New E2 processing time

[JulieC]

Take a look at http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/niv/enew2.html

The bit marked important now gives the processing time as officially 24 weeks instead of 14-16 as previously, though this may just be telling people what they already know.

[victoria]

do you know how long it takes for you to be called for an interview once they have reviewed your application (and hopefully don't have requests for further info)? I saw here 34 days - is that for renewals or are we going to have to wait 34 days after the 24 weeks? (please tell me no!!)

[JulieC]

Afraid so. the wait for an interview after approval is currently 5 weeks,

[victoria]

you just ruined my day....... oh my god, I don't believe it. SO much for our attorney telling us 6 months ago that this should be wrapped up (one way or another) in under 3 mos. How come the wait for an E2 interview is so much longer than other visas? My interview came through in 5 days....

[JulieC]

It changes daily, depends on how many people are in the queue.

[sassy]

I'm still waiting for an E2 visa,the petition went in October and after one request for further information we are still waiting,it's lucky we fast-tracked through Texas or we would have lost the biz. I was talking to a business broker recently who said he would prefer not to sell businesses to English people as it takes too long to get a visa,i wonder if this attitude will spread to the rest of Florida and eventually all U.S.

[victoria]

October - ouch! Fast-tracked through Texas? can you enlighten me? Is yours now in London? Was it London who asked for further information or Texas - when was that?

We lodged ours in London back in Feb & to date have had one very nice email saying that there's a 'slight delay' sorry, they'll get back to us ASAP. That was however before they changed the wait to 24 weeks.

Do you think that you've gone back to the bottom of the queue, as they say that you do on the website because they asked for further info? How significant was the further info?

Apologies for all the questions.....

[victoria]

Sorry Julie - another question for you. Are you talking about approval in London? (I just know that with my own visa it was approved here in the US & then I had the interview in London, I'd assumed that London wouldn't approve until you had your interview). I'm at a loss here with people talking about Texas - I didn't realise that you could do anything Stateside, I thought it all had to go through London...
Thanks, and sorry for being such a newbie at this game

[sassy]

Sorry for taking so long to reply i lost track of this one. We received I129 notice of action which allows us to live and work in U.S but we cannot travel abroad so we are also applying for E2 in London.We applied Oct 05 they wanted more info in April 06 by which time our one stop visa co had ceased trading ,London returned the extra info in Aug 06 as it was not submitted in the correct manner so we are liasing with new attorney for re-submission and yes we will go to the bottom of the pile again,so fingers crossed 3rd time lucky

[charliesmum]

Just to let you know, everything is taking 24 weeks - originals, renewals and extra info.

Our va was told this when she inquired about another renewal with extra info.

Zoe

[Susie]

Hi Zoe

Could you post the following

1. Date the original application went to embassy

2. Date you first had any reply from embassy with questions

etc.,

In other words a calendar of events so we know start and finish date (when that happens)

Thanks

[JulieC]

Victoria. there are two ways to get an E2. Apply in London and wait it out the 24 or 48 weels if you get asked for further info If approved you will be called for interview and visa stamp. Many sellers are not willing to wait that long however, so to get out there and close on businesses people are not willing to lose, they are getting a B2 visa and changing status to E2 in Texas and that can be fast tracked. This only gives E2 status and the right to live and work here for two years but you cannot leave the country as you dont have a visa so most people doing this will also submit paperwork to London so they can get a visa. It takes some of the pressure off timewise but puts more on in a way. Hope this explains it.

[chris]

Here's an interesting suggestion. I'm on the Florida Forum besides this forum and a busy thread has been about the length of time E2's take to get processed. We have the stated 24 weeks in London (assuming they don't keep asking for more and more information), The US Embassy in Madrid is taking 21 days and has been reported on the forum, the US Embassy in Brussels actually took 7 business days from start to finish!!! The applicant asked them how many applications they get and they said about 3 per month and they all get approved.
Under the rules for applying, you apply in the country where you are domiciled. Now on the basis of the timeline for Brussels, you could relocate to Belgium (rent a flat or something to prove domicile) for 3 months, then apply there and still be ahead of the game with London.
As we are all citizens of the European Union and our passports say as much, I think the US would be on thin ice in nitpicking that part.
Should an out of the box suggestion.
My only other comment is if Brussels are twiddling their thumbs with 3 applications per month, why the heck isn't London shifting some of the E2 Mountain to Brussels. Now that would be a first - we've had butter mountains, apple mountains, wine lakes and now E2 Mountains.

