Beginners Initial Advice Please

[eugegall 0]

Hi all,

 

My wife and I have always wanted to move to the USA and we think the next few years might be the right time for us.

 

We are both UK nationals and passport holders but I was wondering where to start? 

 

It seems like a bit of a minefield and I'm totally lost as to what to do. 

 

We both own our own business together so I don't think we could get sponsorship via that route however we do have a decent amount of business related funds we can take with us if that helps.

 

What do you think our best bet would be? 

 

Literally any advice/pointers in the right direction would be massively appreciated. 

 

Cheers

[Mike E 11,741]

https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-eligibility/green-card-for-immigrant-investors

[Boiler 45,788]

E2  is the non immigrant visa, if you want to immigrate EB5.

[eugegall 0]

2 hours ago, Mike E said:

https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-eligibility/green-card-for-immigrant-investors

Thank you. I will have a good read tonight. 

[eugegall 0]

1 hour ago, Boiler said:

E2  is the non immigrant visa, if you want to immigrate EB5.

I appreciate the response. 

 

Our preference is to immigrate. 

 

I know its a piece of string but do we know roughly how long this process might take? 2 to 3 years?

[Boiler 45,788]

EB5 well UK is not a backlogged country pretty sure it is current and will remain so,  would not surprise me if sorting out the investment side would be the most complicated factor or do you have something in mind?

[eugegall 0]

2 minutes ago, Boiler said:

EB5 well UK is not a backlogged country pretty sure it is current and will remain so,  would not surprise me if sorting out the investment side would be the most complicated factor or do you have something in mind?

Oh that's encouraging to hear. 

 

in the UK we own an estate agency which we've owned for 10 years doing property management, sales and lettings plus developing new build homes. Which arguably is a bigger part of what we do. 

 

I know this isn't unique but something we are successful at. We are thinking about going straight into developing properties instead of agency to start with. 

 

What are your thoughts behind that?

[SalishSea 17,987]

2 hours ago, eugegall said:

Hi all,

 

My wife and I have always wanted to move to the USA and we think the next few years might be the right time for us.

 

We are both UK nationals and passport holders but I was wondering where to start? 

 

It seems like a bit of a minefield and I'm totally lost as to what to do. 

 

We both own our own business together so I don't think we could get sponsorship via that route however we do have a decent amount of business related funds we can take with us if that helps.

 

What do you think our best bet would be? 

 

Literally any advice/pointers in the right direction would be massively appreciated. 

 

Cheers

By “a decent amount” presumably you mean at least $1M USD?   That is the requirement.

[eugegall 0]

1 minute ago, Jorgedig said:

By “a decent amount” presumably you mean at least $1M USD?   That is the requirement.

Absolutely won't a problem. 

 

I read it was $1.8m. Hopefully I was wrong!

[Boiler 45,788]

Just now, eugegall said:

Oh that's encouraging to hear. 

 

in the UK we own an estate agency which we've owned for 10 years doing property management, sales and lettings plus developing new build homes. Which arguably is a bigger part of what we do. 

 

I know this isn't unique but something we are successful at. We are thinking about going straight into developing properties instead of agency to start with. 

 

What are your thoughts behind that?

Developing properties sounds like you will be well over any capital requirements, now in the US a lot of Realtors are independents, different structure to the UK. Does make me wonder how many employees you will have. 

[millefleur 5,047]

**Moved from Removing Conditions on Residency General Discussion to Work Visas**

[Gomast 65]

EB5 is very difficult. You have to invest $1,800,000 and create 10 full time jobs and to maintain them for at least 2 years. That’s the easy part. Then you need to deal with the legal fees which are very high. They are about 2- 3 times the fees of L-1 visa. Then there is the documentation that you have to provide. A lot of it. 
 

in my opinion, a better route would be to apply for L-1A which is for managers who relocate to the US, and later to apply for EB-1C. 

[eugegall 0]

Just now, Boiler said:

Developing properties sounds like you will be well over any capital requirements, now in the US a lot of Realtors are independents, different structure to the UK. Does make me wonder how many employees you will have. 

For sure. I love the way the US system works in relation to real estate but also I totally hear what you're saying about not meeting the minimum of 10 employee requirements which I why we think the developing business will be the best way to go. 

 

Assuming they accept the property purchase as part of the investment. 

[eugegall 0]

2 minutes ago, Gomast said:

EB5 is very difficult. You have to invest $1,800,000 and create 10 full time jobs and to maintain them for at least 2 years. That’s the easy part. Then you need to deal with the legal fees which are very high. They are about 2- 3 times the fees of L-1 visa. Then there is the documentation that you have to provide. A lot of it. 
 

in my opinion, a better route would be to apply for L-1A which is for managers who relocate to the US, and later to apply for EB-1C. 

Thanks so much for your feedback. 

 

With the L-1A. Can we do this although we currently only work for ourselves without any form of connection to any companies in the US. 

[Gomast 65]

6 minutes ago, eugegall said:

Oh that's encouraging to hear. 

 

in the UK we own an estate agency which we've owned for 10 years doing property management, sales and lettings plus developing new build homes. Which arguably is a bigger part of what we do. 

 

I know this isn't unique but something we are successful at. We are thinking about going straight into developing properties instead of agency to start with. 

 

What are your thoughts behind that?

Yes, EB-5 probably won’t work for you, because of the requirement to create 10 full time jobs. In construction, you have to keep hiring different people based on the phase of construction. For example, in the beginning you would hire concrete and framing employees, a few months later you would need drywall, electricians, plumbers, roofers so you have high turnover of employees. The EB-5 requires that the jobs you create stay the same for at least 2 years.