United States Immigration and Visa Services

Three agencies share control of the system: • USCIS adjudicates petitions and applications filed inside the country • The Department of State issues visas at embassies and consulates abroad • CBP decides at the port of entry whether to admit you, and for how long The key distinction is between non-immigrant and immigrant categories. Under INA section 214(b) every non-immigrant applicant is presumed to be an intending immigrant until they prove otherwise, so B, F and E applicants must evidence ties abroad. A few categories are dual intent, notably H-1B and L-1, letting you pursue a green card without prejudicing temporary status. A visa is only a travel document permitting you to request entry. Your status and its expiry date are set by the I-94 admission record issued electronically by CBP, not by the visa foil in the passport.

B-1 business visitor covers meetings, contract negotiation, trade fairs, site inspections, market research and conferences. It does not permit productive work for a US employer, hands-on operation of your own business, or a US salary. Admission is normally granted for up to six months. ESTA and the Visa Waiver Programme. Nationals of roughly forty countries, including Germany, France and Italy, may travel visa-free for up to 90 days with an approved ESTA, valid two years. Turkiye is not a participant. The limits matter: • No extension of stay, and generally no change of status from inside the US • Adjustment of status is barred except for immediate relatives of US citizens • A biometric e-passport is mandatory • Travel to certain designated countries since 2011 removes eligibility Near-continuous stays attract scrutiny, and CBP may conclude you are effectively residing in the United States.

The E-2 treaty investor visa is usually the most realistic route for entrepreneurs, but only for nationals of a country holding a qualifying treaty with the United States. Turkiye, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom qualify; India, China, Brazil, Russia and South Africa do not. A second nationality may be used, but it must be genuine and held before filing. E-2 requirements: • At least 50% ownership by nationals of the treaty country • An investment that is substantial relative to the cost of the business; there is no statutory minimum, though modest sums rarely persuade • Funds irrevocably committed and at risk, not parked in a bank account • A real, operating business that is more than marginal, normally employing US workers • The applicant must direct and develop the enterprise, or be an essential employee E-1 treaty trader uses the same framework but requires substantial continuous trade, over 50% of it between the US and the treaty country. E-2 renews indefinitely in two-year increments, but is not dual intent and yields no green card by itself.

L-1A (managers and executives) and L-1B (specialised knowledge) both require a qualifying corporate relationship of parent, branch, subsidiary or affiliate, plus one continuous year with the foreign entity in the preceding three years. L-1A runs to seven years, L-1B to five. A new-office L-1 is granted only one year initially, and the extension turns on whether the US entity has genuinely begun trading. L-1A is dual intent and feeds into the EB-1C green card. O-1A suits founders, executives and scientists with extraordinary ability, shown by meeting at least three of eight regulatory criteria such as major awards, press coverage, judging and original contributions. A US employer or agent must petition. H-1B covers specialty occupations requiring a degree in the field. It is capped at 65,000 places a year plus 20,000 for US master's graduates, allocated by a March registration lottery with employment from 1 October. Universities and affiliated non-profit research bodies are cap-exempt; the usual maximum stay is six years.

EB-5 is the only route converting capital directly into permanent residence for the investor, spouse and unmarried children under 21. As of 2025, under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, the minimum investment is USD 800,000 in a targeted employment area, meaning a rural area or a region of high unemployment, or in a qualifying infrastructure project, and USD 1,050,000 elsewhere. These thresholds are indexed and periodically adjusted, so confirm the current figure before committing funds. • Direct EB-5: you control the business and must create 10 full-time jobs for US workers directly attributable to it • Regional centre EB-5: a passive stake in a pooled designated project, where indirect and induced jobs may be counted File Form I-526 or I-526E, documenting the lawful source of every dollar; source-of-funds tracing is where most cases fail. Approval brings a two-year conditional green card, followed by Form I-829 to remove the conditions once sustained investment and job creation are proven.

EB-1 requires no labour certification: EB-1A covers extraordinary ability and allows self-petition without a job offer, EB-1B outstanding professors and researchers, and EB-1C multinational managers and executives, the natural sequel to an L-1A. EB-2 covers advanced degrees and exceptional ability; EB-3 covers skilled workers, professionals and other workers. Both normally require PERM labour certification: a prevailing wage determination from the Department of Labor, prescribed recruitment to test the US labour market, then ETA Form 9089. This stage alone routinely takes well over a year. The National Interest Waiver waives both the job offer and PERM for EB-2 applicants whose work has substantial merit and national importance, who are well positioned to advance it, and where waiver benefits the United States, the three-prong Dhanasar test. It permits self-petition and is now the leading route for founders and researchers. Priority dates fix your queue position when PERM or the I-140 is filed. No country may take more than roughly 7% of annual visas, so the monthly Visa Bulletin shows applicants born in India and mainland China waiting far longer.

Immediate relatives of US citizens, meaning the spouse, unmarried children under 21 and parents of a citizen aged 21 or over, face no numerical limit, so no queue applies once Form I-130 is approved. All other relationships fall into the capped preference categories F1 to F4, where waits run from several years to well over a decade for siblings from high-demand countries. Permanent residents may sponsor only spouses and unmarried children. • Consular processing, where the beneficiary is abroad: the National Visa Center collects fees and civil documents, the applicant files Form DS-260, completes a panel-physician medical and is interviewed at the consulate. Its non-immigrant equivalent is the DS-160, used for B, E, L, O and H applications. • Adjustment of status, where the beneficiary is lawfully in the US: Form I-485 goes to USCIS, usually with I-765 for a work permit and I-131 for advance parole. Departing without advance parole abandons the application. Where a marriage is under two years old at approval, residence is conditional and Form I-751 must be filed before the second anniversary.

Holding a visa is not the same as holding status, and lapses are expensive to repair. • The I-94 end date governs; file extensions or changes of status before it passes • Work only with the authorisation your category grants, since unauthorised employment can bar a later adjustment of status • Notify USCIS of address changes within 10 days • Material changes in employment often require an amended petition, an H-1B worksite move being the classic example Travel. A valid visa stamp is required to re-enter, so an expired foil means a fresh consular appointment abroad even where status is intact. Permanent residents should avoid absences of six months or more; a year or more away without a re-entry permit (Form I-131) is treated as abandonment of residence. Naturalisation. Generally five years as a permanent resident, or three where the applicant has lived with a US citizen spouse throughout, plus physical presence for at least half that period, continuous residence, good moral character and the English and civics tests on Form N-400.

This is the most common and most expensive misunderstanding we are asked to correct. Forming a US company grants no immigration status whatsoever. A non-resident may own a Delaware LLC or a Wyoming corporation outright, obtain an EIN, open a bank account, contract with customers and receive distributions, all without any visa. What the company does not do is give its owner the right to enter, reside or work in the United States. Work requires a status that authorises it: E-2, L-1, O-1, H-1B or permanent residence. Structure ownership with the intended visa in mind, since E-2 nationality rules and L-1 qualifying-relationship rules both constrain how shares are held. Common refusal grounds: • INA 214(b): failure to overcome the presumption of immigrant intent • INA 221(g): administrative processing or missing documents, resolvable but slow • Misrepresentation: entering on B or ESTA then promptly working or marrying can trigger the 90-day rule • Unlawful presence: over 180 days triggers a three-year bar, over one year a ten-year bar