As I practice immigration law in Los Angeles, California, I often speak to fellow South Africans who are considering their options in terms of entering the U.S. to live and work, while at the same time acting as entrepreneurs. There is often a misconception that the only way to start up a business in the U.S. is to invest an exorbitantly large sum of money, like 1 million U.S. Dollars, which is in fact not true.

The L visa for example, allows one who owns and has been operating a business in South Africa for at least one year and who satisfies a number of other requirements, to apply for an L-1 visa if one wishes to establish a new branch or subsidiary business in the U.S. As one can imagine there are specific requirements that must be satisfied, such as proving that the S.A. and the newly created U.S. business are related in ownership, that there are sufficient funds to operate the new business , that the South African business will continue to operate while the L visa is being used etc., however it is a very useful visa that is available to South African entrepreneurs. With the L visa it is not even strictly necessary that the S.A. and U.S. businesses be in the same line of business or industry.

In addition, an L visa such as this allows dual intent, which means that a person could apply and enter the U.S. on an L visa and then if they decided that they wish to remain in the U.S. long term, petition for a green card without losing their L visa status.

I thought I would post this brief visa background not as advice but in part to help educate those who are interested in immigrating to the U.S. about the fact that there are visa options available and also to get some feedback perhaps on the prevalence of the misconception that the only way to enter the U.S. is to have 1 million dollars.

Hendrik Pretorius
www.mjlaw.co.za
Note that none of this information is intended to be taken as legal advice.