For all International Students: Stay in the U.S. after your OPT expires

Hi, everybody! I’m Angie Rupert, founder of Rupert Law Group. We handle exclusively E2 Visas – so no matter what treaty country you’re from or what state you want to live in, we can help!

So, today we’re going to talk about getting an E2 visa in order to stay in the United States after you’re done with college or university and your OPT. So, this is a very common question that I get a lot for people who want to stay ask after they graduate a United States school. The tough part is getting that job offer right?  So, some lucky people do get a job offer and end up getting a visa that way, for the rest (80 to 90%) of you that really do want to stay but can’t get that job offer to stay, the E2 visa maybe a great fit for you.

So, let’s talk a little bit about what it’s like to get an E2 visa for someone who recently graduated from a U.S. college or university. The first step in the process is going to be, obviously, to pick the type of business you want to start or buy.  So, for someone like you who may not have a lot of work experience, you really should go with something that’s as close to your major, as close to your past work experience as you can get. It’s not a requirement, but if we can show that you do have experience within this area even if it’s a couple of internships and maybe some school projects, we have a better shot of convincing the consular officer that you are able to successfully direct and develop the business in the United States. So, keep that in mind.

Second of all will be, of course, the investment amount. For many of the current and very recent graduates from U.S. schools that we’ve helped get E2´s, most of them get a gift from a family member. Sometimes this is parents, sometimes grandparents, sometimes siblings. So, consider that as well.  You’ve already attended school in the United States, so you had to prove your financial ability to pay for that school. Consider this like investing in your future but not with a master’s degree. Instead, you’re purchasing your own business. So really think about it in terms like that.

One of the hurdles, of course, of getting an E2 Visa as a very young investor is making sure that they know you’re going to successfully run this business. So, before you choose the business, make sure that it’s something you’re really interested in, you feel very confident about and you’re really excited about doing.  Almost any business – either new or a purchase of an existing business – will work generally speaking, as long as it’s legal and has clients or customers and it has employees at some point. So, just keep those things in mind.

The E2 visa is again a great visa for recent grads because you don’t need separate sponsorship. So you can stay, work, live in the United States, and no spot separate work sponsorship is needed. This is a really, really big key for a lot of current and recent graduates. Again, my name is Angie Rupert I am the founder of Rupert Law Group. I would love to speak with you about your potential E2 visa. Contact us anytime and we would be thrilled to help you.

Thanks, have a great day!