Eustace

Hello,

I'm new but I have been lurking for some time. Congratulations on the site and thanks - it's an excellent resource.

I am a 34-year-old British man. I'm single, with no family responsibilities. I would like to emigrate to, and settle in, the USA. Having researched the visa, immigration and entry requirements, I recognise the difficulties and challenges involved and I'm putting a timescale on this of around five to ten years - but if it can be done quicker, then all the better.

I am a self-employed consultant and serial entrepreneur. I start-up and sell businesses (mainly e-commerce) in a variety of sectors. Many of my clients are US-based. Just as an example, I have developed a social media solution for independent travel agencies in the USA.

My professional background is as a lawyer (solicitor). I have dealt with immigration cases, but I am not a specialist and do not claim expertise, so please treat me as an 'intelligent layman' in that area. I do have experience of running my own law practice in the past, however I am not particularly interested in continuing in the legal profession, let alone re-qualifying in the US. I still work as a partner in a UK law firm, though I am looking to pull away from that as soon as possible.

I have never done business within the US, and have only been there as a visitor (tourist). I have had no issues or problems with the US border/customs agencies and can still routinely enter the US on visa waiver terms as a normal tourist/business visitor.

I am seeking a route toward settling in America as a permanent resident. My research suggests that the L1/L2 route may be the best way.

I am also looking to develop business relationships with people already based in the US who may be able to work with me, to mutual advantage. What I am thinking of here is in terms of securing consultancy or business opportunities that may enable me to pursue a visa and ultimately attain permanent residency. For example, someone already based in America may have a business idea and I can assist with execution on favourable terms, or someone based in the US may want to work with me on a business idea I have that is relevant to the North American market. I can assist in exchange for equity and a gateway into the US. I would pay my own expenses (including the visa application fees, etc.).

Sherlock Holmes

Hello Eustace and welcome to B.E.

It's my pleasant duty to welcome you to the forum and give you a point of contact should you need any help with the site in general. You can contact me here.

A list of all the moderators and helpers with their relevant countries including the USA can be found here.

Any problems, dont hesitate to PM me.

I'm sure that you can find your way into the USA fora and have a look about but if not, give me a shout.

Enjoy B.E.

Alistair.

Eustace

Excellent Sherlock (or is it Holmes?!). Thanks for your help.

I'm an admirer of Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle myself, by the way.

Jerseygirl

Hello...welcome to BE.

As you know it's very difficult to move to the US...take a read through this to see if there are any other avenues open to you.

The best forum to ask immigration questions in is the US Immigration and Visas forum...I recommend you repost the above questions in that forum. You will get lot of good advice from the regulars who post in there. General questions about life in the US should be posted in the US Forum. The Trailer Park is for general chit chat.

Please take time to take a look in the BE Wiki...it's a great source for information. Also please read through any stickied threads that may be posted at the top of each forum's index page.

If you require any assistance finding your way around BE's many forums we have a team of concierges who will act as your tour guide...they will be pleased to help you. The concierge for the US forums is Kaffy Mintcake...please contact her if you need pointing in the right direction.

Any problems or concerns should be addressed to a mod or admin. The mods for the US Immigration forums are Noorah101, Bob, MsElui, avanutria and penguinsix.

Please give me a shout if I can be of further help. I look forward to seeing you in the US forums.

Bob

Hi and welcome to BE!

Seems you've been pointed to the best places to ask this question already, but if you've got the cash, half a mill to set up a enterprise, that'll be the a good way to getting the greencard as a E2 smaller business doesn't directly lead to the greencard.

Either that or marry a local, or go study something there....but why the fascination? And any particular areas of the country you have in mind?

dreadsoc

Hi Eustace

I see you have been given the pointers to our USA forum by Jerseygirl, and I am glad you have decided to join us now.
That just leaves me to say welcome to BE and all the best with your plans.

Nice to have a legal brain on board too (I am sure you have undersold yourself on that one eh?!)

If you need any help around the forum pop back here and let us know

Regards

Dread - x

Eustace

Thanks for the welcome - much appreciated. Having not used this site before, I was a little nervous about posting up my query so I am relieved at the reaction so far.

I will certainly visit the forums suggested.

