scrubbedexpat099

GBP100k of stock would take up a lot of space. I assume that most of the value is the stock, does not sound like there is much else.

Most Residential locations do not allow such business activities.

My first thought was that the legal fee sounds reasonable and my second is that you do not have much if anything to see you through, and I assume the Consulate will think the same.

I am sure there are E Commerce businesses that would match an E2, this does not sound one of them.

Pulaski

I've just been back and checked, it's "women's fashions", which is stock with a very short shelf life - if it ain't sold in two months it won't be worth much.

The world of e-commerce is littered with businesses that grew rapidly when they chanced upon some particular niche, and then faded just as rapidly when the fad died or mainstream retailers ripped off were inspired by the product the small on-line retailer was selling.

ian-mstm

The Flickr site needs some proofreading for spelling and punctuation errors! That said, her web site already seems to convert between $, £, and €, so I'm not sure why she'd need to transfer to a US-based domain. It'd be easier to simply register a new domain and link the two together.

@Susy1206 - From what you've written, a US-based business isn't viable at this point in time. You might think it is, and you might want it to be - but we have seen similar posts from other members with a small sum of money available... and you're almost certainly heading for financial ruin if you continue with your present strategy.

Do yourself a favor... do some research into the US market before you get yourself into trouble.

Ian

ecpb1992

It's great to hear your enthusiasm about wanting to get to the USA and can understand it may have certain benefits for the profitability of your current business, but honestly it seems unrealistic from the info that you have given so far. We have recently moved to Southern California on an E-2 Visa and by no means had an endless budget, but unless you know the ins and out of visa applications, E2 requirements and an understanding of what they are looking for in your application i would HIGHLY recommend a lawyer. Another bit of advice - whatever you've budgeted for expenses - DOUBLE it! Theres a lot of initial outlay and for effectively a start up business, you need reserves.. especially here in SoCal where it feels like you're haemorrhaging money.

As another user has pointed out £6-7k isn't that bad if the lawyer is prepared to file for you and prepare the application fully. This is roughly what we paid for our lawyer.

Some other points i have noted from your application that may be worth clarifying so we can help you:
1- Your UK business - its really irrelevant what you've already invested in your UK business. That money was invested to establish your UK business, NOT your US business
2- You would need to set up a US business (LLC is the most common structure for small-mid size businesses) - this is what you would be applying for the visa for, to run the US business. You cant get an E2 visa for a UK company
3- You would need to invest substantial funds into the US side of your business to satisfy the investment requirement - ie. lease for business premises/storage facility for stock/ stock itself/ shipping of current stock/limited travel expenses
4 - You cannot submit your business premise as your primary residence - the whole point is that the business isnt a 'work from home' position (If they did, I imagine anyone doing those silly pyramid schemes like Herbalife etc would just up sticks and move to the US)
5- Your previous experience in the field in the UK WILL help you as you're not just setting up a random business but honestly your biggest battle is going to be showing a feasible business plan (relating the specific area in the US you want to be in) and satisfying the investment requirement - there is an unspoken 'rule' of 100k investment into the business - ours was a little less than this but with that, your business plan HAS to be watertight and realistic.
6- You NEED a US bank account - this can be done with a short trip to the US after establishing your LLC as the business will be given effectively its own SS code - an EIN.

I dont envy you, being at the start of the long journey that is the E2 visa, it can be a HUGE risk with lots of financial outlay that cannot guarantee success, so I would suggest your first port of call to be decide if this is really what you want and if its worth it to you - if yes - be sensible with your investment - £6000 on lawyers fees, will be nothing on the scale of things if you get your visa but can be the case of getting it or not.

If you have any questions, happy to answer anything at all! I wish there were more people out there that have been through the process that could have helped when we were doing it!

Pulaski

I am not sure why Susy thinks there is an unfulfilled demand for such "fashions" and "accessories" in the US. The web site looks like it is selling the same sort of things that about a third of the stores in pretty much any mall in the US sell.

When a lot of the mall experience is browsing the stores on a weekend, and handing over cash in exchange for instant gratification, I am sceptical that this would be a huge success and growth business in the US.

Nutmegger

Looks like the kind of T-shirt business that's in every mall. But I do espy a link to Disney, so perhaps the mouse is the impetus.

scrubbedexpat099

This is Spoiled Brat?

gwensvilla

A lease is required for e2, so work from home is a no no..we had to give documentary evidence of our lease.
With lack of credit, you could be asked for 6mths rent in advance, which could be anything from $1000 to $2000 per month!!! Realistically much more saving still required. I think an initial consultation with an immigration attorney is desperately needed to address the many red flags raised.

Heywoodwest

To answer the question of whether you need an immigration lawyer, the answer is you can do it yourself - I did and I've been on an E-2 visa for 11 years now. You need to be methodical and provide logical well thought out answers to every part of the information that they suggest. Long ago I used to be in commercial banking which helped make sure the figures and forms were all correct.
My main issue would be whether you can satisfy the embassy that you are going to employ US citizens This is what is meant about the business being more than a subsistence business. I get the impression they don't care whether the business will make you a millionaire or leave you starving on the street as long as you are providing jobs for local people.
In my case we were buying an existing business, so it was relatively easy to prove that we were going to employ local staff. We sold our house in the UK and put the money in escrow, got an offer of a mortgage from a local US bank and submitted the paperwork. Unfortunately it was just when the USA had dumped all the renewals for E2 visas onto the embassy staff so everything took much longer - 9 months instead of 9 weeks. Then a year after we got here the world went into recession.... I've never worked so hard for so little money, but loved every second of it!

H Bomb

This is just an idea, but....

Why not set up a US subsidiary and employee someone already legal to work in the US to set it all up and start operating.

