Do you make a product or offer a service abroad that you sell, or would like to sell in the United States? Would you like to move some of your offshore production into the United States to take advantage of lower tarriffs and just-in-time production closer to your market?
We can help you establish a US legal entity, obtain a federal employer tax ID number, lease commercial office space, open a corporate US bank account and move executives, managers and employees with special knowledge of your product or service to the United States. We use a document filing service in Sacramento, California to file your California legal entity papers same day. We help you draft a business plan and get your US entity from idea to staffed operation usually within four to six weeks.
Two Immigration Categories to Consider
Foreign investors and corporations seeking to move production and staff to the United States have two major immigration options: (1) the L-1 multinational manager/executive/specialized knowledge program, and (2) the treaty investor program. Each category has benefits and drawbacks depending on the type of business, its payroll, the location of its foreign operations and the nationality of its investors.
Employees must work one year abroad before transfer to United States
Yes
NoForeign entity must own, or control a majority of the US and foreign entityYesNoThe foreign investor, or corporation must be a national of specific treaty countriesNoYesEmployees you seek to transfer to the United States must be nationals of the same country as the foreign investor or corporationNoYesYou must pay the employee a certain minimum salary NoNoMust file petition with USCIS before consular processingYesNoPremium processing is availableYesYesThere is a maximum stay in this temporary statusYes
NoEmployee shareholders owning more than ~3% of the company may pursue US residenceYesNoFor "New Office" in US, period of admission limited to one year instead of three*YesNo
The L-1A category allows an investor to create a new business in the United States. Although most L-1A visas are issued to managers or executives traveling to the United States to manage or direct the activities of existing US offices, L-1A visas support managers traveling to the United States to open a new office or offices. All L-1 category requirements apply and interested visitors may learn more about L category visas by clicking here. The most important requirement is that the manager or executive to be transferred has worked abroad for at least one year during the past three for the foreign parent company and that the foreign parent continues to do business abroad for the entire period that the L-1A manager or executive is in the United States.
Companies abroad unable to transfer an executive or manager to the United States who meets the L-1 category requirements may turn to the E-2 Treaty Investor Visa. That visa requires, among other things, that the treaty investor is a national of a specific treaty country and that she invest a "substantial sum" in the US business to be created or managed. Whether a sum is substantial depends on the nature of the industry and business, but amounts less than $100,000 raise a presumption that they are insubstantial. The investor must actively manage and direct the business, must be qualified to do so and the business must be such that it will likely create jobs for persons other than the investor and his or her family. For more information about E-2 category visas, click here.
*8 U.S.C. 214.2(l)(7)(i)(A)(3).