa program.

Employers will have to prove that their is unavailability of enough workers in their locality and that their need of temporary workers is genuine to allow them to apply for these visas for their own employees.

They should start to prepare to apply for the applications six months before the workers are needed, this gives enough time to plan ahead for an April 1st or October 1st start date. The main problem to the application if it is a genuine need is that there is a cap imposed  for 33000 successful applications in every fiscal years( six months), while there are approximately 50000 applications approved by the USCIS, these extra approvals are usually to cover those applicants that are rejected at the US consulate stage, which is approximately one third of all applicants.

Thta is a scary statistic to employers who have spent months and a great deal of money preparing for the workers, the question we get asked most when employers are made aware of these facts is always the same …”Is there a risk free way  procedure to follow while applying for the H2B Visas and petitions?”

The answer is that yes there are some simple procedures that should be followed and there are ways to ensure you stand the very best chance of success and minimize your chance of failure, this is done through proper candidate selection, proper documentation, experience of knowing what is needed at what time and having local knowledge in the countries that you are recruiting from.

Osrec offers a great option that you can expect proper guidance about the application process. Here, you can find experts doing immigration and recruitment for years. We are ready to help you completely so that you never have to bother with the filing and submission process after supplying us with the  proper documentation.

The main risk comes at the consulate stage but we have a unique preparation, screening and skills testing system in place to ensure the best chance possible.

Our goal to to help clients succeed in getting their workers on time and that they are quality workers that can hit the ground running.

A brief and easy guide to US Immigration guest worker and work related programs

America offers various opportunities for employers and migrant workers, every year US Immigration work programs approves a good number of visa applications for trained professionals. People who are looking for a job have the chance to apply for a USA visa under an employer or sponsor who has  pre approved  legal compliance’s to hire a suitable foreign worker as an employee under his company. The US Immigration work programs has arranged number of visa options for employers to hire employees according to their needs.

For employers, there are several convenient options to manage their workforce with foreign professionals. US Immigration offers H-1B Visa for professionals, H-2B Visa program for seasonal workers, many of whom may be highly skilled such as welders, fitters, electricians, journeymen linemen as well as the usual popular demands within the program such as ski resort workers, constriction workers, hospitality staff such as cooks, drivers, food servers, food production assistants and many more., the L-1 Visa is also quite popular for intra company transfers. Recently with the new rules being introduced for the H-2B visa which prevents some unscrupulous practices by both some agents and employers there has been a major shift towards the Q1 Visa and the J1 Visa as an alternative to the H”B visa program.

These are the most convenient work, employer and sponsor related visas for US Immigration for migrant or foreign workers, which can easily be attained by the employers through working with experienced and knowledgeable immigration and recruitment services such as the Overseas Recruitment Association. There are different visa options for different professional experts. H-1B visa and H-2B visas are arranged for the employees. US Immigration also has ready made provisions of business visas too, which includes B-1 visa.

Furthermore, the students, and tourists have their own options to attain US visa according to their needs.

Employers looking to employ foreign people in their company should first gain approval to do so through the Department of Labor. After approval and a temporary labor certificate are approved they also need to file the petition applications of their employees to the USCIS. After petitions are approved the worker needs to arrange the papers before submission to the US Consulate for final Visa to gain entry clearance to travel to USA.

Osrec helps applicants prepare properly for the embassy. This is often an overlooked part of the procedure which often goes wrong leaving employers frustrated with approved petitions but with applicants being denied entry clearance visas and therefore losing the time, effort and money spent in getting the temporary labor certificate and the USCIS approved petition.

The Obama administration has launched a new plan to salvage the immigration detention system ridden with scandals, especially lockups at federal, state, and local levels during the presidency of George W. Bush.

The plan has its origins in the proposals mooted by Janet Napolitano, the homeland security secretary and John Morton, the director of Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE). The suggestions mainly focus on providing better detention conditions and better medical care for the detainees as well as holding a trail of preventable injuries and deaths. The stated purpose of their proposals is to make the immigration detention system less expensive and more accountable and efficient.

The new immigration reform plan reflects a change in the attitude of the government that not all detainees are violent criminals. They could be asylum seekers, young mothers and their children, even respected members of communities whose brush with law was due to a lapsed visa.

If they do not have a genuine reason for staying, they should be deported immediately and not confined in detention centers. Those who need to be detained will be detained “in settings commensurate with the risk of flight and danger they present.”

The ICE also plans to unveil a new medical classification system to improve medical care and bring down unnecessary medical transfers. However, the details of the scheme are yet to be clarified by ICE.

The most important of all immigration reform measures is that, central control over subcontracted system has been reaffirmed. This stresses that central control is a smarter and cheaper option. The entire plan will be well within the budget as there is less dependence on contractors who perform important federal duties.

If these policies turn out to be a success and if they continue to be implemented, it will make up for years of neglect suffered under previous administrations.