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In this episode we talk to Immigration Attorney Teri Simmons about the E-2 Visa requirements, some pitfalls, and insightful best practices

Listen to this show using the web player below or your podcasting app of choice.

 

 

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Teri Simmons is a partner at Arnall Golden Gregory in Atlanta, Georgia, where she has practiced for over 23 years. She directs the International and Immigration Practice Group as well as serving as Co-Chair of the German Business Practice. She has represented companies as large as the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, for which she managed visa processing for thousands, as well as middle-sized companies and individual Investors. Teri focuses her practice on the management of legal services supporting foreign-owned business entities and individuals investing in the United States in the areas of corporate, employment and immigration law. She manages companies’ global immigration needs, as well as both U.S. immigrant and non-immigrant visa processing for businesses and families (temporary work visas and green cards) and the immigration consequences of mergers and acquisitions. Active in the international community, and fluent in both spoken and written German, Teri serves as AILA’s CBP liaison for Atlanta Hartsfield Airport, the Mayoral appointed Chair of the Atlanta Sister Cities Commission, the Chair of the Georgia Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, and on the Boards of the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Southeastern U.S., the German American Cultural Foundation and the German School of Atlanta.

In this episode you will hear:

• Basic E-2 Requirements
• Some countries that are NOT eligible for the E-2 visa
• What a ‘substantial’ investment really means
• What constitutes a ‘commitment’ of funds
• Spouse work authorization for E-2 visa holders
• The difficulty of tracing E-2 top level ownership
• Why some E-2 visas only get approval for a year or two
• What independent sources of documents help build the strongest petition possible
• International tax advantages of E-2 visa holders
• Paths to other visas

 

Teri also shares with us:

• Personal Success Habits: Multitask orientated, but with a strong sense of urgency and priority
• Parting Thoughts: Feel free to reach out to Teri (and she thanks me for the work I have done in this space)

In this episode we talk to Michael Im on what it is like to work on his own E-2 visa renewal without an immigration attorney.

 

 

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Michael Im is a Korean national and multiple business owner in the United States. He has worked successfully with an immigration attorney in the past, but this time has decided to do it all himself.   In this episode you will hear:

• His personal immigration story
• His initial impressions of his original attorney
• What drove him to work on his own visa renewal
• Business Advice: Be positive and act positively
• His personal habits that he attributes to his success: Encourages others around him to also be positive
• Parting Thoughts: An immigration attorney is certainly the right choice if you are struggling with immigration issues

In this episode we talk to “Caroline” about her bootstrapped E-2, Immigration Attorney selection and the importance of a business plan

 

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On this episode we have “Caroline” as she discusses:

• How a $40k start up investment was approved for an E-2 visa
• How she selected her immigration attorney (out of 6)
• Immigration concerns: Complexity & Scary
• The importance of immigration representation that “believes in you and your story”
• Her Business plan development
  • Outsourced to a firm that didn’t engage with her on the specifics of her business
  • She then recreated the written elements of the plan to align with her story and “vision”
  • Engaged  my firm to recast the financial projections
  • She then understood and supported her business plan during her immigration interview