Is it a Good Time to Invest in America?

Is now the right time to investment in the American Dream?

By Chris M. Ingram, LL.M., ESQ

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If you look at the US stock market, it’s been booming. Share prices are up, spending is up, house prices are up, and tax cuts are on the horizon fueling the economy even higher. How long can this last? What goes up, must come down right? Sure, there are economic cycles and, I guess, the best course of action is to ‘get while the going is good’. But also while the going is good, save for the inevitable rainy day.

US Immigration and Investing

The E2 Investor Visa is by far one of the most popular visas to get. Why?  Because if you have the money and can start up or invest in a business, USCIS will grant you an E2 visa which, for most countries, you can renew for life or until you can work your way to a Green Card.

So, if there are no quotas limiting the number of E2 visas that can be issued, why would America want to cap the amount of investments that could be made here? There are a few basic rules you need to be mindful of. Firstly, you need to invest sufficient to make a good faith investment. The investment should be from $100,000 – $500,000.

I have many clients who have taken the plunge in business investment and as a result have done extremely well in the US.

Best advice, invest as much as you can possibly afford as this will more likely result in you buying a business that is not in any way shaky.  Secondly, make sure your business is capable of creating at least two full-time jobs. Finally, make sure that you are from a qualifying country, as not just anyone from around the world can apply. For example, notable non-qualifying countries are India, New Zealand and Brazil. For the full list of qualifying countries, please click here.

The good news here is that, US Immigration welcomes with open arms investors into America with far more ease than almost any other visa. Make a suitable investment and collect your visa.

Finding That Right Business

Let us help you narrow down your search and help you find the business that’s right for you.

For sure, the hardest part of getting an investment visa is finding that perfect business to invest in. Where do you start and what should you look for? The best place to start, of course, is a consultation with one of our Intake Specialists. Part of the free consultation will be to discuss how you plan on finding the right business if you are not starting your own business from scratch.

The Intake Specialist may put you onto our Business Finder Service. Once of the main reasons why it can be hard to find the right business is because US business brokers are not really motivated to call people from all around the world due to trying to get the time zone just right. They’d rather work with someone local to their area. What we do to help through our Business Finder Service is to do all of the initial searching and contacting for you. We are no more than three hours out from anywhere within the US so when we call the broker, we’re more than likely to get that connection started way faster than someone from around the world, some place. So please take full advantage of this service as it can make all the difference.

Intra-Company Transfers

This is a great way to transfer all of your essential staff to the US with as little hassle as possible.

In a booming economy, foreign companies want to get their slice of the pie and there is plenty to go around. What companies are doing is opening branches in the US every single day, and then sending members of their management staff to set up the business. They can then create a pipeline of opportunities to bring the foreign staff to the US on a continuous basis. Let me give you an example: –

So, let’s say you’re a tech company from India called ‘Global Tech’ (GT). GT opens a branch in the US with its Head of Marketing, Arvind. GT provides a fund for Arvind to open a small office and begins recruiting.  The good news is that Arvind can recruit from India or the US. US Immigration does not mind because it wants as many businesses as possible to set up and grow in the US. So, if GT wants to bring in 100 programmers to work in the US it can. The visa I’m describing is called the L-1A (Executive/Manager) and L-1B (Specialist) visa.  The L-1 visa has no quota limits so there’s an endless opportunity to bring talent in. So, what’s the catch?

At the end of the day, it’s all about long term planning to bring quality staff over to the US. It won’t happen over night, but if we get on with it now, down the line, we’ll be happy.

L-1 Visas are not easy to set up and are not available to really small companies. Here are some very basic rules to consider: – Firstly, the foreign company needs to be fairly substantial, ideally turning over at least a minimum of one million dollars US per year. It’s possible for smaller companies to qualify, but generally really difficult.  Secondly, the company must demonstrate it has the funds to set up a viable branch in the US. Think about being able to show that you have $100,000 – $200,000 to fund the operation, including payroll, offices, equipment and so forth. Thirdly, the US branch, if it’s a new branch, must be capable of generating at least a handful of well-qualified jobs within the first year.

Many large American companies are now opening branches in other countries solely for the purpose of building a pipeline for their foreign employees to be transferred over in volume back to the US. As long as these foreign employees are Executive, Managerial or provide an essential service to the US branch, they can come. One last qualification is that the employee being transferred must have worked for the company for at least one year within the last three years.

$500,000 EB5 Green Cards

If you’re worth several million dollars and want to just get a Green Card and be done with it, then the EB5 might just be the way to go.

The EB5 is a Green Card option whereby if you invest $500,000 into a qualifying business opportunity, you can indeed qualify for a Green Card. In essence, it works like this, an American company will want to take on a massive project typically requiring tens of millions of dollars. The developers will raise funds in a variety of ways, e.g., from banks in the form of loans and from collateral they may already have. However, if they apply to USCIS, they can be registered as a Designated Regional Center. If they get USCIS designation they can appeal to foreign investors with an investment opportunity, whereby, if you have $500,000 you will indeed qualify for an EB5 Green Card. EB5 Green Cards are very straightforward to get, because America is very happy to see you invest here, since your investment creates jobs for Americans.

The EB5 was created in 1990 via the 1990 Immigration Act (IMMACT90). Almost 30 years ago, $500,000 was a lot more money in real terms than it is today. What the government is looking to do is increase this amount of investment to at least $1.2 million. At this higher amount it will certainly price out a lot of potential investors. If this option is in any way attractive to you, I recommend you jump on this as quickly as possible, as the investment amount is certain to go up substantially. Congress, as you may tell, does not want to keep revisiting the same legislation.

It all starts with a phone call. We’ll discuss all of your options so you can make informed decisions about your future.

So, there you have it. I’ve given you three great visa options to invest in America. America is booming, so this is the very best time to jump in. All you need to do is get in touch with us and request a free consultation and we’ll get that set up for you asap.

Chris M. Ingram., LL.M., ESQ
Attorney at Law

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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,
[Cross Streets 4th and Wilshire]
Santa Monica,
California 90401
Tel: 310 496 4292