Please find hereafter information about immigration provided by our Legal Council, Binh Bui from AIPG Law.

For more information, contact Elsa at elsa.depeupiere@france-sandiego.org.

If you are a French national, intend to visit the United States for tourism or business for up to 90 day and are traveling on an electronic passport or a machine Readable passport issued before October 26, 2005 no visa application is required.

Note that beginning January 12, 2009, on-line registration with the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) is mandatory for qualifying passport holders from the 35 visa-waiver countries, including France. Travelers can register with ESTA on-line at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov

A French National who enters the U.S. under the VWP can not change status in the U.S. or apply for an extension of the 90 day admission.

U.S.A. and France have signed a commerce and navigation treaty. Thus, Visa for investors or traders that carry out commercial business between the United States and France, or that develop and direct the activities of a company in which they have invested substantial capital.

Please note that the Enterprise must be majority-owned, as well as developed and directed by nationals of the Treaty Country, France, and individual employees must have the same nationality as the Enterprise to qualify.

US Immigration law and regulations permit holders of E visas to reside in the United States to manage the trade or investments of a US business (the "Enterprise") or, in certain cases, to provide essential skills to the Enterprise. Holders of E visas must intend to depart the United States upon the termination of their E status.

Treaty Investor E-2
The E-2 visa category is useful for entrepreneurs, managers and employees who need to live in the US to oversee a major investment made by the French national.
• The investor, either a real or corporate person, must be a national of France. 
• The investment must be substantial. It must be sufficient to ensure the successful operation of the enterprise. The percentage of investment for a low-cost business enterprise must be higher than the percentage of investment in a high-cost enterprise.
• The investment must be a real operating enterprise. Speculative or idle investment does not qualify. Uncommitted funds in a bank account or similar security are not considered an investment.
• The investment may not be marginal. It must generate significantly more income than just to provide a living to the investor and family, or it must have a significant economic impact in the United States.
• The investor must have control of the funds, and the investment must be at risk in the commercial sense. Loans secured with the assets of the investment enterprise are not allowed.
• The investor must be coming to the U.S. to develop and direct the enterprise.
• If the applicant is not the principal investor, he or she must be employed in a supervisory, executive, or highly specialized skill capacity, as long as he or she is also a French national.
• If an employee, ordinary skilled and unskilled workers do not qualify.

Treaty Trader E-1
The E-1 visa category is useful for entrepreneurs, managers and employees who need to live in the US to oversee a company that is involved in trade between the US and France.
• The applicant must be a national of a treaty country.
• The trading firm for which the applicant is coming to the U. S. must have the nationality of the treaty country.
• The international trade must be "substantial" in the sense that there is a sizable and continuing volume of trade.
• The trade must be principally between the U.S. and the treaty country, which is defined to mean that more than 50 percent of the international trade involved must be between the U.S. and the country of the applicant's nationality.
• Trade means the international exchange of goods, services, and technology. Title of the trade items must pass from one party to the other.
• The applicant must be employed in a supervisory or executive capacity, or possess highly specialized skills essential to the efficient operation of the firm. Ordinary skilled or unskilled workers do not qualify

E-1 or E-2 Application for Large Multinational Corporations
If the enterprise meets the following requirements, the application procedures for a large multinational corporation may be followed:

1. Enterprise has been incorporated and doing business in the US for 2 years or more and
2. US enterprise and its affiliates have combined annual sales of more than US$25,000,000 or has a US work force of at least 1,000 employees

Duration of E visas:
E-2 visas are generally issued for a five-year period and can be reissued for an unlimited number of times. Since there is no limit on the number of extensions you may obtain, you may be able to stay in the US indefinitely.

Individuals who are employed by a foreign company (outside the United States) as executives, managers or in a position that requires specialized knowledge may qualify for an L-1 Intracompany Transfer Work Visa.

The applicant must be transferred to a United States branch, subsidiary, affiliate, or joint venture partner of the non-U.S. company.

These workers come to the U.S. as intracompany transferees who are coming temporarily to perform services either 

        o in a managerial or executive capacity (L-1A) or

        o which entail specialized knowledge (L-1B)

for a branch, subsidiary or affiliate of the same employer that employed the professional abroad.