[floridapete]

Which Florida Forum is this thread running on Chris ? I don't remember seeing it the Florida Forum I know and love (Top-Forums).

[chris]

Peter,
The web address is www.thefloridaforum.us
The E2's in Brussels is running in the E2 Section.
I would also make a quick comment to Victoria about the advice from Julie on getting an E2. We should make it clear that an E2 VISA can ONLY be had from the State Dept at an Embassy/Consulate overseas. What Julie is talking about with Texas is 'Adjustment of Status'. This is changing the status on which you were let into the country by the USCIS. The scenarion being painted is you arrive at the airport with a B2 Temp visa. You are allowed in by the USCIS on the basis of that visa classification. You then apply to USCIS to change that status to E2. IT DOES NOT CONFER ON YOU AN E2 VISA. A Visa is an instrument which allows you to enter/exit at a port of entry (POE). Thats all a visa can ever do. The real decsion makers are the USCIS who deiced whether to let you in. That little white I-94 may look insignificant but its the most important document that keeps you from being deported. Julie is right when she says that if you change status on your I-94 from say B2 to E2, it would allow you to run the business, work, etc, but if you leave the US you leave that status behind. Having the E2 Visa allows you multiple entry/exit. I know it sometimes sounds as clear as mud, but it is important to understand the difference between the 2.

[JulieC]

You are only reiterating what I already said Chris, please read the last sentence of my reply. I do point out that the change of status route only gives you E2 status and you cannot leave the country. A number of people on here have done this, Victoria didnt know about it so I told her. I dont advocate it, though in point of fact for people who are anxious not to lose a specific business, this may be the only way given the difficulties with the embassy at the embassy at the moment. The alternative where a seller will not wait may be coming and going on visa waiver and there are a lot of people doing that too but they are working illegally which is worse.

[chris]

Sorry for repeating what you'd said, sometimes you don't remember everything in a previous thread when concocting a reply - only human you know.
I too don't advocate the VWP route for circumventing the visa thing. We know some people who bought a business whilst still on VWP. They are in the E2 pipline, meantime are coming and going on VWP. They got pulled for 2ndry processing this time, got a horrible grilling, snotty accusations where thrown at them and told don't try it again as we won't let you back in. They are laying the proverbial eggs. They are also experiencing problems getting the business they bought validated by the embassy. A clear case of caveat emptor when parting with your hard earned money.

[floridapete]

Peter,
The web address is www.thefloridaforum.us


I took a look at it. Who runs that Forum ?

I mean, we know that Susie runs this one and Pattie and Stu' run Top-Forums. But who owns/runs The Florida Forum ?

I couldn't find any statement or indication on the forum site itself.

[Kriz1]

It was owned by a great guy called Ray......I say great guy...only because he reads this and carries a big gun...:)

Its now in the care of a new owner and a few of the mods...it is one of the best sites I've been in for a long time...

[JulieC]

It is now run my a consortium of three people, two living in the US on visas and one in the UK. Ray who is on here set it up as Kriz stated but no longer had time to run it. It is a truly excellent site, definitely the best anywhere for E2 as there are such a large number of E2-ers on there with vast experience. It is not as political as this one so they have different aims and compliment each other.

[floridapete]

How long does it take for a new registration to be 'validated' by the issue of an initial password? I was expecting one to come back almost instantly (as in automatically) but nothing arrived yet more than 12 hours later.

Maybe I am being 'vetted' ? :-)

[JulieC]

Maybe it didnt go through properly as it should have been quicker than that? They do vet, if you are a realtor, property manager, immigration attorney etc they look at you. You are not allowed to mention what you do on the site if you are in these bags unless you officially advertise on there.

[floridapete]

I may have 'thrown the system' in my registration somehow.

When it came to the point of having to state your month and year of birth - they didn't have a year on the pull-down far enough back for my birth year ! So I left it at 'May' and 'Year'.

Guess that they don't expect anyone born before 1940 to be computer savvy enough to take part in the Florida Forum ? :)

Maybe I'll try to register again.

[Kriz1]

I've had trouble getting into the site for a few days Pete...its taking forever to download...there could be a problem...I'll ask admin...

[JulieC]

I cant get in either Krizzy, it isnt working for me today.

