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Email Story to a Friend June 14, 2006 Buying U.S. businesses: shortcut to a visa By Cecilia Kang The Washington Post Although many foreigners wait years for permission to live in this country legally, a small but growing number have found a legal path that is relatively simple and fast: come with deep pockets to buy businesses here. Foreigners who promise to purchase businesses that could create U.S. jobs and pump money into the economy can get non-immigrant investor visas, known as E2. The number of E2 visas approved has steadily grown, with 28,290 issued in 2005, up 40 percent from 1997, according to the State Department. The businesses are typically clustered in metropolitan areas in states such as Florida, which is attracting British nationals with E2 visas. British residents can turn to Web sites such as www.sunnybrits.com , www.britishflorida.com and www.british-expat.com to learn how to get an E2 visa. The State Department does not require any specific size investment. Rather it says the business owner must invest a "substantial amount of capital" that generates "more than enough income to provide a minimal living for the treaty investor and his or her family." Immigration attorneys say most businesses are purchased for more than $100,000. Advertisement Japanese nationals were granted 12,010 E2 visas in 2005, up 16 percent from 1997. British citizens were issued 3,170 E2 visas, up 47 percent from 1997. Germans were issued 3,066 visas in 2005, up 85 percent from 1997. The number of visas issued to South Koreans in 2005 more than doubled to 2,169 from 1997. E2 visas were initiated in 1952 in the Immigration and Nationality Act. There are no quotas for E2 visas issued. Investors must be citizens of the dozens of countries that have signed special commerce treaties with the United States. Although E2 visa holders make up a small portion of all immigrant and non-immigrant visas, the investor visa is for many — with enough money — an attractive alternative to more complex and lengthy ways of entry. "There are two types of E2 investors. There are those who are here purely for business interests and those who use the visa as an immigration vehicle," said Glen Wasserstein, a partner at Immigration Law Group in the District of Columbia. E2 visa applicants apply directly to the U.S. embassy in their home country, skipping approval from the Department of Labor and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, where applications for temporary skilled-worker and other business visas can take years to be processed. In London, the wait for approval is typically 16 to 20 weeks, according to immigration lawyers and British holders of E2 visas. In contrast, the H1B visas for temporary skilled workers have years-long waiting lists for countries like India. The E2 visa is typically issued for two years. It can be renewed indefinitely as long as the investor is running the business and it generates more than enough revenue to support the investor's family. The E2 visa covers the investor's spouse and children under age 21. Investors can eventually apply for green cards and then citizenship. That's the next step for Koki Fukuhara, who lives in Rockville, Md., with his family through an E2 visa and a $100,000 investment by his company, Nippon Zoki Pharmaceuticals. He set up Nippon Zoki's branch office for its U.S. joint venture with the National Institutes of Health and several universities. Fukuhara was in the United States as a visiting scholar when his company decided to set up the office, which is being used to help bring a pain medicine from Japan to the U.S. market. His company considered sending Fukuhara on a corporate-sponsored L visa, but that would require the pharmacologist to leave the United States for one year before coming back. "It would have taken too long to apply for other visas, so my attorney advised this visa, which was surprisingly easy," Fukuhara said. Christine Pollar and Peter Willis moved to East Bradenton, near Tampa Bay. In Torquay, England the couple and their two children had struggled with long working hours and mounting expenses. Willis only came home twice a month, living the rest of the time in a caravan several hours' away, near his construction job in London. "Then my daughter's friend announced her family was moving to Florida to start a business on an E2 visa. And we thought, 'Maybe we can do it,' " said Pollar, 44, who now runs Isabelle's Eatery LLC on Longboat Key with nine employees. They contacted the friend's immigration consultant, Peter Gold of Floridabuyahomeforu. Gold, who emigrated from England to Sarasota, Fla., in 1986, said he has helped 30 British E2 visa holders in the past five years find investment businesses. Within a few months, Pollar and Willis had purchased a home and the restaurant with $130,000 from savings and taking out equity they had put into their home in England. The British Consulate in Miami estimates 200,000 British citizens and dual nationals live in Florida. Enterprise Florida, a state-run trade and business organization, said British-owned firms employ 50,000 people in Florida, more than any other group of foreign companies in the state. Investors from Britain are the second-largest source of international investment in Florida, with $5 billion in holdings, they said. The British Bureau of Florida, a private business group, said its membership has increased about 40 percent in the past 10 years to more than 450 members. In many cases, all it takes is the sale of a home in Britain to set up a business and buy homes in Florida, where property prices can be significantly lower than in major cities like London, he said. "We want to stay here for good," Pollar said. The family is applying to extend their visa. "You would have to earn big money in the U.K. to live like this." Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations --> online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Entertainment Guide --> Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Pharmacy Advertisements Advertisement