Blogs – Usimmigrationadvisor

By Maxine Philavong In the first Visa Bulletin of the fiscal year, October’s Visa Bulletin showed little to no movement in the family visa category, while showing movement in the employment-based category. Although this may be disappointment for affected people looking to obtain a family-based visa, this is good news for those looking to obtain an employment-based visa. The October Visa Bulletin is perhaps the most important visa bulletin of the year. This is the first visa bulletin of the ...

While Grenada and Turkey understandably dominate the discussion around the E-2 Visa, other countries also offer a potential pathway to this desirable visa category. To qualify for the sought-after Visa E2 USA, you must be a citizen of an E-2 Treaty Country. You can find out if your country holds an E-2 Treaty with the United States by checking this list. If your country is not on the list, you would first need to become a citizen of an E-2 ...

By Maxine Philavong Grenada: a beautiful island, tiny island in the Caribbean. Filled with white sandy beaches, lush green vegetation and buzzing coral reefs, many miss out its numerous advantages due to its small size. But those who are looking for investment and citizenship opportunity should not overlook the “Island of Spice.” Indeed, Grenada is home to the Grenada Citizenship by Investment Program, a government sponsored program that provides rapid access to the United States E-2 Investor Treaty. The E-2 ...

By Maxine Philavong In its last visa bulletin of the fiscal year, USCIS announced little movement amongst immigration work and family visas from its previous August bulletin. As fiscal year 2020 comes to an end on September 30, it was expected that the September Visa Bulletin would show not much movement form the previous August bulletin. While this prediction was true, this was to be expected at the end of any fiscal year. At the end of each fiscal year, ...

By David Cantor Global Director of Client Relations It is notably a difficult time for anyone needing to travel to the United States. Whether it is for purposes of business, family or leisure – travel restrictions are still in effect for the United States through December 31, 2020 as a result of the Presidential Proclamation. In recent months, various US Embassies and Consulates have issued formal reports on the commencement of adjudicating select visa-applications, conducting interviews and granted travel permission ...

By Maxine Philavong On Sept. 1, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced plans to significantly expand its collection of personal information from immigrants seeking a U.S. visa by requesting more biometric data and DNA to verify family relationships during the immigration process. The proposal, which has not officially been released by the DHS, allows for authoritative changes to the department’s biometric data and DNA collection. USCIS currently requires biometrics from anyone over the age of 14 who applies ...

By Matteo Tisato The lure of Italy is undeniable. Stunning landscapes, historic cities, culture, design, culinary tradition. Before Covid-19 hit Italy so badly in early 2020, Rome was the country's most popular destination with almost 27 million of visitors every year, or 6.4 percent of the total, followed by Milan and Venice (both 2.8 percent), and Florence (2.4 percent). However, in the recent years, Italy has become an excellent place attracting not only tourists but international investors as well, who ...

Dubai has long been a place for ambitious, younger people seeking exciting job opportunities. Now, it is also set to become the place for older people seeking the good life as well. The government of the emirate has introduced a new type of visa, allowing expats to retire in there for the first time. To qualify for the retiree visa, you must be over the age of 55, and also meet the financial requirements. This includes having a monthly income ...

The Italian authorities have announced that 784 high-net-worth individuals have applied for tax residency in Italy over the first three years of the program. The reason? A €100,000 flat tax on income for up to fifteen years. The country with the most applicants (10%) was Great Britain, followed by France (58 applicants), the United States (20 applicants) and Russia (19 applicants). Italy's attempts to attract foreigners to obtain tax residency does not stop with high-net-worth individuals. The country has attempted ...

By Maxine Philavong The U.S. Department of State has recently implement major changes to the reciprocity schedule for Mexican nationals. Following the latest Department of State periodic review and update of visa reciprocity in pursuant of a January 2018 Executive Order, Mexican nationals will now benefit from increased visa validity periods in the E-1 Treaty Trader and USA E2 Visa categories. According to the latest Department of State reciprocity schedule, E-1 and E-2 visas for Mexican nationals can be granted ...

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the outcome of its biennial fee review earlier this month. Form I-526 - Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor - will be subject to a price increase. The form, which is the first step of the EB-5 application process, will increase to $4,010 from October. This represents a 9% increase on the current price of $3675. An increase in the minimum investment amount last November is the principle reason for the large increase. At ...

When we first start thinking about moving to the United States, tax is not always uppermost in our minds. But as Global Tax Counsel Gary Kaufman explains in this podcast, it is vital to start planning your tax position from the earliest stages of the process. In this podcast we cover tax as it relates to the two types of US immigration - immigrant visas and non-immigrant visas. Immigrant visas refer to programs like the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa and ...

By Maxine Philavong After several lawsuits that were backed by large U.S. companies, the Trump administration relaxed part of its so-called "immigration ban" on foreign nationals, permitting those on H-1B and L-1 visas to return to their previous held employment in the U.S.. In April, the administration barred all foreign nationals who did not previously hold a valid visa from working in the U.S. for 60 days due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In June, President Trump signed an executive order ...

Many of our clients are motivated to apply for the Grenada Citizenship by Investment Program because of it provides rapid access to the United States E-2 Treaty Investor Visa. But that is only part of the picture. There are many benefits to Grenadian citizenship in its own right. This includes no residency requirements, no tax on worldwide income, as well as citizenship of a politically and economically stable country. And now, we are seeing clients cite another factor as their ...

Did you know it was possible to move to the United States to run a franchise business. The E-2 Treaty Investor Visa allows people to emigrate to the US for the purposes of investing in and managing a business. This can include a franchise. In this video, our Global Chairman Mark Davies, addresses some of the frequently asked questions about franchise business. And advises on some of the pitfalls to be aware of and to avoid. For example, franchise brokers ...