[pegasus]

Hi all
to get back on thread,
the matter is now worse than ever, we have a number of clients willing to spend upwards of $500K on a qualifying business, unfortunately the word is now out (as JulieC said it might be) that the embassy is taking between 6mths and a year and NO legitimate businesses in the BBF and FBBA mls's are prepared to sell to E2 VISA (as opposed to status change) applicants that we can find. If you know of any let me know!!!!!!!!!!
I encourage every citizen or companies which employ citizens, to write to senators and congresmen. This is an election year.
I have written to a number including Dr Rice and Tom Reynolds, it will be interesting if the response is different from the last time as I am no longer an LPR but a citizen who can vote.
I will let you know if I even get a response........

B Rgds

Neil

[JulieC]

It is a total mess, isnt it, Neil. Effectively it has killed the business sales market here stone dead, not just for brokers and attorneys but for sellers who are just not going to be able to sell their businesses if they need to move on or go home and will just have to close them down or sell them cut price to anyone who doesnt need a visa. I am guessing this will severely depress the market here. Add this to the number of people being turned down for renewals and draw your own conclusions.

[Susie]

Hi all
to get back on thread,
the matter is now worse than ever, we have a number of clients willing to spend upwards of $500K on a qualifying business, unfortunately the word is now out (as JulieC said it might be) that the embassy is taking between 6mths and a year and NO legitimate businesses in the BBF and FBBA mls's are prepared to sell to E2 VISA (as opposed to status change) applicants that we can find. If you know of any let me know!!!!!!!!!!
I encourage every citizen or companies which employ citizens, to write to senators and congresmen. This is an election year.
I have written to a number including Dr Rice and Tom Reynolds, it will be interesting if the response is different from the last time as I am no longer an LPR but a citizen who can vote.
I will let you know if I even get a response........

B Rgds

Neil


Hi

Can you post a copy of the letter you sent please

Our comittee will be metting (hopefully) either 3rd or 10th Sept and need a few idea's and example letters

Thanks

[floridapete]

I have just sent the following to the Emigrate America newspaper - which I KNOW is received and read by the Consular Officer at Grosvenor Square, John Caulfield.

"Hello Paul & Ben,

The situation with E2 visa approvals out of the US Embassy in London is now CRITICAL. The word is now out in the USA that sellers, brokers and attorneys should NOT consider the sale of US businesses to UK buyers who may have to wait from 24 weeks to over a year for visa approvals. This being at a time when Belgian applicants applying through Brussels, can get an E2 approved in a matter of days - not weeks ! So what is happening at Grosvenor Square ? Are they intentionally trying to create a log-jam of approvals and renewals to dissuade/prevent would-be British emigrants from realising their dreams of relocation to the USA ?

I have just seen the following posting on an Expats Forum that I contribute to:

"The E2 visa matter is now worse than ever. We have a number of clients willing to spend upwards of $500K on a qualifying business, unfortunately the word is now out (as JulieC said it might be) that the London Embassy is taking between 6mths and a year and NO legitimate businesses in the BBF and FBBA MLS's are prepared to sell to E2 VISA (as opposed to change of status) applicants that we can find. If you know of any let me know!!!!!!!!!!

I encourage every citizen or companies which employ citizens, to write to Senators and Congressmen. This is an election year.

I have written to a number including Dr Rice and Tom Reynolds, it will be interesting if the response is different from the last time as I am no longer an LPR but a citizen who can vote. I will let you know if I even get a response.......".

Another ExPat contributor states: "It is a total mess, isnt it, Neil. Effectively it has killed the business sales market here stone dead, not just for brokers and attorneys but for sellers who are just not going to be able to sell their businesses if they need to move on or go home and will just have to close them down or sell them cut price to anyone who doesnt need a visa. I am guessing this will severely depress the market here. Add this to the number of people being turned down for renewals and draw your own conclusions."

Meanwhile, to give you some idea what is happening at the US Embassy's in other countries, here is the picture from Brussels:
"Here is an update on our case! We finally applied for our E2 visa on July 25th at the Brussels Embassy. One week later we are approved! We are really happy and very excited! We already booked our tickets and we will arrive in the US at August 23th! We are opening our business on October 1st. Thank you all for the info we got on this forum and good luck to everyone else going this route... Inge"

It is, of course, impossible for British nationals to file their visa applications or renewals anywhere else but London - such is the stranglehold that the US immigration rules now have on an understaffed system. So Brits could not go to Brussels to apply even if they wanted to - even though we are all supposed to be "Europeans" and hold 'European Passports' !

