14 Apr Imagine That! The E-2 is FINALLY Available to Israelis!
This Is Israel. Democracy. Elections. Start-up Nation. High-Tech. Technology. Best-in-class Innovation. Global acclaim. Largest volume of startups outside of Silicon Valley. And now – E-2 Visa success!
There is no denying that Israel truly is STARTUP NATION (and many also call Israel the ScaleUP Nation!). It’s about time that the U.S. recognizes the importance of attracting – and welcoming – Israeli Innovation into our borders. Obama approved the E-2 Visa in 2012 and the Israeli Knesset approved it in 2014, over 2 years after the U.S. approved the legislation. However, it has basically been sitting in political cyberspace since that timeHere it is 2019 and not a single Israeli E-2 Visa has yet been processed. But that’s about to change.
As we noted previously, Israel clearly needed time to iron out some details of the legislation and how it would be implemented, particularly because Israeli immigration law did not have a visa category that parallels the U.S.’s E-2 visa (which it has since created – the Israeli B5 visa). There are additional politically-driven concerns on the Israeli side which temper the resistance. Notwithstanding the reason for Israel’s turnaround, ratifying the U.S.-Israel bilateral E-2 visa will no doubt encourage economic growth in both countries and strengthen their political relations.
The E-2 visa allows a national of a treaty country (a country with which the U.S. maintains a Treaty of Commerce and Navigation) to be admitted to the U.S. when investing a “substantial” amount of capital in a U.S. business.[3] However, E-2 petitioners face a variety of limitations that can impede the business owner’s ability to make it successful over the long-term. For example, because it is a non-immigrant visa, the E-2 visa must be renewed at least every five years (depending on the term granted, which is somewhat subjective), although it does have an unlimited number of renewals (provided that the visa holder continues to satisfy the requirements). There is a possibility that the E-2 visa could be discontinued at any time, or not renewed, especially if the business does not succeed.[4]
The time is NOW. The opportunities offered by the announcement that Israeli E-2’s would finally start being processed on May 1st, 2019 are unprecedented. And the e-Council Inc. team of experts are ready to make it happen! Indeed, we have been waitingfor this!! Clearly, it has been many years in the making. Israel was recognized as an independent nation in 1948. That was over 70 years ago! Ties between Israel and the U.S. continue to be the strongest in the world, which has only been further augmented since Trump became President.
From the U.S. perspective, there really is no downside to Israel securing the E-2 Visa. It brings capital – and especially with respect to Israelis – Innovation to the U.S. soil. Unfortunately, pundits try to paint a negative picture of this amazing opportunity that not only enhances investment in the U.S., improve the U.S. economy, create jobs, and helped encourage proper management of the U.S. business so that the Visa is renewed (since the E2 visa is temporary in nature and extends for a maximum of 5 years after which it must be renewed).
In e-Council Inc.’s expert opinion, there’s just no way to justifiably paint a negative picture of this although pundits and naysayers certainly try to say it’s only for the rich, and it’s not fair to allow people to “buy their way in” to the U.S. Instead, from our perspective, the E-2 is the greatest and most coveted Visa as recognized in Lauren Cohen’s #1 Bestselling book Finding Your Silver Lining in the Business Immigration Process.
LET’S DO THIS!!
Contact e-Council Inc. – info@ecouncilinc.com or 1-866-724-0085 – to find out more about how you can pursue the American Dream and secure an E-2 visa – and please try our free quiz to find out more at www.globalbizquiz.com
Skyline of the Old City at the Western Wall and Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Israel.