SUMMARY OF AMERICAN IMMIGRATION GUIDELINES

GREEN CARDS THROUGH FAMILY MEMBERS

A U.S. citizen can file for his/her spouse, parent and children under 21 and this category has no waiting list. It just takes the amount of for processing. If both the U.S citizen and the family member who needs the green card are in the U.S., then the entire procedure takes only four months.

The foreigner who needs the green card will need to provide two passport photographs, go through an Immigration medical exam and will submit for fingerprinting so the government can check for any criminal history. There will be an interview at a local Immigration office and your attorney will go with you to the interview.

A work permit is usually obtained in a family petition for a green card by a U.S. citizen husband wife case, a U.S. citizen parent filing for a child under 21 or a U.S. citizen filing for a parent. This work permit comes about 2-3 months after filing the case for a green card. The interview usually takes place in as little as four months. If approved for a green card by a local Immigration office, you receive the green card in the mail within two weeks.

If the qualifying family member is overseas, then it will take at least a year to bring them over and the client overseas will need to go to the U.S. Embassy for the interview.

The law also allows one to bring over a fiance on a fiance visa. Once the fiance arrives, the couple has 90 days in which to get married and to file for the green card for the arriving fiance, now a spouse. The arriving fiance must either marry or return to his/her country, except if there is a claim for asylum.

GREEN CARDS THROUGH INVESTMENTS, WORK OR OCCUPATION

EB-5, ENTRPRENEUR -- INVESTOR -- GREEN CARD CATEGORY

If an individual who himself invests $1,000,000.00, or in connection with a group of investors in which he will be the principal director/manager, invests $1,000,000.00 of a larger investment in a new business which hires 10 or more American workers or permanent residents, or if an existing company is purchased with the one million dollars and it is expanded by at least 40% more, it is possible to obtain permanent residency (green card).

Anyone seeking a green card in this category must prove that his/her funds were earned legally and must be content with a two-year conditional green card, which must be later converted into the permanent green card. In certain areas of high unemployment in the U.S., the investment amount is reduced to $500,000.00. There are specific government approved projects where one can get in for only $500,000.00. The investor invests in a limited partnership and the requirement of active management may be relieved. In this version, it is as If the applicant is buying a green card.

Anyone interested in a legitimate investor category needs to look for a plan, which guarantees that a minimum of $500,00.00 is invested in a business and that you are entitled to a percentage of the dividends this business generates. This investor category can be utilized by a wealthy person without a criminal background who does not qualify for the multi-national manager category, such as a doctor, lawyer, or any wealthy non-manager/executive.

MULTINATIONAL EXECUTIVE OR MANAGER

A person who is a manager or an executive of a multinational company can file directly for a green card if the U.S. branch has been in business for at least a year. There is a popular procedure whereby a foreign company opens a new subsidiary in the U.S. and sends a manger to manage the new subsidiary. Then, from 1-7 years later, the U.S. company files for a green card for this manager. When to file between one year and the seventh year depends on the number of employees and other financial factors. An experienced attorney can help to recommend when to file.

A shortcut to this green card category called multinational executive or manager is for foreign company to purchase anywhere between 51% and $100 of the ownership of an American company which has at least five employees; then the newly acquired U.S. subsidiary can apply directly for a green card for the foreign manager or executive and can skip the L-1 temporary working visa.

EXTRAORDINARY IN THE ARTS, SCIENCES, EDUCATION, BUSINESS, SPORTS

This is a green card category for people who are world famous in their fields. It can be a baseball, basketball or tennis star, music superstar, international professor, engineer or physicist.

TEMPORARY WORK VISAS

There are two broad types of work visas, those that are specifically tied to an employer and the work permit from a family green card case which allows you to work anywhere.

Not anyone is entitled to receive a work permit or a work visa. One has to be eligible for one.