If your UK operation is currently profitable and it is unlikely you will cannibalize your own sales then just leave the UK office to run.

Then once US and UK are both established transfer yourself over on an L1.


For more knowledgeable members - is this even legal??

Pulaski

Yes, it's absolutely legal. Also the US business can then sponsor a green card for the L-1A holder, making the move potentially permanent, and at that point, but not before, the UK business can be sold or closed.

H Bomb

Well that sounds like it could be a great idea!

If only the OP knew someone with a background in retail, distribution, marketing and e-commerce who in the US already with permanent residency who is looking for a new job!?

Hang on - I know someone! Me

Steve_

Sounds like total <snip> and I would totally ignore everything he said to you.

There's no requirement for the whole thing to be established before you apply for E-2, that's rubbish. It makes his job easier because instead of writing a business plan he can point to an existing business but typically applicants for E-2 don't have the business underway, usually that only happens if they're buying an existing business.

The key points for getting E-2 are: (a) a comprehensive business plan, on the us embassy websites they point out the key things they're looking for in it and you should also read 8 CFR 214.2(e), which are the regulations; (b) must be a "substantial" investment; and (c) cannot be a subsistence business.

Lawyers always say it's X amount of money you should invest but really it depends on the business, there's no set amount. Substantial in the context of that business, but you're not likely to get it with less than $50,000 invested.

Also lawyers say you should hire X people, there's no requirement to hire any people, but it's implied from the no "subsistence" bit.

Be aware of the fact that there's no direct pathway to being an LPR, so if your business fails, you have to leave the country, plus if you have children, they age out at 21.

Spouses of E-2 get open work authorization, so the usual trick is for the person who is likely to earn the least to be the primary applicant so the spouse can get a higher paying job.

Steve_

I was just going to say she can do L-1A instead which is slightly less paperwork but the catch is that you cannot self-sponsor yourself on an I-140 for LPR status generally speaking. And if you could, it would make more sense to do that anyway from the beginning, i.e. EB-1 or EB-2 NIW.

In order to do it the L-1A way she would have to have senior staff who could sponsor her. Otherwise, once the L-1A runs out, you have to leave, whereas E-2 can be renewed indefinitely.

How many people have you seen on here who've gotten E-2 for something daft? And how many have I encountered, lots.

I mean, a lot of people just go to overstock.com, buy up a load of junk and sell it on EBay and that's how they survive from day-to-day.

I had a relative who got E-2 for running an interior design company, he never really made any money at it and eventually it failed during the recession, but hey he got it and he had it for a long time. Depends on your willingness to endure for the privilege of being able to live in the US, temporarily. Which a surprisingly large number of people will put up with.

The Moose

Wow - so much mis-information in this thread!!!

It’s not a lot, however you should be able to do it for about $6,000 with an attorney.

Honestly this sounds like a business you would like to move to the US, rather than one that needs to be in the US, so IMO is likely to be an uphill struggle for a visa, not to mention that "subsistence businesses" are specifically prohibited.

Obviously it depends on the business - for example, a gem stone dealer could store a hell of a lot of stock in a wardrobe. There is actually nothing that stops you renting some self-storage space under your new business in the USA.

You don’t need a business premises - you can use a virtual office/corporate image contract to cover the business premises requirement with no issues at all. If it’s a solely e-commerce business then there should be no zoning issue for working at home.

I don’t know where this $200k comes from - there are plenty of people who get their E2 visa with a lot less. The exact wording is ‘substantial investment’ which is so wooly it’s meaningless really. During my research I came across someone who had invested less than $50,000 for their E2 visa - it’s all about how you put together the pack as I understand it.

I also don’t know where this $400k comes from either…it’s almost as if you don’t actually want people to move to the USA and really isn’t helpful advice!!!

Why go to the expense of a full on office and all that entails if it’s not necessary for the business?

Or have the USA company buy the stock from the UK company. Check the harmonized tariff code (if you import to the UK it’ll be the same code) and see what the US import duty numbers are going to be like. I was very lucky - my commodity codes in the USA are actually a fraction of what they were i the UK.

Not at all! If you walk into a Berkshire Hathaway Home Services branch and say that you want to rent that one then you will have an issue with rent. If you do some ground work and find a rental-by-owner then there’s no reason why you can’t talk your way into a rental without 6+ months rent up from. Car insurance don’t require huge deposits. My utilities deposit was $400 for water and nothing for electric or cable. Having said that, I wouldn’t want to make the move with ‘only’ £10,000. I don’t know what medical fees you refer to - I haven’t spend anything yet (other than insurance premiums).

It’s often much better to run the business from the market you’re selling to. My products are too ‘custom’ to just stick in a fulfilment warehouse and keep odd hours in the UK. That’s not to say that it’s not possible at all, however my wife and I wanted to make the move to the USA.

This I think is the best bit of advice on this thread. I rarely need a ‘Like’ button, but this is one of those times.

I’m sorry, but what absolute nonsense!!! Most retail businesses are working on a much larger profit margin than you imply. Most retail businesses would operate on a minimum of 100% markup, if not much much more. It does of course depend on the business.

That’s not true.

Agree with all this

Would be a good route. Obviously not one I’ve gone down, however I understand it’s a more expensive way to come to the US than the E2 application.

I would strongly suggest not doing this alone, however you will require more money for attorney fees. I also suggest you speak with a CPA who is experienced with both the UK/USA side of things. It sounds like you should set up a USA LLC and have that company buy the assets from your UK company. You don’t have to physically move the stock from UK to USA until or unless the visa is issued.

I hope the above has been of some use - for reference, my qualifications to answer the comments are having just gone through the E2 visa process and currently in the USA working.