A Visa Alone May Not Be Enough For You to Accomplish Your Goals

Published on 08/11/2015

Hello, I’m Vaughan de Kirby and today we’re going to answer a question that has been coming up recently based on the State Department’s change in the granting of visas. Many people now, in their home country are able to obtain a visa, a multi-entry visa, valid for ten years. And the question comes up: is that multi-entry visa a good substitute for EB-5? After all it allows you to come to the United States.

In order to answer that question, what I want to point out to you is to really understand what a visa is. As you may know, I travel to China often. When I get on the plane they look to see if I have a visa. That visa allows me to get on the plane, and come to China and stand in front of the customs officer.

You need to understand that when you get a visa, it does not give you a right to enter the country, it only give you a right to come to that country, the United States in this case, and stand in front of the customs officer, and explain to the customs officer why you are in the United States and your reason for being in the United States, and then its up to the customs officer to decide how long your stay should be. If in fact the customs officer feels that you are abusing your multi-entry visa, they can actually deny entry.

So let’s look at this from a practical standpoint. If your interest in the United States is just to visit periodically and perhaps do some business, then a multi-entry visa might be a good alternative to EB-5. However, if your goal is to really build a life in the United States, and have your children go to school in the United States, then the multi-entry visa is not the right answer for you.

So simply stated, remember: a visa is only a privilege to ask for admission. And when you receive your EB-5 green card, you are a permanent resident of the United States, allowed to live permanently as a resident with all the privileges connected to that. I hope this distinction was helpful to you.

Vaughan de Kirby
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San Francisco California EB-5 Investment Immigration Attorney