Managing Attorney
The United States has always been known as the land of opportunity, and the state that might present the most opportunity for a start-up expanding to America is Texas. The Lone Star State has seen rapid growth over the past decade, making it the perfect place to expand a foreign business. This can be done using the assistance of the immigration laws, which provides many categories of immigrant and non-immigrant visas to help you accomplish this task. An experienced immigration attorney can help guide you through the process, providing valuable insights into how you can use immigration to expand your business into America.
Knowing the difference between immigrant and nonimmigrant visas
There are two types of visa categories. As its name implies, immigrant visas are designed for foreign nationals who want to become permanent residents, otherwise known as Green Card holders. These are ones that will work well if you or someone in your company would like to live as a permanent resident in America. The Employment-Based or EB series of visas are designed for this purpose. Conversely, nonimmigrant visas are for workers who want to work in America on a temporary basis. Here, the intent is for the worker to return home to his or her country of origin at the end of a number of years. The nonimmigrant visa categories include ones like the H, L and O visas, which can be used to establish and grow your business in America.
Understanding the goals of your business expansion
When you are looking to expand your business to America, you are going to have to decide how the new entity will operate. Will it function as a local office, subordinate to the one in your foreign country? Will it operate more independently? Is your intent to eventually have the U.S. entity become your main headquarters? Deciding on the relationship between your home country business and the one the United States will be critical to choosing the right visas to use for this purpose.
In general, you will be able to transfer any managers or executives from your company to your new entity in America using L-1A visas. These management and executive level employees will be able to help you set up your business. Similarly, you can use the L-1B visa to transfer any employees with specialized expertise. However, these visas are designed for a temporary basis with the right to renew. If the goal is to have any of these key figures remain in the United States, then you will need to consider having them adjust status to permanent residence once they are in the United States. So, it is vital to set goals for the new U.S. entity, and decide whether it will be a sister company, a subsidiary or your corporate headquarters.
Deciding on how to expand
There are a number of ways you can expand your start-up into America. You can buy an existing business and take it over as a subsidiary of your current enterprise. You can find a business for sale and merge your existing company into an American entity. Another option is to set up a brand new representative office. However you plan to proceed, the immigration laws provide many pathways that can help you accomplish this.
The EB-5 is an immigrant investor program that provides permanent resident status for investors. If you invest in a new or existing American business that will create at least ten full-time jobs, you will be eligible for this visa. The E-2 visa works in a similar fashion, although it is limited to investors from certain countries and relates to only certain qualifying businesses. Finally, the I-EP program provides you with a visa if you create a new entity and raise at least $250,000 from accredited investors. The program stands for International Entrepreneur Parole Program. As you can see, there are paths you can use to expand your business into America using these different immigrant and nonimmigrant visa categories.
If you are looking to expand your start-up into the United States, our firm can help guide you through the process using immigration to accomplish the task
Doing business in America is a great way to grow your enterprise, and the immigration laws provide assistance and incentives for accomplishing this goal. The experienced immigration attorneys at the Zepeda Law Firm can assist you and your company in expanding your business into the United States.