Originally Posted by
Ash Ketchum
My EB-2 NIW RFE response just got rejected and I am looking for other options to get to the US as a pilot. Anyone have experience with the E-2 visa route? Apparently if your spouse buys a US business (needs about 100K investment) then you get a non-immigrant US work visa based on that which can be used to secure a US pilot job. Issue with the E-2 is that it doesn't directly lead to a green card and most US airlines require either a green card or citizenship for employment.
That’s definitely a possibility, but there is one anomaly if you are British:
Most E2 treaties refer to
citizens of the other country, meaning that any spouse could run the business, allowing the potential for the pilot to obtain unrestricted work authorisation. Due to the age of the US British treaty (1830s?), it refers to ‘
residents’. So if you and (British) spouse have been living overseas recently (not resident in UK), they are not eligible to apply for an E2 to support your flying aspirations.
Also note that E2 is non dual-intent.
Sorry don’t have a reference to hand, but each country has a separate treaty which should be easily searchable.
Good luck.