[philiphodgen]

Half-measures avail us nothing. :-)

You are right to reject the tourist visa option: it might work for a few quick visits to network and meet people, but it is not the best way to go if you are serious. And I have seen that when I behave in a serious and business-like way, I get serious and business-like results. (Off-topic: when I started being rigorous about claiming business expenses only for real business expenses and stopped telling half-truths on my tax returns, then I started making a lot more money. Correlation, not causation? Maybe. I put it down to an attitude adjustment.)

Back on topic. Did you prepare the E-2 visa application yourself or did you hire a U.S. immigration lawyer to do the work for you? Immigration work is 80% technical knowledge, 80% procedural skills, and 80% immaculate paperwork. That's why getting someone with deep experience counts.

(Disclosure: I have a vested interest in selling the concept of "hire an extremely experienced professional").

(Disclosure: I am not an immigration lawyer; that stuff scares me.)

[philiphodgen]

Follow-up.

Think about the category "L" visa. Executive of foreign corporation transferred to work at the U.S. branch. Set up a Swedish corporation. Create a U.S. subsidiary corporation. Decide to assign yourself to the USA to work.

Devil. Details. Etc.

These visa applications can be completed in 6 weeks or so -- this is what my immigration lawyer friends tell me.

[thanasisp]

Thank you for the tips philip!

Of course i had an experienced lawyer that took my hand throughout all the process... And we also examined all available options...

L type visas are not as simple as you describe. The criteria that have to be met are not suitable for a startup company. The killing requirement is that you (the employee that will be assigned in the US subsidiary) has to work in the mother company for at least a year.

... And let's not get into what the requirements for the mother company are...

[philiphodgen]

Good all around. It sounds like you did everything correctly. Consulate officials are known to operate in a non-uniform fashion in processing visa applications. That is all I will say in public. :-)

[Spoom]

You may also want to check out VisaJourney.com, it's helped me immensely in my immigration to the US (and will continue to do so as I Remove Conditions). They focus mostly on family class and less on business class visas, but it is still an incredibly knowledgeable community surrounding US immigration. If I were you, I would post as much of my situation on the Work Visas forum as I was comfortable and see if they can help.

[mdda]

Yup - the L-type visas are a non-starter.

But if your lawyer was so experienced, shouldn't you have been forwarned that you had a marginal case?

Did the UCSIS outright deny the application (which is a problem for the future too) or just ask for further documentation (which could be death by a thousand cuts too)?