Escape to America-Buy a Restaurant, This Restaurant Broker Explains Why
Buy a Restaurant, Gain Residency
A quick and easy route to United States citizenship involves using a professional restaurant broker to search for an E2 visa qualified restaurant business.
There is good news for restaurant buyers. Despite all the recent news and opinions about illegal entry to the United States, there is a clear and relatively straightforward path you can take to permanent residency. The United States offers an E2 visa opportunity to foreigners that invest in stateside restaurant businesses. Non-residents are allowed to relocate to the U.S. in order to develop and direct the business operation established by their investments as long as they are making a “substantial investment.”
The E2 visa, sometimes called an “Investor Visa” allows the visa holder to enter and work inside the United States. It must be renewed every other year but there is no limit on the number of times this can happen. The E2 visa is only available to “treaty nations.” A list of nations with “treaty” status can be found online at the United States Department of State but includes a list of more than of four dozen countries ranging from Yugoslavia to Latvia and yes, even Mexico.
Restaurant acquisitions are ideal vehicles for this path to entry since the purpose of the visa is to ensure that those entering the country are contributing to the overall economy. There’s generally a minimum threshold of employees the business must employ. A restaurant purchase in a major market like Atlanta is an excellent choice since it meets many of the basic conditions. Restaurants typically employ more than four full-time individuals. The investment in a restaurant generally exceeds $100,000 (the minimum threshold). Lastly, established eateries have multiple years of tax filings which are required to substantiate the documents required for the visa.
The other benefit of buying a restaurant to satisfy an E2 visa requirement is that family members tag onto the visa. Spouses and unmarried children under 21 years of age, regardless of nationality, may receive derivative E-2 visas and accompany the primary applicant.
Despite troubled economic times and an uptick in those seeking to escape from America, many foreigners are actively seeking entry into the United States. We Sell Restaurants, one of the nation’s largest restaurant brokerage firms has seen a strong increase in those trying to establish a legal path to resident status with the E2 visa. They negotiate contracts between the buyer and seller for qualifying restaurants. Then they work with sellers to wait out the visa approval while the business is under contract. Foreigners in other countries seeking to escape to America can contact them online at http://www.wesellrestaurants.com
Eric Gagnon is Atlanta Restaurant Broker and President of We Sell Restaurants and wesellrestaurants.com He is a designated Industry Expert in Restaurant Valuation. Eric is well known in the industry as an expert in restaurant sales and valuation where he is a frequent speaker and writer for restaurant brokerage.
. . . “countries ranging from Yugoslavia to Latvia”. This law probably came after breakup of Soviet Union (Latvia) and before breakup of Yugoslavia. Because the law that old probably doesn’t take into account that neither country exists anymore. Does minimum of $100k investment need to be adjusted to inflation?
Guess again!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/us/30visas.html
Back in the 1980′s a person could get a visa by buying a property of any kind, vacant land, house, timeshare.
in the right place way under 100k, that may have been plugged but would bet not. most get a vacation visa by showing assets at home, then work to stay on once in.