E Visa
- E-1 Treaty Traders: Allows a national of a treaty country to be admitted to the U.S. solely to engage in international trade on his or her own behalf.
- E-2 Treaty Investors: Allows a national of a treaty country to be admitted to the U.S. when investing a substantial amount of capital in a U.S. business.
- E-3 Specialty Occupation Workers from Australia: The E-3 classification applies only to nationals of Australia, coming to the U.S. solely to perform services in a specialty occupation. The specialty occupation requires theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and the attainment of a bachelor’s or higher degree in the specific specialty, or its equivalent, as a minimum for entry into the occupation in the United States.
*E visa spouse can work without applying for an employment authorization.
L Visa
- L-1A Intracompany Transferee Executive or Manager: Enables a U.S. employer to transfer an executive or manager from one of its affiliated foreign offices to one of its offices in the U.S. This classification also enables a foreign company that does not yet have an affiliated U.S. office to send an executive or manager to the U.S. with the purpose of establishing one.
- L-1B Intracompany Transferee Specialized Knowledge: Enables a U.S. employer to transfer a professional employee with specialized knowledge relating to the organization’s interests from one of its affiliated foreign offices to one of its offices in the U.S. This classification also enables a foreign company that does not yet have an affiliated U.S. office to send a specialized knowledge employee to the U.S. to help establish one.
- L Blanket: Enables a U.S. employer to transfer multiple employees from a foreign office to a U.S. office under the L-1 visa category, both L-1A (managers/executives) and L-1B (specialized knowledge workers).
- L-2: Individuals who are the spouse or children of an L-1A/L-1B visa holder. The spouse can work without applying for employment authorization.
*L1-A visa holders are eligible for an EB-1C green card application.
EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
- Make the necessary investment in a commercial enterprise in the U.S.:
- Minimum Investment Amount: $1,050,000.
- Targeted Employment Area Investment Amount: $800,000 (includes infrastructure projects)
- Plan to create or preserve 10 permanent full-time jobs for qualified U.S. workers.
EB-5 Immigrant Investor Process:
International Entrepreneur Rule
Threshold criteria and key elements of the International Entrepreneur Rule include:
- Entrepreneurs may be either living abroad or already in the United States.
- Startup entities must have been formed in the United States within the past five years.
- Startup entities must show substantial potential for rapid growth and job creation by showing at least $311,071 in qualified investments from qualifying investors, at least $124,429 in qualified government awards or grants, or alternative evidence.
- The spouse of the entrepreneur may apply for employment authorization after being paroled into the United States. (Children are not eligible for employment authorization.)
- The entrepreneur may be granted an initial parole period of up to 2.5 years. If approved for re-parole, based on additional benchmarks in funding, job creation, or revenue described below, the entrepreneur may receive up to another 2.5 years, for a maximum of 5 years.
- Up to 3 entrepreneurs per startup can be eligible for parole under the International Entrepreneur Rule.