E-2 visa for a Russian businessman with a Turkish passport

In May 2021, our Moscow office was approached by Mikhail B., the owner of a hotel chain in Russia. The man is married and has two children from different marriages.

The goal

Mikhail did not consider emigration. It was enough for him to obtain a document allowing him to visit the United States of America without hindrance and stay in the country for as long as he deemed necessary.

Mikhail's tourist visa was expiring and he learned that there would be problems with obtaining a new one under quarantine conditions. This was the reason to find an alternative in a short time.

The client's additional wish was to obtain a visa with the right to work for his wife and visas for his children of 6 and 11 years old with the opportunity to study in the USA.

During the first consultation it turned out that in addition to a Russian passport, Mikhail also has a Turkish passport. He received it in 2019 as part of the citizenship for investment program. Based on this fact, we suggested the client to pay attention to the conditions of the E-2 non-immigrant American visa. It fully satisfied Michael's needs, and Turkish citizenship made him eligible to apply.

Note. The E-2 visa is issued only to citizens of countries that have signed a bilateral cooperation treaty with the United States. This list includes Turkey.

Under the terms of the program, the applicant must invest at least $100,000 in the American economy. Mikhail was not planning to expand his business. He decided to invest in the development of a new project through the purchase of a franchise, the choice of which was helped by an American lawyer. We organized a personal meeting with him for the client also for the purpose of preliminary assessment of his chances of successfully obtaining an E-2 visa.

 =1=

After signing the cooperation agreement, we immediately started collecting the necessary documents:

• passport copies;
• bank statements (certificates) on the availability of funds and confirmation of the legality of their origin (tax returns, purchase and sale agreements, etc.)
• birth certificates of all family members;
• consent of the ex-wife to the participation in the program of the applicant's daughter from a previous marriage;
• marriage certificate; certificate of absence of criminal record.

We arranged medical insurance for Mikhail, helped him with filling out the application form, wrote a cover letter, and did notarized translation, certifications and apostilization of documents. We prepared a power of attorney for an American lawyer.

=2=

Since Mikhail's visa was still valid, it allowed him to visit the USA at the end of June to conclude a preliminary franchise agreement.

We prepared incorporation documents for registration with the Secretariat of the State of California, where it was planned to open a small café under the terms of the franchise. All these issues were resolved in a week, after which Mikhail returned to Russia.

Remotely applied for a client's TIN and opened a US bank account. A lawyer under a power of attorney received notification of the assignment of a tax number.

In the meantime, a trusted realtor in the USA found a suitable commercial property. Mikhail signed a lease agreement for 2 years.

At this stage the client signed a preliminary agreement of intent to make the first contribution to the business in the amount of €100k. 

=3=

The lawyer together with the client prepared a business plan for 5 years with all financial calculations and forecasts. After that he started to obtain licenses in California. It took a month.

=4=

In August, Mikhail flew to the United States with his wife and children to apply for an E-2 visa and pass biometrics. The lawyer completed the application package with a business plan and investment information and joined the client to accompany him to all the authorities.

=5=

They received a positive decision on visas in a week.

Mikhail stayed in the U.S., as he had a lot of things to do there related to the opening of the cafe. His wife planned to work together with her husband, and the children had already found a good school.

Results of the case

The client's request was fully satisfied. Mikhail and his family received American visas, which opened new opportunities for them. It took 3 and a half months to process the application.