bugsybuz

Hi all,
Just to start by saying I'm a newbie on this site and it's great to see such a great bunch of people helping each other
My smallish family and I have recently come over from Australia, down to North Dallas and now possibly looking to purchase an existing small business(80k with a further 20k investment, not looking at hitting any magical numbers, it's just the way the figures have worked out). We've met the owners a few times, carried out our own due diligence and everything is tickety boo from their point of view, but obviously we need to arrange our own situation, so now for the possibly dumba**e questions:
1. Has anyone processed an E2 application from within the US?
2. Could we process the application ourselves or would an attorney/lawyer be recommended (I'm as tight as a..., and don't mind some paperwork filling)?
3. Is there such a thing as premium processing for this or is this just a sales pitch from the attorney's?
4. Being an existing business rather than a startup would the visa be issued for less than the max 5? We are setting a 5 yr plan with this in the hope?
5. Are we crazy?
Plenty more questions on bank accounts and driving licences but that can wait for the moment
Thank you in advance for any help you guys can offer us

Noorah101

What is your current status in the USA? You can't obtain a visa from within the USA.

Rene

bugsybuz

Hi Rene, we are only tourists at the moment (i94) but have read than we can apply for a change to E2 while in the states?

Noorah101

Do you actually have a B-2 tourist visa? If so, then you might be able to change status.

Rene

ian-mstm

If you actually have B-2 visas, yes. If you entered the US on ESTA/VWP, then no.

Ian

christmasoompa

Not sure what you mean by 'smallish family', but if you're got kids then my answer to that question would be yes! I personally wouldn't uproot my kids and move them somewhere on a temp visa knowing that they might not be able to stay there long term, or somewhere where the whole family's short term future is dependent on the business succeeding and a renewal being granted.

JMO though! And if you've not got kids then I think it's a very different situation.

Good luck.

bugsybuz

Thank you for your replies and a little more about us. There is my wife, three daughters(11,13 and 16) and I, so crazy we might be but we didn't want to renew our visas in Australia and do not want to return to the UK just yet. So with that, we decided to have had an extended scouting holiday traveling around North America, originally with the focus of settling in Canada. As for uprooting the family and the risks involved, it's not a decision we took lightly and all the focus on our next move is making sure it's right for our girls and if they are happy and doing well at school we will make it work there. Hence the reason we are eager to purchase the current business we are looking at because of the future expansions which could easily be put into place.
We've been to Toronto and do like it there, the people were amazing and we made some great friends and contacts there, but the inflated housing market, ridiculously cold winters and humid summers doesn't agree with us. Hence the decision to head down to Texas. As much as there was certain things we didn't agree with in Australia, you couldn't fault the weather
So we done the road trip down (crossing the border on with the VWP), which was a mission at times (forgot to mention we have two little dogs with us as well!) but glad we done it, brilliant experience
Ok, there's us, and back to our predicament So I(or all of us?) would need to leave to reapply for a B2 visa? Or would it be more beneficial just to go for the E2 and hope it goes through in a speedy manner before missing out on this business?
Thank you all again

ian-mstm

All of you.


We forgot to mention... if you're otherwise eligible to use the VWP, you're unlikely to get a B-2 visa - unless you can give compelling evidence why you need (rather than want) more than 90 days to visit the US. Simply wanting to be in the US longer is not sufficient... and wanting a B-2 visa so you can later change your status is not an appropriate reason to have a B-2 visa.


This... but you can't do it unless you're already in the US having entered on an actual visa. If you entered on the VWP, you must all leave the US before your 90 days runs out and then apply for an E-2 visa at a US Consulate abroad. They will want to see, by the way, a solid business plan. This is not something you can do quickly.

There's a lot to be said for a semi-nomadic life style... but dealing with US immigration isn't one of them! Further, if you happened to get an E-2 visa this year, then your eldest daughter must leave the US the day she turns 21 - unless she happens to be able to get a visa in her own right that allows her to stay.

Ian

bugsybuz

Thanks Ian, Ok, so a trip back to Canada might be in order?
After our last meeting with the business owners they provided us with some missing information for our business plan and now just needs its finishing touches. I have been running my own businesses for quite a while now, so have a few business plans to draw from

Re our eldest, we would be hoping by that point, she would be qualified enough to seek her own employment or maybe even work for us, even tho she is/will be studying for psychology, not sure how that would fit with our business model but at least she could help my mental state?

Thanks again

christmasoompa

I'd be more concerned about your youngest - if the business succeeded and you could renew until she's 21, then by that point she'll have been in the US for a decade and her whole life (friends, support network, all of her education that matters on a resume) will be there. She simply won't know the UK anymore so risking her being kicked out at age 21 means my answer to your question above is an even more emphatic yes.

Rete

I think it would be safe to say that the youngest and the oldest do not know the UK now, never mind in the future. They have been living in the land of OZ for years so even going back to the UK at the present time to live, work and attend school will be foreign grounds for the entire family. There will be vague memories but that is all there will be ... memories.

My concerns are that the girls will age out at age 21 and will no longer have a visa to live in the US. Your eldest daughter, if she is still in college at that age, can try for an F-1 student visa. I don't know how she can get a work visa through the family business unless you become so large that you can offer a H-1B visa and hope that she wins the lottery to use it.

One thing you MUST LOOK INTO as I don't know the answer is whether your children are eligible to work while here as dependents on their parent(s) E2 visa. Some visas do not allow children to work or even obtain a social security number. Please look into this very carefully.

bugsybuz

That's why I was over the moon when my eldest said about becoming a psychologist, possibly bring a hint of sanity into the household

I might be opening something else up here but within our five yr plan we are looking to increase the staff levels to 7 people, so hopefully, if things are working well, the company is healthy and kids are happy we could push a bit harder to employ 10 US citizens (the figure I've read?) to apply for a more permanent visa?

bugsybuz

Thanks Rete, the eldest was a little torn on leaving Aus but knew it was for the best, especially for her. She is still on contact with quite a lot of her friends from the UK due to modern tec of social media, but that said she has also made an abundance of friends from our short time in Toronto and already has a few US ones.

I have provisionally looked into the work issue and, again from the limited information I can find on it, that they are not able to work unless it is campus based work?

scrubbedexpat099

I am not sure you could apply in Canada, you would need to check.

Some people do the application themselves but I am not sure that would be wise in this case.

Daughters could be a plus, a common method to a GC is for one of them to marry a USC and then obtain citizenship and sponsor their parents, you have 3 chances.

If you are looking to go ahead make sure funds are held in ESCROW pending issuances of a visa.

Just wondering what you were doing for their schooling, side issue.

bugsybuz

Thanks for that boiler.

Ok, I've just spoken to an Attorney and it is possible to apply for the visa from Canada but would be easier and makes more sense to apply from our native uk, which would also be nice to get back for a visit, I suppose?! With this in mind, I might look at processing myself, if viable?

Love the GC option😂 After all the years of drumming into them the "no boyfriends until they're 21" rule....

I'm going to start looking into the escrow side of things shortly and re the schooling, we've been using the Khan Academy and some other bits we grabbed from their previous schools to keep them going but trying to find an online academy that they could do? Especially for the eldest to help earn the credits she will be lacking. Any suggestions on this side would always be most welcome?