Business Owner to EB1 Green Card Holder 

Being a Successful Business Owner Can Create a Pathway to Status in the US 

Many of our clients are business owners of small to large companies in their home country. Often when they search for a pathway to immigrate to the United States, often times the E2 Treaty Investor Visa is the best option for them. The E2 visa allows you to set up your business in the United States, while your spouse is able to secure a work permit, too.

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Whilst the E2 visa is a fantastic opportunity and can be renewed indefinitely, it’s not the only potential visa solution for successful business owners. Indeed, for successful and accomplished business owners the EB1 Green Card for Aliens of Extraordinary Ability may be another option. The immediate benefit of the EB1 green card is that the green card provides a one-time permanent immigration solution for the whole family. In this article, we will share the experiences of some of our clients’ who are successful business owners and how we were able to work with them to secure EB1 Green Cards for their families.

E2 Visa Treaty Investor Visa to EB1 Green Card Holder 

When we evaluate a case we will of course consider the most suitable visa and Green Card options to ensure that our clients are able to relocate to the United States on the best visa to suit their needs. In most immigration cases, we have to first help our clients get to the US on a visa and then, after some time, work them up and into green card status. Indeed, very few clients can literally get a green card as their first entry point.

Paul Successfully Went From E2 Visa to EB1 Green Card

Ok, let’s introduce you to Paul. Paul started out as an corporate accountant but had the entrepreneurial bug. Paul wanted to pivot from being a corporate accountant and parlay those skills in to becoming a self-employed, corporate trainer conducting seminars, keynote speeches, and personalized coaching sessions. Since this was a new business venture for Paul, we decided to start him off on an E2 Treaty Investor Visa.  It does take a lot of courage and faith to take such a leap but Paul did it and, with his wife and two kids, took the plunge.

Paul founded his company called New Leaf and set about making a go of it. After just two years he had made a great name for himself in this field, so we discussed the possibility of him going for his EB1 Green Card. Paul was so up for it and had all the confidence in the world that he would be successful. Paul is a man of confidence and knows how to inspire confidence in others. Needless to say, after working with Paul for just a few months he was able to gather all of the documentation we needed him to prepare and we were able to advocate his case successfully.  Paul, his wife and children now all have green cards and their children have been able to go to the schools of their choice and enjoy their own American Dream. The take-away here is that Paul started out on an E2 visa but was able to still secure an EB1 green card in due course.

Business Owners Securing an EB1 Green Card 

Some our clients are established business owners in their home country and have been very successful. Thus, in some cases, we’re able to bypass the E2 visa step and dive right into securing them an EB1 Green Card.

The key to winning these cases is forming a really great working relationship with our clients. Every EB1 green card client must be prepared to do a ton of background work on themselves, finding all kinds of evidence we can use to demonstrate the significance of what they have achieved in their career to date. Often, the evidence will include finding any published material about yourself or getting new published material about your accomplishment in the press. Other times, where clients have worked for major companies, we have to get letters and other supporting documentation to unequivocally prove that our client is a master in their field. It can be battle sometimes as some our clients are so modest about all they have done that it can be hard to convince them how accomplished they really are.

Benny, the owner of a Media Branding Company Received an EB1

Let’s talk about Benny. Benny was referred to us by another client Ivan, a hat designer from Spain recently received an EB1 green card with our help. Benny, French national, had his own media branding company in Paris called “Be Street.”  Benny’s company focuses on developing media campaigns for major brands such as Nike, Converse, Casio and New Balance. Throughout the management of his business Benny had made significant achievements in a short period of time. With such an impressive client list, we knew that that Benny had the requisite accomplishments to successfully obtain an EB1 Green Card.

So again, this is another example where having an established business in your home country places you in a situation where you’re already qualified for an EB1 Green Card. We have to point out that it’s not just being a business owner in your home country that qualifies you for an EB1 green card, but the distinction of being a highly successful business owner in your home country would evidence that your talent may be such that you are working at the top of your field, and thus would qualify EB1 green card. It may be that you qualify immediately or you simply come over on an E2 visa as a business owner and then we continue to work together and build a case towards EB1 Green Card status.

Audrey Utilized her Expert Consultancy Skills to Obtain and EB1 Green Card

Let’s talk about Awesome Audrey – Audrey dreamed of moving to the United States to join her daughter Kim, a client of ours who had recently moved here. We sat down and discussed Audrey’s case and found that she had an illustrious career as a jet-setting media consultant.  Audrey was very well-qualified for an EB1 green card – as well-qualified as her daughter – but Audrey was so modest and humble, creating doubt in her mind that we’d ever be able to win her case. We have to say, it was funny and cute at the same time, because if there was an Oscar for the for work Audrey had done, she would have won several of them. Audrey had a 35-year career with with major media firms such as Bloomberg and SkyNews, and was the Managing Director of the Hallmark Channel. Needless to say, we got the EB1 green card and not only did we gain a client, but we also gained a dear friend, as is often the case with our clients.

We Can Help

Contact our Office we Can Lead Your Case to Success!

We have worked with numerous business owners who have achieved great success  in their businesses, so whether we can get you to the US on an E2 visa to set up your business or secure an EB1 green card, let’s talk it over and find out. Call our offices today to schedule your consultation, or complete the consultation from on this page. We look forward to working with you on your case!

Immigration Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram

US Immigration Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram
Chris M. Ingram LL.M., ESQ – Immigration Attorney
Admitted in New York.
Practice Specializing in US Immigration Law
401 Wilshire Boulevard, 12th Floor,
Santa Monica,
California 90401
Tel: 310 496 4292

Specializing in the E2 Visa, EB1 Green Card, L-1A Visa and O1 Visa and K1 Visa Marriage-Based Immigration. Attorney Chris M. Ingram is dedicated to providing the very best in US Immigration legal representation. Enjoy our website.

Important Notice: Please note that all videos created by the Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram are intended as general information only and not specific legal advice pertaining your case. If you would like specific legal advice on any immigration matter please do not hesitate to contact this law office accordingly. All pictorial images used in these videos and the website in general are licensed stocked images and not portraits, or otherwise, of anyone from the Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram, nor of its clients unless otherwise indicated by name. All images are used solely for illustrative purposes only. Copyright 2010-2015 All Rights Reserved.