The employee must have been employed abroad for the non-US corporation, firm, or other legal entity (or an affiliate or subsidiary thereof) on a full-time basis for at least one continuous year out of the last three-year period to qualify.

Dependents of L visas
Dependents (i.e. spouses and unmarried children under 21 years of age) of L-1 workers are entitled to L-2 status with the same restrictions as the principal. Dependents may be students in the U.S. while remaining in L-2 status, and dependents may be employed under the L-2 classification.

Required documents 
Submit the L1A questionnaire at admin@aipglaw.com

The Immigration and Nationality Act provides several categories of nonimmigrant visas for a person who wishes to work temporarily in the United States. If you want to work in the U.S. temporarily, under immigration law, you need a specific visa based on the purpose of your travel and type of work you will be doing.
To learn more, please see Temporary Workers and Employers-Hiring a Foreign National for Short-Term Employment and Employer Information on the USCIS website.

• H-1B classification applies to persons in a specialty occupation which requires the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge requiring completion of a specific course of higher education. This classification requires a labor attestation issued by the Secretary of Labor This classification also applies to Government-to-Government research and development, or co-production projects administered by the Department of Defense (100).

• H-1C classification applies to foreign nurses coming to perform nursing services in medically underserved areas for a temporary period up to three years. The Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999 (NRDAA) has been reauthorized for an additional three years, and will expire on December 20, 2009.

• H-2A classification applies to temporary or seasonal agricultural workers.

• H-2B classification applies to temporary or seasonal nonagricultural workers.

•  H-3 classification applies to trainees other than medical or academic. This classification also applies to practical training in the education of handicapped children.

• O-1 classification applies to persons who have extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or extraordinary achievements in the motion picture and television field.

• O-2 classification applies to persons accompanying an O-1 alien to assist in an artistic or athletic performance for a specific event or performance.

• P-1 classification applies to individual or team athletes, or members of an entertainment group that are internationally recognized.

• P-2 classification applies to artists or entertainers who will perform under a reciprocal exchange program.

• P-3 classification applies to artists or entertainers who perform under a program that is culturally unique (same as P-1).

• Q-1 classification applies to participants in an international cultural exchange program for the purpose of providing practical training, employment, and the sharing of the history, culture, and traditions of the alien's home country.

• F-1

Generally an F1 visa holder is not allowed to work except in one of these categories.
Working and the F-1 Visa
1. On Campus Employment
An F-1 student may work up to 20 hours per week while school is in full session and full time during vacations.
2. Curricular Practical Training
These are co-op training programs and internships. You must be participating in a work study program that is part of a regular course of study or is a degree requirement. You must receive permission from your foreign student advisor to engage in curricular practical training.
3. Pre-Completion Practical Training
An F-1 student may work off-campus in a field related to his studies for no more than 20 hours per week while school is in session. He may also work full time during vacations as long as he intends to register for the following term. The time spent in Pre-Completion Practical Training will be deducted from the 12 months of full time employment available for Post-Completion Practical Training. For example, if you work 20 hours per week for 4 months, you will have 2 months deducted from the 12 months allowed for Post Completion Practical Training. Your foreign student advisor must certify, by completing form I-538, that the employment is directly related to your major area of study.
4. Employment Authorization Based on Severe Economic Hardship
If unforeseen circumstances lead to a change in your financial situation, you may obtain permission to work off campus. You my work for up to 20 hours per week while school is in session, and full time during vacation periods. Examples of unforeseen circumstances include: Loss of your financial aid or on-campus employment through no fault of your own, an unexpected increase in your cost of living or tuition, large medical expenses, a decrease in the value of your home country currency, or an economic loss suffered by you sponsor. You must have completed one academic year in F-1 status to qualify.
5. Post-Completion Practical Training
As an F-1 student, you are eligible for up to 12 months of Post –Completion Practical Training. If you have already received 12 months or more of full time curricular practical training, you are ineligible for Post-Completion Practical Training. Time spent in Pre-Completion Practical training also is deducted from the 12 month maximum. You must complete the 12 months of Post-Completion Practical Training within a 14 month period following the completion of your studies. You will be authorized only once for Post-Completion Practical Training.