Converting E-2 visa into Green Card

With an E-2 visa, people can enter the United States to set up a business by investing a substantial amount of money. There are alternate ways of getting a Green Card more quickly.

Individuals with more financial resources at their disposal may apply for an EB-5 investment green card at the time they are operating their businesses in the US with E-2 visas. To be eligible for an EB-5 green card, one has to invest $1 million and create 10 new jobs. It is, however, important that this money should have been acquired legitimately by the investor. For additional funds, investors  cannot transfer the amount earned through the E-2 visa in the US, but they can do so if they have been paid out and are paying taxes to the US government on the money taken before they reinvest it in order to be eligible for investing $1 million directly for the EB-5 Green Card.

Instead of investing directly $1 million into their own companies, they could invest $500,000 into an EB-5 regional center project and remain a passive investor in it, while they also continue to operate their own E-2 visa businesses. They can create 10 new jobs indirectly through the regional center project. Although this is a moderately cheaper method of obtaining an EB-5 green card, it keeps the investor’s money locked in the regional center project for five years until it can be recovered by the investor.

Alternatively, individuals could find employers who may sponsor them/ their spouses for a green card. According to Forbes, if people are hired in good positions and have better qualifications to demonstrate their talent, they stand chances of getting a National Interest Waiver, an exemption, from a PERM labor certification. This would hasten up the process of converting to a green card without many hassles. If not, employers have to go on a recruitment move to prove that there are no native American workers who are eligible for filling up positions these E-2 visa holders are eligible for. But this a laborious process, as it involves advertising for the positions in newspapers or online with employment websites or availing services of manpower agencies to search for applicants. This is a long-winded process and entails spending of time and money.

If one has a close relative in the US who is a citizen and a green card holder, it becomes convenient for the investor to be sponsored by that relative for a green card,  as the individual can continue to operate the business under the E-2 Investor Visa.

Another way is to get a green card is to create an adequately large company outside the US. They can work with it for one year as a manager and return after that period to the US as a permanent inter-corporate transferee.

If visa holders of E-2 cannot do this on their own, they could have the foreign company run by their spouse, allowing them to enter the US on a green card. This is possible as the spouse can include the E-2 visa holder in their application.

In addition, to be eligible for the green card, one has to spend sufficient time in the US. The US immigration authorities are particular about the fact that the prospective green card holders are committed to staying in America more than anywhere else

It has to be kept in mind that people can also apply for a green card while they are in the US and live there until it is approved. When they are granted a green card, they would have to leave the country and enter it again with the green card.

If you want to migrate to the US, get in touch with Y-Axis, a renowned consultancy company for immigration services, to apply for a visa.