What is happening with the broken US immigration service that there can be SUCH a contrast between two equally-small member countries of the European community ? Seems like the doors to the USA are closed to Brits but open to Belgians ? Whatever happened to that "Special Relationship" that Mr. Bush talks endlessly about ?

Best wishes,

Peter Stanhope.

Florida Brits Group.

York U.K."
...............................

[JulieC]

Perhaps in the spirit of openness and accuracy perhaps the following terms and condition should be added to the Statue of Liberty's famous poem.

*Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:

I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

Proof of non British citizenship required. Terms and conditions apply but are subject to change without notice for British passport holders.

[floridapete]

"Emigrate America" have now asked me to re-write the letter posted above as a full feature addressed directly at the US Embassy in London. They figure that, maybe I will get more attention from them than just an editorial comment which they will ignore.

So I have said "OK" and I will be re-writing it with some more 'flesh' on it.

It won't be published until their October issue though.

If any of you have any more specifics that you wouild like me to include you can e-mail me at FlaBritsCl@aol.com or pm. me here.

[Grumpy]

Hi Peter

Fantasic letter lets hope they can get their house in order like Brussels or allow cases to be filed or transferred to other EU countries

[Ray10]

Certainly precedent for the consulates assisting each other

"In order to reduce the waiting time for French travelers, the U.S. Embassy in Paris is shifting diplomatic staff to conduct roughly 50 percent more visa interviews per day. Additionally, some U.S. embassies or consulates elsewhere in Europe will now accept visa appointments from French citizens.

French citizens may now contact the U.S. embassies or consulates in Berlin, Bern, Brussels, Florence, Frankfurt, London, Madrid and Rome for visa appointments. Those web addresses and telephone numbers are listed below"

http://www.usembassy.de/germany/france_visa.html

[floridapete]

Certainly precedent for the consulates assisting each other

"In order to reduce the waiting time for French travelers, the U.S. Embassy in Paris is shifting diplomatic staff to conduct roughly 50 percent more visa interviews per day. Additionally, some U.S. embassies or consulates elsewhere in Europe will now accept visa appointments from French citizens.

French citizens may now contact the U.S. embassies or consulates in Berlin, Bern, Brussels, Florence, Frankfurt, London, Madrid and Rome for visa appointments. Those web addresses and telephone numbers are listed below"

http://www.usembassy.de/germany/france_visa.html

An interesting development ?

Well in an idle moment on Sat. I sat surfing the other US Embassy's in Europe, trying to find out what their wait times are for interviews and visa processing.

I didn't get far but I did get into the French US Embassy website in Paris. There I found that they had 42 pages of visa processing reports, some of which went back to late last year, and I read through some of the on-screen case histories. Many of the comments made there by consular officials reflected just the kind of problems that some people on here seem to be having with London. So they seem to have common standards in calling for further info.

Several of the case histories indicated that people just had not turned up for the embassy interviews ! What a waste of time that was !!

So, at face value, the French experience is not very different from the British experience.

Now, if they start to swap applications and/or staffs around the other European Embassies, what more mayhem will follow in London ?

I think that I will e-mail that clipping to John Caulfield in London and ask if Brits are now able to apply in, say, Brussels ?

Let's see what he says, eh ? :)

P.S. I have now sent my e-mail to the London Embassy. But then I clicked on the link above and found (though it does not say it) that this notice really refers to people needing B2 visas to travel to the USA - hence a nine week wait for B2 interviews. So it's not really an E2/L1a story after all.

But, hell, whatever.......it gave me a reason to write to John Caulfield - let's see how he replies !

[mark]

Hi Peter

It seems this John Caulfield has a lot to answer for so lets give him a lot of questions and wait his reply

[JulieC]

It would be interesting to know how long you have to live there to attain residence so you can apply at their embassy, for example Spain, could you rent somewhere for six months and apply through Madrid??

[JulieC]

It would be interesting to know how long you have to live there to attain residence so you can apply at their embassy, for example Spain, could you rent somewhere for six months and apply through Madrid??

[InnVic]

... and if you spent six months in Madrid you could probably learn enough Spanish to qualify for a green card in the next amnesty :-)