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

Tips for Choosing The Right Immigration Lawyer

Choosing an immigration attorney is not easy.  For most immigrants in the US, their immigration status is more important than any other status, including the marital one.  People search carefully for the right immigration specialist to ensure the immigration process is taken care of by a professional. There are some many factors to consider while choosing an attorney: experience, language, price, location, communication, responsiveness, accessibility and many others.  For example, some immigrants choose immigration attorneys only in his or her country’s community, others prefer to stay away from their compatriots as far as possible.  Regardless of what category you are in, below are discussed the main points to consider while choosing the best immigration attorney in the US.

Most articles available online first mention factors like membership in AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association).  While it is important, most decent attorneys are already the members of AILA and even if they are not, it does not mean they cannot do a great job for their clients.   Something else to consider is that most inexperienced lawyers jump on AILA right away for the sole reason of accessing the research tools. They merely do it because they do not have relevant experience and rely on themessage board and other information provided by AILA.

Based on the feedback that our company has analyzed, the most important factor while looking for an immigration lawyer is feeling comfortable working with a particular immigration attorney assigned to your case.  Both corporate and family immigration include a great deal of confidential information that may be hard to share with a person you just met.  An attorney should be trustworthy and friendly. A client should not be afraid of contacting his attorney with a related to his case question.

Second is experience. The right immigration lawyer must have experience handling cases like yours. It does not matter how friend an attorney is, if he cannot answer your questions, it is probably a bad sign. However, most immigration lawyers collaborate and work as law firms.A junior immigration lawyer should be able to get proper guidance regarding casework from a senior attorney or partner.  Also, in the immigration law field, experienced immigration paralegals perform a great deal of legal work and attorneys simply review it. That is why we put feeling comfortable and secure as number one priority while hiring a counsel, although experience is very important.

Third, is responsiveness. Even if you hired the most experienced and nice lawyer out there, if it takes him a week to respond to your email or return a call, it probably will take a long time to file your case. For the reasons stated above (paralegals and distribution of casework in established law firms), the best immigration attorneys should be able to answer the phone and spend some time drafting emails to the retained clients when they are asked to.

 At ilexlaw we pay close attention to these 3 principles and many others. We built this list based on the clients’ feedback that was shared with us. Most of them told us that they chose ilexlaw because of one or more of the factors above.We communicate with our clients, we specialize in immigration and we deliver successful results.

Self-Petitioning for a Green Card

Most of the employment based green card applications require a sponsorship from employer.  Many employers do not wish to sponsor foreign workers to keep them dependable on the employer longer in H-1B, G-4, L-1A, L-1B or any other nonimmigrant status.  Some organizations simply do not sponsor foreign workers as a policy matter. The companies include certain huge IT consultancy corporations and international organizations (IMF, World Bank, IFC, UN, etc.)

Many bright foreign workers wonder if having an employer is a must for applying for a green card.  The answer is no. Self-petition, i.e. filing a green card application without an employer is possible. 

There are several ways to self-petition for a green card.  We will discuss the most common options that the best immigration attorneys use.

The first is National Interest Waiver, commonly known as NIW. This is Employment Based category 2 petition (EB-2).

The second is Extraordinary Ability Employment Based category 1 petition (EB-1 or E11).

The National Interest Waiver.  Normally, to get a green card there must be a permanent job offer from a US employer and a completed Labor Certification. A National Interest Waiver is a request to USCIS to waive the labor certification requirements because of the “national interest of the United States.” This waiver allows a foreign worker to get a green card circumventing the extensive labor certification process and applying with a US employer. 

To qualify for the NIW category an applicant must have an advanced degree (at least a Bachelor’s) or “exceptional ability” in the field of science, entertainment or business. The applicant’s work and expertise must be in an "area of substantial intrinsic merit to the US."  It means work that may improve the United States economy, wages and working conditions of US workers, education, Health care, affordable housing, or environment.  The filed of expertise must be pertaining to an important national goal. It must be beneficial and valuable for the United States, preferably national in scope.

The Extraordinary Ability EB-1 Category does not require an employer either.  However, generally the requirement is much higher.  The easiest way to show extraordinary ability is to prove receiving a major, internationally recognized award in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics.  The alternative way is to prove sustained national or international claim. There are ten specific categories, three of which must be shown.  The requirements come down to four main sections:

1.  Memberships and judging or leading responsibilities in prestigious invitation-based organizations, panels, associations.
2. Extensive published material about and/or by the applicant.
3. Original, scientific, scholarly, artistic, athletic or business-related contributions of major significance in one field.
4. A lot of money and overall commercial success.

These categories may be proved by using different documents.  Expert opinions are heavily considered, especially prepared by the experts who do not know the applicant personally but are well aware of his work because of its wide recognition. Being on the top of the field is of utmost importance. The applicant must show that he is one of the best, raised to the very top of his field.

The ilexlaw immigration attorneys in Washington DC have extensive experience preparing convincing NIW and EB-1 Extraordinary Abilities packages that can get approved by USCIS.  Please call us for a free consultation or send us an email to info@ilexlaw.com. Please check out our website www.ilexlaw.com

P-1 visa Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How can I get a P-1 visa?

A: The P-1 visa is created for famous athletes and entertainers. If an artist has some international recognition, the P-1 visa is a way to go

Q: How to show international recognition:

A: There are several ways to prove international recognition. The US Immigration Law regarding P-1 visa makes a perfect sense.  Anyone without special training may access if an athlete or artists has international recognition or not.  If he is famous in more than one country, an international recognition is established. The fastest way to do it is to show an award of an international prize or winning a prestigious international competition.

