Lawyer Monthly Magazine - April 2019 Edition

74 SUPER LAWYERS APR 2019 www. lawyer-monthly .com Special Immigrant Religious Workers Individual entrepreneur and investors are rarely religious workers except those who come to the US to plant a religious organization in a community to grow a community of believers. More often, US religious organizations sponsor special immigrant religious worker as ministers and non-ministers in religious vocations and occupations to immigrate or adjust status in the US, for the purpose of performing religious work in a full-time compensated position. The special immigrant category is one of several employment- based fourth-preference (EB-4) visa classifications that includes Religious Workers, Special Immigrant Juveniles, Broadcasters, G-4 International Organization or NATO-6 Employees and Their Family Members, International Employees of the US Government Abroad, Armed Forces Members Panama Canal Zone Employees, Certain Physicians, Afghan and Iraqi Translators, and Afghan and Iraqi Nationals Who Have Provided Faith Service in Support of US Operations. Nonimmigrant Categories Nonimmigrant categories often provide investors, an extraordinary person, executives and managers, professional workers, skilled workers, and even the unskilled worker a quicker path to a lawful presence in the US. The HELO visas are the most common of these. Although, the P, B & J visa and other temporary worker visas are also available. O Visas Entrepreneurs and investors abroad who have been recognized nationally or internationally for achievements in their field qualify for an O visa. An O-1A nonimmigrant visa is available for the individual who possesses extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business, or athletics. O-1B individuals have extraordinary ability in the arts or extraordinary achievement in motion picture or television industry. O-2 individuals accompany anO-1, artist or athlete, to assist in a specific event or performance. TN Visas Entrepreneurs and investors who are citizens of Canada and Mexico may seek temporary entry into the United States to engage in business activities at a professional level under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). E Visas Entrepreneurs and investors may establish a US entity to employ the entrepreneur or investor to direct the operations under a US treaty as E-1 traders or E-2 investors. E-3 professional employment is available to Australian entrepreneurs and investors. Treaty traders (E-1) carry on substantial trade in goods, including but not limited to services and technology, principally between the United States and the foreign country of which they are citizens or nationals. Treaty investors (E-2) direct the operations of an enterprise in which they have invested, or are actively investing, a substantial amount of money. E-3 Australian professionals perform services in a specialty occupation. L Visas An entrepreneur or investor with an active business outside the US may establish or acquire a business in the US. The L-1 nonimmigrant classification enables the US business to transfer the professional entrepreneur or investor who is an executive / manager / specialized knowledge employee employed abroad for at least one year from one of its affiliated foreign offices to one of its offices in the United States. This classification also enables a foreign business which does not yet have an affiliated US office to send the executive, manager, or specialized knowledge employee to the United States to help establish one. H Visas The H1B visas program permit entrepreneurs and investors to establish a US entity to temporarily employ professionals in occupations that require the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher in the specific specialty, or equivalent. A professional entrepreneur or investor may be sponsored by their US entity. The H1B1 professional employment is available to persons from Chile and Singapore with their own number of visas that are not regularly met. H-2A and H-2B visas allow US employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary agricultural and nonagricultural jobs, respectively. The H-3 is available for trainees.