First and foremost is the straight E-2 investor visa.  E-2 visas are a good way to temporarily immigrate if the U.S. and the country of origin have a treaty for this purpose. This visa is designed for a foreign national investing in an existing U.S. business or one who would like to start up a U.S. business from scratch.  One of the major criteria for this visa is the substantiality of the investment.  This is easily determined with a business purchase, but more difficult with a start up.  For example, if an investor is purchasing a beauty salon that has a sales price of $150,000 and wants to put $100,000 down and finance the balance over 3 years, this would be a substantial amount invested.  However, if the investor wants to start a new salon and invests $50,000, this may not reach the criteria, and the visa may be denied.  The next major requirement for the visa is that the investment must not be "marginal".  This means that the profit from the corporation must be greater than just providing income for the investor to live.  Typically, a start up salon will not meet this requirement; however, a full service salon that has been in business for a while may. E-2 visas are only temporary and do not lead to permanent immigration unless the business employs 10 U.S. workers and approximately $1,000,000 has been invested.
 
Next, there is the L-1A visa or intracompany transfer visa.  This visa is designed to transfer a manager or an executive from abroad to an affiliated company in the U.S..  In this situation, the corporation abroad can open a new office in the U.S., and it is not subject to the E investment requirements above.  Rather, the company must show that it is well capitalized enough to start the operations and keep them running in the first year.  Further, the individual must not engage in the day to day operations of the business, but be a full manager or executive by the end of the first year.  The mistake that many people make is that they do not follow their original business plan and have no other employees by the end of the first year.  Then, the visa cannot be extended, and they cannot apply for residency.  However, if everything is followed correctly, after one year, the manager can apply for permanent residency and remain here indefinitely.  
 
We have witnessed many horror stories over the past 20 years with these visas.  People are often misguided about the visas.  After investing in an E enterprise, the company may go out of business or do very little business.  Then, when the visa is about to be renewed, the people start to panic.  Rightly so, in this situation, the renewal is denied almost every time!  Additionally, with the L-1 visa, in order to prove that the person is a manager or executive, they must manage other supervisory personnel.  Therefore, by the third quarter of the start up, there should be payroll tax returns filed for these individuals.  However, many times, this is not done.  Again, renewing this visa is next to impossible without being able to prove they manage other personnel.  
 
The best advice that we can give our clients is to have a good, solid business plan as well as a good immigration attorney. 

Third Eye Management is delighted to announce that its client JSYMMETRIC was named one of the fastest-growing companies in the United States by Inc. magazine's annual Inc. 500 ranking. The software systems integration company ranked #200 on the list with sales growth of 1008.7 % over the past three years, and #20 among IT Services companies.  JSYMMETRIC's technical and project expertise enables IBM software technology for companies across all industries as well as the federal government.

  
"It is exciting to be part of Inc. 500's 2009 list", states JSYMMETRIC's Managing Partner Chris Delgado. "It is an honor to be recognized for delivering superior customer value with our extensive record of successfully integrating IBM solutions in our clients' multi-vendor software portfolios.  To be ranked this high in the first year that we've qualified for the Inc.  500 list is a real accomplishment for the JSYMMETRIC team.  The JSYMMETRIC team strives to clearly and effectively listen, define and earn the loyalty and business of our customers with superior, trusted services and solutions offerings."

 
"If you want to know which companies are going to change the world, look at the Inc. 500," said Inc. editor Jane Berentson. "These are the most dynamic, fast-growth companies in the nation, the ones finding innovative solutions to problems, creating smart systems, and inventing products we soon discover we can't live without. The Inc. 500 list is Inc. magazine's tribute to American business ingenuity and ambition."

The 2009 Inc. 500 measures revenue growth from 2005 through 2008. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by the first week of 2005, and therefore able to show four full calendar years of sales. Additionally, they had to be U.S. based, privately held, for profit, and independent - not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies - as of December 31, 2008. The minimum revenue required for 2005 is $200,000; the minimum for 2008 is $2 million.

 

About JSYMMETRIC:
JSYMMETRIC, http://www.jsymmetric.com, is a privately owned company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.  JSYMMETRIC, Inc. was founded in 2005 by technical consultants who enjoy the challenge of solving business problems with technology.   The company's mission is to become a trusted partner with its clients by deploying the best people with the optimal balance of technology and processes to support their programs. JSYMMETRIC leverages years of implementation and integration experience delivering superior value to clients in the areas of content management, document management, data management, security and portal. Headquartered in Atlanta, with offices in Columbus, Ohio; Washington, DC; Denver, CO; and Prague, Czech Republic. JSYMMETRIC valued partnerships include IBM, Kofax, VMware, RSA and Datawatch.

 

About Third Eye Management - Simple - we turn good little businesses in great businesse.  If you need any more proof see above!

I had a list of HMO's around the country and I was calling to ask for their medical directors.  One call was memorable because it was so breathtakingly ill-conceived.  The automated message said, "If you are calling for Marketing, press 1.  For Enrollment, press 2.  For Legal, press 3.  For Underwriting, press 4.  If this is a medical emergency, press 5."  I pictured a bleeding HMO member trying to wait patiently on the phone until he was prompted to press '5'.  What has happened to customer service?   

 

Dave Coulter - Apex Signs & Graphics