Q: What kind of documents can I show to prove international recognition?

A:

• Copies of certificates
• Photographs holding prestigious international awards
• Press releases
• Youtube views
• Letters from experts
• Promotion materials of different concerts/events
• Successful track record of achievements

Q: What if I am famous in several countries that have similar cultures?

A: For the P-1 visa purposes, legal boundaries of countries are of outmost importance. If the countries speak the same language and share one culture but legal are separate states, international recognition can be claimed. For example, India, Pakistan and Nepal share the same cultural identity for the most part and speak one language. Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro used to be one country for a long time. Now, if a band can show that he is popular in more than one present day countries, they will successfully establish international recognition.

Q: Can an individual artist get a P-1 visa.

Only bands or groups qualify for P-1 visas. Individuals athletes may qualify but not individual performers. There must be a group of several people. The band must stay in tact for at least one year prior to filing. In other words, if it is a brand new band that has gained international recognition already, the P-1 visa may not work.

Q: How to get support personnel to help performing the US?

A: It is very easy. There is a special type of visa that is designated for essential personnel that help the band during performances. This list includes:

Managers, light specialist, sound engineers, movers, hairdressers, make up artists, dancers, designers, tailors, etc. As long as the personnel is an essential part of performances, a special P-1S visa may be obtained.

For more questions please visit our website: www.ilexlaw.com

Please check out our Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2J65mDJSpMAPGrVTt1CTEA

Green Card Through Marriage

Shooting a video and doing recording while on P visa in the US

Many performers are interested in two questions:

1. 1What visa is appropriate to make a recording or shoot a video in the US?
2. Is it possible while on a P visa?

 First, it should be mentioned that to shoot a video or make a recording using US recording and video studios is possible even while on a tourist visa. An exception applies to the general ban on business activities while in the US. The video or music production must not be made distributable to the US audience. In other words, if an artist comes to US on a tourist visa, he can film a video and do recordings.  However, the final product must be aimed towards foreign audience outside the US.  The artist can obtain a visitor’s visa if he enters the US to use a recording studio to record or film something that will not be sold in the US.

 If the final product will include the US audience and the album/video will be distributed in the US, a simple tourist visa will not work. For such activities an O visa, P visa or an H visa must be filed. The most common and appropriate category is the P visa (P1 visa, P2 visa or P3visa). 

Making television shows, contrived and staged events, documentaries, music and other video recordings will fall under the P visa category.  When filing for a P visa, the company must explicitly state that such activities will take place.

Now, what if a P visa has been approved, the band entered to US to perform concerts and decided to make recordings in the US afterwards?  The recording activities were not reported in the P visa petition. The band management decided to do it after the approval and will retain a US production company.  To comply with the US law a sponsoring organization will have to file an amendment or even an extension to reflect the change in employment. If the sponsoring organization is no longer involved in the production, a change of employer may be required. The record label or an appointed agent will become an employer for the visa purposes.

The most important factor to consider is a timeline. The P-1, P-2 and P-3 visa artists must exist the US upon expiration of their I-94, i.e. end dates of the underlying P visa petitions.

Everything an entertainment company needs to know about visa and tax issues for foreign artists performing in the US can be found on www.ilexlaw.com

There are some things that most companies didn’t even know they need to consider. Bringing an artist from abroad is very different from hiring a US entertainer

All questions on any topics related to foreign artists in the US can be posted on our website or email to our team at info@ilexlaw.com

Requirements For Getting P-2 Visa As An individual or as a Group

The P-2 visa can be used various artists that are coming to perform in the United States individually or as a group.

To bring artist or any other entertainers under the P-2 visa, an entertaining company must first establish or participate in a reciprocal exchange program with a US based organization. This is not an easy requirement to meet.  Practically speaking, there should be a large number of musicians travel back and forth to perform in order to justify the establishment of such program. The US Entertaining companies can use the programs that are already in place.  When there are such public programs, the petitioning company must provide the name of the program and any other relevant documents. 

The advisory opinion will be also required for a P-2 visa application from a labor organization or a peer group that signed the reciprocal exchange agreement.

The artists must have the skill comparable to those of the U.S. musicians that go to the given country under the reciprocal program.

In terms of the qualifications of the artists, the requirement is much lower than the requirements the P-1 and P-3 visa applicants must meet (International fame of the P-1 Groups or Culturally unique skills of the P-3 Entertainers).  The reciprocal exchange program must be in place and the labor union must sign off of it. That’s it.

A reciprocal exchange program is a program negotiated between an organization in the US and an organization in a given country. The only public programs are signed between the US and Canada, Australia, New Zealand. The programs strive to sustain similarity of employment terms and the level of artists exchanged, and numbers. A labor organization must have been involved in negotiating the program, or at least did not object to the establishment.

The P-2 visa can be granted for up to 1 year. P-2 visa allow also the essential support personnel to enter along with the group (make up artists, sound engineers, tailors, hairdressers, movers, etc. ) The artists’ family member may enter the US and stay as long as the P-2 entertainers themselves. The family members are not allowed to work, though.

There are could be situations when additional performances need to be added to the itinerary or, in opposite, some events have been cancelled. There is no need to do anything about it as far as the USCIS’ concern, as long as the performances remain in the same time frame (the time of the visa validity).  If more time is needed to take the artists to a few more performances, an extension of status petition must be filed to reflect that change and request USCIS to approve the longer stay. If an extension is not filed, the artists may have problems entering America in the future.

Please contact us at info@ilexlaw.com and visit out website ilexlaw.com to learn more.