My perception at the moment is that the E visa routes are a little risky. For instance, the applicant has to invest significant capital without any assurance of the actual visa. I realise that so long as you do your research and due diligence properly, this 'worst case scenario' is unlikely to occur, but if it did, that would leave me high and dry. Correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding also is that the 'E' visas do not lead direct to green cards.

The 'L' visa is a dual intent visa under which I would be eligible to make a green card application as soon as I enter the United States (though in practice I would usually be expected to wait until at least after the first renewal). The main advantage with the 'L' visa is that, potentially, it allows me to work from an office I have already established in the United States and transfer myself there as a manager/executive or on the basis of my specialised knowledge of the company's operations. This would seem to me the option that offers the greatest likelihood of success while minimising the financial risks.

As for why the United States, I have always wanted to live and work there. I enjoy the freedom and space of the country and I prefer its business culture over that of the UK. It is also a more open and meritocratic society, where someone's social background tends not to matter so much in business (though I realise there are sharp class divisions between rich and poor).

I am undecided on my preferred location, and that's jumping ahead anyway. Much of my business is online, and I tend to move around a lot. Assuming I can negotiate the legal obstacles to immigrate, then I would probably research different locations and decide which, on balance, would be most favourable to me personally and business-wise. For instance, Buffalo would not be top of my list of places to live, but it does offer attractive incentives for small businesses at the moment. A New York location would give a prestigious impression and might be good for networking and so on, but it would be expensive and I am not sure about the favourability of the labour laws. I might find it harder to settle in places in the West and Mid-West for cultural reasons. Except that Chicago is a possibility, but it seems a bit grim to me. Florida would be an obvious choice as I have heavy involvement in property, but I'm not sure I would like the weather/climate. Texas is - generally - a low tax state, but seems a little out of the way. California is a popular choice, but I would want to carefully research local tax laws and ordinances, etc., etc. So plusses and minuses - I need to give the whole thing more thought....

Rosemary

Hello and a big welcome to BE.

Excellent information can be found in the BE Wiki, not forgetting the Living and Moving Abroad forum that will help you, another set of great help is the permanent threads at the TOP of each forum, they are very pertinent to that particular forum and makes sensible reading.

Moderators deal with any problems that arise such as inappropriate posts, spammers etc, you will find their names at the bottom right hand side of each forum's index in bold font.

Please contact me if I can give you any further help.

Rosemary

Bob

Everything about the US is a risk, it's just level of comfort. E5 for those with the money is the easiest way, apart from marriage. It's the E2 that's the risky investment visa, which doesn't lead to a greencard directly, but the EB5 one does. If you're investing in a business that is already set up, you have the money in escrow and given over on contingent of getting the visa, so minimising the risk.

L visa is a good option. The employer does the greencard process. If it is your business and you are transferring yourself, it is doable, but you would be under far more scrutiny and you'll need to show how your UK side of the business will continue without you. People have done it and on this forum, but it is not as easy a route as it might have been a couple years ago.

The space, you are definitely right about that, if you avoid the big cities...I don't really know about the freedoms, that's more of a perception that doesn't live up to the reality, nor does the notion of a classless society, it really is no different to anywhere else in that regard.

Seems like you've a good general idea for locations though and you really needn't worry about labour laws, pretty much everywhere is a right to fire, CA has the toughest laws for the employee, especially in the tech area, but that's about it.

Chicago might not be a bad spot for being central, though flying out in the winter might not be so much fun. If you're into tech/media/medical/research type of stuff, Boston is good, good hub, pricey, but then a lot of places set up shop in the burbs and present themselves as Boston all the same and you do get a pretty good infrastructure for your taxes. Providence, I think it's a shitter, but, RI the state is giving out good incentives for tech related businesses and not a bad spot to set up.

Austin in Texas has a great tech/media hub going, so probably shouldn't be over looked. Atlanta, Georgia also offers good business incentives to set up shop...and so does Louisiana, especially cities such as Baton Rouge, which is why stuff such as the Twilight movies moved production from Toronto down to there and you've got places like EA opening up QA offices to take advantage of the employment tax rebates.

But as you say a lot of stuff you do is on-line, you could incorporate the business in Delaware, which has very favourable business taxes, why a lot of banks and other businesses are based out of that state, but not actually operate from there, so you can chose to live somewhere you might prefer than be entirely business driven

Eustace

Great post Bob, thanks.

