Representative Cases

TREATY TRADE AND INVESTOR VISAS (E-1 and E-2) - These two visas are issued to nationals of foreign countries that have a treaty of "Friendship and Commerce" with the United States. Examples of countries that have these agreements are: Japan, Britian, Germany, France, among many others. The basic requirements are as follows:

1. U.S. Company MUST be 51% or more owned and controlled by the foreigners (not US citizens or people who hold U.S. Green cards),
2. The employee must have the same nationality of the owners of the U.S. Company,
3. The employee must be in a "managerial, executive, or specialized skilled" position,
4. The employee must have the intent to return to one's home country upon completion of their employment in the U.S.
5. The country of the employee’s nationality (or country of citizenship) must be a "Listed Country" for Treaty Investors.
6. International trade must be substantial and conducted by the U.S. Company and 51% or more of that international trade must be with the country of the employee’s nationality, OR
7. The there must be a substantial investment by the foreign national or corporation.

EXAMPLES
#1 Mr. Sato, investor, desires to acquire an existing restaurant in California. He invests $250,000; he will be president and manage the corporation that will own the restaurant; and the business has 14 employees with gross revenues in excess $1,000,000. Mr. Sato would be eligible for an Treaty Investor (E-2) visa as long as his corporation was doing business in the U.S. Note: The corporation could sell the restaurant and purchase another active business such as a dry cleaning business and the E-2 visa should still be valid.

#2 Mr. Sato, investor, decides to buy a small import/export business that employs 7 people. He invests $150,000 to purchase the company. He will be the president and manage the company. The company has total exports to Japan in excess of $2,500,000 and the company has net profits of $100,000. 90% of the exports go to Japan. Mr. Sato would eligible for a Treaty Trader (E-1) as long as his company qualifies; 51% or more of the exports must be with Japan; he must also own 51% or more of the company.

#3 Mr. Sato, investor, owns Sato Construction Company, Ltd. in Japan that employs 20 on a regular basis. He has no intention of abandoning the business in Japan, but would like to invest in the United States in another enterprise. His company could set up a U.S. based subsidiary and acquire either enterprise, above, and he would be eligible for an Intra-Company Visa (L-1A) that can be extended up to seven (7) years. He could also set a new corporation and business. Further, with the proper corporate and business structuring Mr. Sato would be eligible for a permanent visa.

SPECIALTY PROFESSIONAL WORKERS VISAS (H-1B) - These visas are issued to those aliens who possesses academic credentials for specialty occupations that normally require a bachelors degree of higher to enter the profession. The alien usually qualifies by first obtaining a bachelors, masters, or doctoral degree from an accredited college or university. Although, one can also be deemed qualified by experience from a recognized "equivalency evaluation."

1. Job offer for a position that "normally" requires, at least, a baccalaureate degree to enter the profession,
2. Possession of the requisite credentials such as a bachelors, masters, or doctorate degree or "equivalent,"
3. Position is temporary,
4. Prevailing wage is offered and paid,
5. 6 years limit.

EXAMPLES
#4 Ms. Sato is a graduate of California State University, Northridge and was conferred her Bachelor of Science degree in the School of Business. Her major was Accounting with a minor in History. She just graduates in Winter 2000, which ends May 15, 2000. An American accounting firm has offered her a position as a staff accountant in the auditing department. Is she eligible for a working visa? YES. Since accounting firms normally require, at least, a bachelor's degree in accounting, and it appears that Ms. Sato possesses the requisite academic credentials her petition for H-1B classification would, in all probability, be granted as a staff accountant.

#5 Mr. Moriyama received a bachelor's degree in English from Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan in April of 1995. He has been employed for the past 5 years as a copywriter (first 2 years) and financial analyst (last 3 years) for a public relation firm in Osaka, Japan. He has been offered three positions in the United States and wonders, which one should accept in order to obtain an H-1b working visa. A public relation firm offers him a position as a copywriter. An ethnic magazine has offered him a position as an article editor. An accounting firm that has many clients in the public relations field offers him a position as financial analyst because of his experience in the position. Can he obtain an H-1B working visa? YES, but not all. He would probably qualify for the copywriter position and the editor position, since they both require a degree in English or related field to enter the profession. And, although the position of financial analyst might require a bachelor's degree to enter the profession, he is not qualified. He has only a bachelor's degree in English and not finance, even though he does have 3 years of finance experience it would probably not be enough to qualify.