[Finbarr]

If you have been running your company for a year or more outside of the US, you may have some luck with the L-1 Visa for intra-company transfer[1]. The visa is for managers/executives who are coming to the US to work for a US arm of a foreign company. Seems like it can be used for establishing US based offices as well.

[1] http://www.uscis.gov/eir/visa-guide/l-1-intracompany-transfe...

[sparkzilla]

I was on this visa. You must have been running the business in your home country for at least one year, and you must continue to keep the business running in your home country while you are in the U.S. (The U.S. office is supposed to be a branch). You also need sufficient funds (at least $100K, but $150K is safer). However once you get it, you can renew it for up to seven years, and, unlike the E-2, it has a path to getting a green card

[braindead_in]

How long did the L1 application take for you? I filed my petition 2 months ago and am still waiting to hear back from USCIS. Keeping my fingers crossed; 50-50 chance that it'll be approved I guess.

[sparkzilla]

We did express processing. It took about seven weeks.

[aytekin]

The downside is you have to renew it every year. Costly if the lawyer does it and too much waste of time.

With E2, you get it for 5 years and no more paperwork every year. Then you renew it for another 5 years.

[sparkzilla]

Renewal is every two years.

[Finbarr]

Seems ideal for certain circumstances, e.g., with a remote dev team in your home country.

[hpagey]

I think this is the best approach. If you transfer yourself as a manager or executive on L1A you can apply in EB1 category for Green Card. The EB1 category is current across all countries, meaning you can get your GC in around 3 to 6 months.

I would suggest

[hackerboos]

This is the visa Microsoft uses to get devs into America.

They work in Vancouver for 12 months and then get an internal company transfer using the L1 visa.