I've really enjoyed reading this Forum over the past few weeks, and it's great to be a member. There are some great people here, like Bob, who want to help. I hope to update you on my journey - and maybe one day reciprocate your goodwill and try and help others.

Yes, I agree that a Delaware company may be the way to go on some ventures. I already have a pressing need to incorporate in the US, and have looked at this with my accountant.

I'll look carefully at the EB5 visa - thanks for the tip.

I think New England (probably Boston) is likely to be where I end up. Most of my work is technology-based and I like the climate up there, as it's similar to the UK much of the time (though I am aware of the hurricanes and snow, etc._). But that's for the future - I may not even get to that stage.

Eustace

Ok Bob, I've just looked at the EB-5 and it is one I have read about before. I quickly discounted it because of the level of investment required over the initial two years and the need to maintain at least ten employees in the US - just too risky for me.

However, the good news is that I have found some info on the Start-up Visa (which is to be called EB-6).

Having checked the categories, I think that visa, if fully-implemented, will make it significantly easier for someone like me to emigrate to the US.

According to the Wikipedia entry:-

The new legislation provides visas to the following groups under certain conditions

[1] Entrepreneurs living outside the U.S.—if a U.S. investor agrees to financially sponsor their entrepreneurial venture with a minimum investment of $100,000. Two years later, the startup must have created five new American jobs and either have raised over $500,000 in financing or be generating more than $500,000 in yearly revenue.

[2] Workers on an H-1B visa, or graduates from U.S. universities in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or computer science—if they have an annual income of at least $30,000 or assets of at least $60,000 and have had a U.S. investor commit investment of at least $20,000 in their venture. Two years later, the startup must have created three new American jobs and either have raised over $100,000 in financing or be generating more than $100,000 in yearly revenue.

[3] Foreign entrepreneurs whose business has generated at least $100,000 in sales from the U.S. Two years later, the startup must have created three new American jobs and either have raised over $100,000 in financing or be generating more than $100,000 in yearly revenue.

The investor must be a qualified venture capitalist, a “super angel” (U.S. citizen who has made at least two equity investments of at least $50,000 every year for the previous three years), or a qualified government entity.

Potentially, I already qualify under category [3] above, and I could remain without needing to find venture capital provided I could achieve the requisite $100k turnover (which is easy).

I'll do some more research on this and also check out for Immigration Form.

Bob

Another advantage to Delaware, is post business transactions...you end up doing very well if you get bought out for instance.

Boston, well the climate over all isn't to bad, hot and humid summers and long winters, but generally not all that bad, and seasons are nice. There are loads of tech companies here, and the colleges, especially MIT, make it very good. Also a lot of decent desk space that you can rent daily/weekly and not need a full time office if you wanted to work from home, but to have a proper address for business needs and for having meetings. There's a good new one in Waltham too for cheap, but I've heard good things about the new one in Newbury St...a lot in Cambridge.

EB-5 has more avenues, you've looked at the common one. You can have a lesser investment if your investment is used to save a business from closing and if the investment is in a poorer area it could be smaller still, so very likely doable for LA/GE/RI etc.

I've no idea on the EB6, so good luck with it

Eustace

Which visa route - E or L - is best for me will be down to personal circumstances and whatever law pertains at the time I decide to go ahead. Personally, I don't like the idea of buying an existing business in the UK, let alone a foreign country. I'm more of a start-up man, so 'L' would suit me better, I think.

The problem I have with the E visas (as presently constituted) is that they require a high or massive investment in capital and personnel. To me, that's just not the way to start a business - especially under current visa conditions that make prior due diligence problematic because of the nervousness around frequent visitation into the country by business people.

EB-6 offers a glimmer of hope. I may post-up on the USA Forum just to see if anyone has any current info on it. The news I have picked-up suggests it is being delayed through Congress and may not pass into law. In which case, it's going to be the 'L' visa (probably).

Jerseygirl

I'm transferring this thread over to the US Immigration Forum as it's gone way past the introductions stage. I'm sure you'll get plenty of advice once the thread is in the correct forum.

scrubbedexpat099

EB5 seems the best option.

If you are looking at a L what sort of business are you going to start, how will you manage it once you have moved?