The working visas include an H-1B visa which is a for university graduate who has a job offer from a company or an educational institution based upon your university major and this visa can be renewed up to six years. This visa has a restricted number per year. The market opens up on April 1 each year for work to begin October 1 and the current 65,000 capacity gets filled very fast. If you have a diploma from outside the U.S., you will have to have the diploma and your courses evaluated by a licensed agency which will certify that your studies are the equivalent to a U.S. diploma. The spouse and minor children of the H-1B visa holder get the H-4 visa, which allows them to live in the U.S. and go to school, but not to work.

The E-2 visa is an investor visa. Many countries in the world have an agreement to allow their citizens to obtain this visa in the U.S.

The investor has to place at least $100,00.00 at risk, meaning he has signed a multi-year lease for a store or warehouse, has signed invoices/contracts for merchandise, or has signed contracts or closed on commercial real estate which requires active employees to manage and work in the same.

He must demonstrate that he controls the enterprise by showing ownership of at least 51% of the business or 50% with a contract giving him full operational control.

The investor will direct and develop the business. The investment enterprise is not a passive investment. The business must have plans to hire employees.

While the E-2 does not lead directly to a green card, it can be renewed indefinitely while the business is in operation. The E-2 visa holder also obtains an E-2 for his wife and children under 21 years old. The wife can also obtain a work permit and she can work anywhere she wants after approval. Children are free to go to school.

Key employees may also be approved for E-2 visas, as long as they hold the same passport as the main investor.

L-1A Temporary Working Visa. Intra-company Transferee, a manager or executive from a parent company is transferred to the subsidiary or related company of the foreign company in the U.S. to be its general manager. It can an existing subsidiary, or like in 99% of the cases, I open a new company for the client and we set up its paperwork to be the subsidiary of the foreign company. This person must have been employed for at least one continuous year within the last three years by the foreign company in a managerial or executive capacity and desires to come to the U.S. in the same capacity.

If the foreign manager/executive is coming to open and/or to be employed in a new office in the U.S., he can obtain the L-1 visa which authorizes him to work and allows the spouse and children to be legally in the United States, but they would not be allowed to work, although they could go to school.

The spouse can apply for a work permit after the manager is approved and she can work anywhere she wants. The kids under 21 can live and go to school.

An L-1 for a new U.S. company (in business for less than one year) is valid for only one year. An L-1 visa can be renewed for up to seven years as long as the company remains financially viable.

After the first full year in an L-1 status, the L-1 manager/executive can apply for permanent residency if the company has sufficient proof of being legitimate and financially viable. Most companies in one year are not ready to file for a green card. They then file for extensions of the L-1 visa. The L-1 visa for a multi-national manager or executive is a great way for a foreign business owner or manager to transfer to America.

The L-1B visa is for a worker with specialized knowledge from the company overseas who needs to come to the subsidiary. He or she can have up to five years on this visa

A work permit is usually obtained in a family petition for a green card by a U.S. citizen husband wife case, a U.S. citizen parent filing for a child under 21 or a U.S. citizen filing for a parent. This work permit comes about 2-3 months after filing the case for a green card. The interview usually takes place in as little as four months. If approved for a green card by a local Immigration office, you receive the green card in the mail within two weeks.

ASYLUM

Asylum – persons who have been persecuted and abused in their home country because of political reasons, race, ethnic origins, religion, membership in a particular group, or suffering at the hands of fanatics in your country and the police will not protect you.

You must file within one year of arriving in the U.S., or if you have a student or working visa, you can apply even at the end of time on those visas.

If you apply for asylum, you will be called for an interview within 45 days of filing and you usually get a decision within two weeks. If approved, you get a legal status for a day and a year and a work permit. After the one day and a year, you have an automatic right to apply for a green card. An application has to be very detailed and the conditions in your country usually have to match what you are complaining about.

Penalties For Living In America Illegally

Anyone who has lived in the United States illegally for six months to one year beginning April 1,1997, and then becomes eligible for a green card, will be barred for a period of three years. If he or she is illegal in excess of one year and then becomes qualified, then there is a 10 year ban. The only exceptions are if one is married to a U.S. citizen, the parent of a U.S. citizen or the child under 21 of a U.S citizen, when considering to file for a green card, or is an immigrant petition or labor certification was filed for the individual who was physically in the U.S. on April 30, 2001.

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