Friday 4 March 2016

Manager/Executive visa for the Treaty Countries

If your company has a subsidiary in any of the Treaty countries listed here:
https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/fees/treaty.html

Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Australia, Austria Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belgium Benin Bhutan Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad China Comoros Congo, Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic East Timor Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Gabon Gambia Ghana Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus Grenada Guinea Guinea-Bissau Haiti Hong Kong Indonesia Iraq Ireland Jamaica Kenya Kuwait Latvia Lesotho Liberia Libya Lithuania Madagascar Malawi Maldives Mali Malta Mauritania Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Nepal Netherlands Niger Nigeria Norway Oman Poland Portugal Qatar Rwanda Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines São Tomé and Príncipe Saudi Arabia Senegal Sierra Leone Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Swaziland Taiwan Tanzania Togo Uganda United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Vanuatu Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe,

Your employees may be eligible for a E visa.  Over the years the United States has signed many different commercial treaties that are aimed to improve Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between the US and other countries.  The treaties advance the business environment, encourage investments and trade.

Nationals of countries with which the US has signed Bilateral or Unilateral Treaties may enjoy certain visa privileges.  Such privileges include E-1, E-2 and E-2 visa.  Managers, executives or any other employees may apply for E visas and enter the US without prior USCIS approval.

You may find extensive instructions on how to get an E visa from your country on our website or the Department of State website.  In this posting, our immigration attorneys in Washington, DC will tell you about difficulties associated with getting the E visa.

Some businesses may decide to use E visa instead of more complicated L-1 visa program. The L-1 visa requirements can be found here (http://www.ilexlaw.com/l-visas/). This visa is pretty complex and expensive. It does require a prior USCIS approval, which is not guaranteed.

L-1 visa allows L-1 visa beneficiaries apply for a green card pretty easily. The important distinction between the E visa and L-1 visa is that E visa is not a dual intent visa. That means that E visa beneficiaries when get to the US are NOT advised to apply for a green card. The whole purpose of the Commercial Treaties is to promote commerce, not immigration to the United States.  Thus, if your company decides to save money, time and administrative resource and file an E visa instead of L-1 visa, please take the above fact into consideration. Our experienced immigration attorneys have deep knowledge of little nuances of immigration law that help international companies strategize their hiring plans.

If the L-1 employee later ask his employer to apply for a green card, the E visa will become a problem.  If the company applies for a green card right away, the E visa petition will be deemed fraudulent.  It may result in unnecessary problems for the US company and its foreign subsidiaries.

If the foreign employee is not to be placed with a US company permanently but the purpose of the E visa is to meet temporary business needs, the E visa is a perfect solution.

Please consult our immigration attorneys in Washington, DC for free on any business immigration queries.  Our email is info@ilexlaw.com. The phone number 202.367.9138. Website: www.ilexlaw.com

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