christine1438

A family friend has just come to the US on a visitor's visa. He has a substantial amount of money and was presented with an opportunity to open a business here in NY. How can he go about changing his status so that he can open a business? Is it possible? If he changes status for himself can he also change it for his wife and daughter? What are his options? Thanks in advance for any help.

Penny & Sue

Vistors on B-visa are not allowed to work or engage in any business in USA. If your
friend has a lot of $$$$ and wants to start a business here in USA, then the best
approach is to get an "investor's visa". Last time we checked one needed "only" $400k
, and a method often used was to "invest" that into a house/building for that price
(average home in CA is now $300k) and make it an asset of the corporation to be
established. One requirement was that one corp executive should be an US citizen,
often that was a lawyer or relative.

Check with an immigration lawyer or the US consulate.

christine1438 wrote:

    > A family friend has just come to the US on a visitor's visa. He has a substantial
    > amount of money and was presented with an opportunity to open a business here in
    > NY. How can he go about changing his status so that he can open a business? Is it
    > possible? If he changes status for himself can he also change it for his wife and
    > daughter? What are his options? Thanks in advance for any help.
    >
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Ingo Pakleppa

If your friend has a million dollars, he can apply for an investment-based Green
Card. In certain designated parts of the country with high unemployment, the minimum
investment is $500,000 (I'm not sure if any area right now actually has this
designation).

There are additional requirements:

- the investment must be from your own funds
- the investment must be "at risk." There used to be some schemes were people would
"invest" this money but where it really was guaranteed not to be lost. This kind of
scheme no longer works (in fact, it never worked - most the people who did that
lost their Green Cards)
- you must employ at least ten US workers for at least two years.
- for the first two years, you will get only a conditional Green Card.

If you are considering this option, you should consult with an experienced
immigration attorney. Be careful: there are quite a few immigration consultants who
abuse this program, and as a result INS has become extremely restrictive in issuing
this type of Green Card. You may want to ask an immigration lawyer who does NOT
specialize in this field for recommendations, just to learn whom you can trust.

Ingo

On 16 Apr 2002 18:00:02 GMT, christine1438 <[email protected]> wrote:

    >A family friend has just come to the US on a visitor's visa. He has a substantial
    >amount of money and was presented with an opportunity to open a business here in NY.
    >How can he go about changing his status so that he can open a business? Is it
    >possible? If he changes status for himself can he also change it for his wife and
    >daughter? What are his options? Thanks in advance for any help.
    >
    >
    >
    >--
    >Posted via http://britishexpats.com

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. For reliable advice, please consult
with a professional immigration attorney.

For further information, check the following frequently-requested links.

For many questions, you may find answers at
http://travel.state.gov/visa_services.html (Department of State)

or http://ins.usdoj.gov (INS).

For consular policies and visa reciprocity fees, find your consulate in
http://travel.state.gov/links.html

For visa denial and suggestions what to do about them, see
http://travel.state.gov/visadenials.html

For DOL Online Labor Certification: http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/

For information on affidavit of support for marriage to US citizens (I-864), go to
http://travel.state.gov/i864gen.html and http://travel.state.gov/checklist.html

For information on entering the US as a K-1: http://www.k1poelist.com/

For poverty levels, see http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/poverty/00poverty.htm

For information on H/L/O/P visa extensions at Dept. of State in St. Louis, MO, see
http://travel.state.gov/revals.html

For non-official information, check:

(When using these sites, and any Web sites, please watch out for privacy, as I do not
know all site operators.)

http://www.visalaw.com http://www.shusterman.com http://www.immigration.com
http://members.aol.com/MDUdall http://www.murthy.com/ http://www.richw.org/dualcit/
(dual citizenship FAQ) http://www.ilw.com http://www.srs-usvisa.com
http://www.getusavisa.com http://greencard-lottery.virtualave.net/
http://www.jcvisa.com (H-1B) http://www.h1bresources.com (marriage and fiancee)
http://www.kamya.com/misc/ (marriage and fiancee)
http://www.mindspring.com/~docsteen/...o/visainfo.htm http://www.workpermit.com

This is not an endorsement of any of these Web sites. I am not affiliated with any of
the Web site owners and do not receive nor accept payment in return for listing them,
and typically don't even know them.

(if believe you have a good immigration-related Web site and want your Web site
listed here, please e-mail me).