By Al Edwards, Business Co-ordinator
Tracey Hamilton (left) and Rawny Garay at the US business visa requirement seminar held at the Knutsford Court Hotel, in New Kingston last Friday. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
LAST Friday, attorney-at-law, Tracey Hamilton hosted a seminar entitled "Expansion of Business in and Migration to Florida Legal and procedural considerations at the Knutsford Court Hotel, located in St. Andrew. The special guest speaker was Rawny Garay who runs a law firm based in Miami specialising in immigration law. The Law offices of Rawny Garay also operates in Caracas and Bogota. There are plans to open offices in Los Angeles, Panama City and Kingston.
The seminar centred around persons looking to set up business operations in the United States and those businesses wishing to transfer their executives or owners or key personnel to US companies.
"These individuals have to decide where they are going to locate their business or incorporate them.
Incorporating a business is a relatively fast process in Florida. My office can go ahead and incorporate a business within 24 to 48 hours. There aren't many requirements as far as capital investment is concerned. The main requirements to open a corporation in the state of Florida is:
1. You need to state the name with which you intend to register the company in.
2. Provide a physical address where that company receives correspondance.
3. There must be a minimum of one director.
4. There must be a registered agent, which is a person in charge of receiving any type of documentation on behalf of the directors.
STARTING THE PROCESS
Once the corporation is established and the office location confirmed, then the visa process can begin. Now depending on the industry, individual market and tthe capital to be invested each case is different. For example the L visa pertains to a foreign company opening up a subsidiary in the United States or affiliated with a U.S. company that has invested in some type of business in the past," said Mr.Garay.
The typical scenario would be a freight forwarding company that is established in the United States and sends products throughout the Caribbean and Latin America and has built up a relationship with companies in that region and eventually become affiliated with each other.
"Let's say that a person from the foreign entity wishes to transfer to the suibsidiary or affiliate, the L visa would be the appropriate document because it pertains to the exchange from one affiliate to the other. This will enable that person to work legally in the United States for the company that is sponsoring them there.
"The L1 Visa is one of the fastest ways to obtain a green card and permananent residency in the United States. For this, various documentation is required. You have to show that the foreign enitity is conducting business and that the person has been employed by the foreign entity in a position that is executive or managerial in nature. That person has to be transferred in the same capacity they held in the foreign company. They have to be managers that will manage a particular function and supervise other surbordinate managers. Apart from being the fastest way to obtain a green card in the United States, it also allows spouses to legally work in the United States with a work permit."
SPOUSE
A spouse does not have to be tied to a sponsoring company. It is permisible that that the partner in question is free to work wherever he or she chooses. This is a recent change in immigration law as of last year. Spouses and dependents under 21 years of age can qualify for a L2 visa but only the spouse has the ability to obtain a work permit."
This has opened up a lot of doors for certain companies that may not have the capital to employ 10 employees but if a spouse has a work permit he or she can work for the same company that they obtained their L1 visa for. This is geared to help smaller companies because the Fortune 500 companies can employ whoever they want. Children under 21 with L2 status are allowed to go to school in the United States. If they are entering university level education they are allowed to do so and pay resident fees and not international student rates which are very expensive. This is a another positive for the L1 visa. The L1 visa is approved for a total of seven years.
Initially, if the US company that is sponsoring the foreign company is a new company with less than one year of operations, the visa will be approved for just one year. At the end of that year, immigration will want to see that the person is an essential part of the growth of that business. It is not necessary that the company has a huge profit at the end of the year but immigration will look at its bank accounts, and purchase orders to see if that company has movement within that last year.
"Once that gets approved immigration can extend the visa for a period of two years and from that point on there will be an extension for every two years for a total of seven years. After the extended two year period one can apply for a green card. The green card is a little more difficult to obtain because it has to be shown that the US company not only employs American workers but that it can employ foreign workers. However the company has to show it is generating revenue.
"The United States will always allow businesses to come into the country and drop their money, pay their taxes but for the grand prize that is the green card, they will have to be profitable and generate employment and pay their taxes and show that it is a viable company contributing to the economy of the United States.
E VISAS: TREATY
TRADER AND INVESTOR
E visas are for foreigners entering the US to conduct trade or investment services or activities. The foreigner can only apply for this visa if the US has a treaty with the foreigner's home country, the home country grants the same rights to US citizens, or the foreigner's home country has signed a multilateral treaty of which the US has signed. Below is a listing of countries, which have multilateral treaties with the United States.
Unlike most other nonimmigrant visas, aliens with E visas do not need to prove they only intend to stay in the US for the time period specified on the visa, or prove they still have a residence in their home country.
There are two types of E visas (trader) and E-2 (investor).
E-1 "Treaty Trader" Visas
E-1 visas are for foreigners involved in the trade, purchase or sale of goods/services or merchandise. Services include technology exchange, architecture and engineering services, management consulting or accounting. The trade in goods and services should be substantial. The Immigration & Naturalisation takes into consideration the terms of value, volume or a large number of small transactions in order to determine the substantial factor. The trade must also meet the following criteria:
The trade being done must be principally with the treaty country.
More than 50 per cent of the total volume of international trade being done must be between the US and the treaty country.
The amount of trade must be sufficient to ensure a continuous flow of international trade between the US and the treaty country.
Trade can be binding contracts that call for the future exchange of items.
Income derived from the value of numerous transactions that is sufficient to support the trades and his/her family is looked upon favourably by the Immigration & Naturalisation Service.
E-2 "TREATY INVESTOR" VISAS
E-2 visas are designed for owners and investors in businesses in the United States. The E-2 is a non-immigrant visa that may be granted for investments of less than $500,000. Foreigners may be issued this visa for an indefinite period of time and after their investment is worth more than $500,000 they may be eligible for permanent residence (green card) through investment. The E-2 visa is also available to certain employees of the investors.
An investment must meet the following criteria to qualify for an E-2 visa. These criteria include:
Showing that "substantial" investment or funds are available and committed to the investment;
The investment must be in an active business, as opposed to passive investment, such as purchasing a home;
At least 50 per cent of the business must be owned by an alien from a country which has a treaty with the United States;
The investment must create enough profit to provide a living for more than just the alien and his/her family.
It is preferable that the investment will create new jobs although this is not mandatory.
There is no minimum monetary investment to obtain an E-2 visa. The type of buiness will be taken into consideration to determine whether the amount is considered "substantial" a swell as the number of jobs created, the investor's personal assets, etc. The recommended investment should be at least $10,000.
Employees of E-2 companies may be granted E-2 visas if they are or will be engaged in duties that are executive, managerial or supervisory. If the employee does not have executive/managerial position he/she may qualify for the E-2 visa if he/she has specialised qualifications that make the services to be rendered essential to the enterprise.
The spouse and children (unmarried and under 21) of E-1 or E-2 visa holders are entitled to the same E-1 or E-2 classification as the principal. In addition, the spouse of the E-2 holder may apply for work authorisation.
See part two next week
