L1 and E2 Visas: What you need to know

There are many different kinds of visa requirements for non resident aliens who want to work and/or own a business in Florida.

Let us look at the two most common types of visas that people might have to opt for, if they desire to own and operate businesses in the state of Florida.

The L1 visa is basically defined as an ‘intra-company’ transfer visa for overseas staff members of different American companies.  An L1 visa essentially allows a US corporation to transfer an important staff member from any one of its offices in another country into US territory.

The L1 can be further divided into two different subcategories:

1.     L1-A 

This visa category has mainly been created for individuals who may be settling in the US for one of two reasons:

·       For the purposes of setting up an office in the United States itself

·       Or they are managers and other senior executives of an American company

2.     L1-B 

This Visa category has been specifically created for highly specialized employees who are deemed to possess exceptional specialist skills or knowledge regarding any specific field in which an American company (or any other type of business) may be working.

However, in both these cases, it is ultimately the employer (or employing organization) that would submit the visa application.

All L1 Visa applications are subject to certain requirements that include some of the following: 

·       The petitioning company may be a corporation or a religious organization or it may be an NPO (Non profit organization)

·       The employer must actively be conducting business as an employer in the US, along with a minimum of one foreign country.

·       The foreign staff member of the organization must have completed at least a bare minimum of one year’s continuous employment for the company outside of the United States.

·       The employee must show his intention of leaving US territory once his visa term has expired.

E2 Visas

The E2 visa category is the primary ‘investor visa’ category in the United States. Moreover, there are neither quotas nor annual caps for such visas, thus effectively meaning that anyone who fits the criteria is free to avail the many opportunities available to holders of visas of this type.

·       An E2 visa allows an individual to gain entry into the US without going through the formality of an actual immigration process

·       This Visa grants entry to the US for a typical period from 2 years up all the way up till 5 years.

·       An E2 Visa is fully renewable and indeed can be extended for as long as the visa holder is in actual control of his business and it generates an income sufficient to support him or her as well as his or her dependents.

·       The E2 visa also covers the investor’s husband or wife (as the case may be) and any offspring under age 21.

When applying for either of those two visas, please do consider Florida as the ideal place to settle and grow your business.