Milan as a Gateway for Italian Investors Entering the U.S. Market
Milan is Italy’s financial and commercial centre, and for many of our clients it is the natural starting point for expansion into the United States. We regularly advise entrepreneurs, family-owned businesses, and investors who are looking to establish or scale U.S. operations while maintaining a strong Italian base.
In practice, this often involves a staged approach. Many clients initially enter the U.S. through the E-2 Treaty Investor visa, allowing them to build and operate a business in the U.S., before transitioning to permanent residence through the EB-5 immigrant investor program once the business has grown and job creation requirements can be met.
From E-2 to EB-5: A Structured Pathway for Italian Investors
For many Milan-based clients, the E-2 visa and EB-5 program are not competing options, but part of a longer-term strategy. The E-2 visa allows immediate entry into the U.S. market and active business management, while EB-5 provides a route to permanent residence once the business has reached sufficient scale.
Our role is to structure this transition from the outset. That includes ensuring that investment flows, corporate structures, and job creation are documented in a way that supports a future EB-5 filing, even where the client initially proceeds under the E-2 route.
Milan’s Fashion and Luxury Sector: A Core Client Base
Milan is globally recognised as a centre for fashion, luxury goods, and design. A significant proportion of our Italian EB-5 clients come from the fashion, accessories, and retail sectors, including family-owned businesses based in Lombardy and the wider Northern Italian manufacturing districts.
Our fashion and luxury practice is closely aligned with our Milan office, where much of this client base is headquartered. We regularly advise on U.S. expansion strategies for Italian brands, including showroom launches, retail operations, and distribution structures in cities such as New York, Miami, and Los Angeles.
For more on our work in this sector, see our fashion and luxury industry page and our case studies, which include examples of Italian businesses expanding into the United States through E-2 and EB-5 strategies.
Integrated Italian and U.S. Legal Support
What distinguishes our Milan office is the integration between Italian-qualified avvocati and U.S.-qualified immigration attorneys. Clients receive coordinated advice across both jurisdictions, ensuring that Italian financial documentation, corporate structures, and tax considerations align with U.S. immigration requirements.
This integrated approach is particularly important for EB-5 applications, where the majority of the evidence originates in Italy but must be presented within a U.S. legal framework. Our Milan, London, New York, and U.S. teams work together as a single practice to deliver that coordination.
Davies & Associates LLC is a full-service law firm in Milan focused on tailoring the very best immigration and corporate solutions that meet the needs of our clients. Known for our creative solutions that obtain "impossible" visas in Milan, we solve the most complex immigration problems for business, investors, individuals and families.
