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-----Original Message-----
From: David Ingram [mailto:taxman@centa.com] Sent: Monday, February 10, 2003 4:15 PM Subject: Albertan getting a US real estate licence.
How is it possible for a
Canadian Realtor with an Alberta Real Estate License to obtain the proper visa
to operate as a Realtor in the United States? I know that it'd be necessary to
have the appropriate Real Estate License to work in that state but other than
that, how difficult would it be for a Canadian citizen to obtain the visa
necessary to work in, let's say, Arizona?
I really appreciate your help
in this matter.
Sincerely,
k
-----------------------------------------
I do not want you to think that this is
tongue in cheek. It is a serious answer although it may appear to be
flippant. For some reason or other it was one of those questions which prompted
a long answer with most, if not all, the possibilities. I will also say
that I have been involved with every possibility in my forty years in this
business. - david ingram
1. Be born in the United
States
2. Be born in another
country with both of your parents US citizens
3. Be born on or after Nov
14, 1986 in another country with one of your parents a US citizen who lived in
the US for at least 5 years with two of those years after they turned 14.
4. Be born between Dec 24, 1952 and Nov
14, 1986 in another country where one of your parents was a US citizen who
lived in the US for ten years with at least five of them after they turned 14
years of age.
5. Be born between Jan 13, 1941 and Dec
24, 1952 in another country where one of your parents was a US citizen who
lived in the US for 10 years with at least five of those years after they
turned 14, AND "you" lived in the US for 5 years between ages 13 and 21 OR
lived in the US for two continuous years between ages 14 and 28.
6. Be born between May 23, 1934 and Jan
13, 1941 in another country where one of your parents was a US citizen who
lived in the US at any time, AND "you" lived in the US for 5 years
between ages 13 and 21 OR lived in the US for two continuous years between ages
14 and 28.
7. Be born prior to May 23, 1934 to a US
citizen parent who had ever lived in the United States.
8. Marry a US citizen and have them
sponsor you.
9. If you are already married, get a
divorce and marry an American and have them sponsor you. (I likely know a dozen
people who did just that - only one then ended up married to his first spouse
seven years later).
10. Invest $1,000,000 US of new money in
a US business which hires 10 full time US residents as employees. All the above
give you an immediate US resident alien (green) card. (E5 visa)
11. Start a Canadian Real Estate Business.
After one year, open a Phoenix office and transfer yourself on an L1 visa.
The advantage is that you can apply for a green card which will take you about
5 to 7 years with present waiting lists. The disadvantage is that you have to
keep the Canadian business open all that time operating in much the way it
operated when you left. After you get your green card, you can close the
Canadian branch.
12. Invest $50,000 to
$200,000 in a US Real Estate business. This allows you to live and work
in the US under the terms of an E2 visa but it does not allow you to apply for
a Resident Alien (green) card as number 10 and 11 do.
13. Be born in Northern
Ireland, Hong Kong, or another long list of countries which are eligible to
enroll in the US lottery, Every year the US issues up to 55,000 green
cards to lucky winners.
The following gives figures for the
1999/2000 win and shows what countries are eligible and what countries are not.
Notice that Canada is excluded although we were in the running the first year
back in 1990. However, if your spouse is born in an eligible country,
they can file and take you with them if they win.
Please note that the deadline for the 2005
lottery is Nov 7, 2003.
Be wary of on line companies purporting to
help you submit your application for a fee. It is my opinion that many if
not most just take the money and do not submit the application. Because
the submission for the lottery can NOT be registered or sent by courier, there
is no method of verifying its submission other than your being there and
putting the envelope in the mail yourself.
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE The National Visa Center at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2001 diversity lottery. The diversity lottery was conducted under the terms of Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available *50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Approximately 90,000 applicants have been registered and notified and may now make an application for an immigrant visa. Since it is likely that some of the first *50,000 persons registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should insure that all DV-2001 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2001 (October 1, 2000 until September 30, 2001). Applicants registered for the DV-2001 program were selected at random from
The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country. During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years. Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications
quickly. Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter
and must fully complete the information requested. Registrants living legally
in the United States who wish to apply for adjustment of their status must
contact the Immigration and Naturalization Service for information on the
requirements and procedures. Once the total *50,000 visa numbers have been
used, the program for fiscal year 2001 will end. Selected applicants who do not
receive visas by September 30, 2001 will derive no further benefit from their
DV-2001 registration. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following
to join DV-2001principal applicants are only entitled to derivative diversity
visa status until September 30, 2001. The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign state chargeability of those registered for the DV-2001 program: AFRICA
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| AFGHANISTAN 309 IRAQ 99 NEPAL 376 BAHRAIN 4 ISRAEL 115 OMAN 3 BANGLADESH 5,003 JAPAN 408 PAKISTAN 4,721 BHUTAN 1 JORDAN 80 QATAR 7 BRUNEI 0 NORTH KOREA 2 SAUDI ARABIA 88 BURMA 734 KUWAIT 47 SINGAPORE 41 CAMBODIA 152 LAOS 8 SRI LANKA 410 HONG KONG SPECIAL LEBANON 78 SYRIA 85 ADMIN. REGION 126 MALAYSIA 70 THAILAND 163 INDONESIA 369 MALDIVES 269 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 40 IRAN 740 MONGOLIA 24 YEMEN 201 |
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ALBANIA 4,255 GERMANY 1,902 NORTHERN IRELAND 42 ANDORRA 0 GREECE 63 NORWAY 14 ARMENIA 989 HUNGARY 120 PORTUGAL 31 AUSTRIA 90 ICELAND 9 ROMANIA 2,370 AZERBAIJAN 300 IRELAND 221 RUSSIA 3,579 BELARUS 861 ITALY 141 SAN MARINO 0 BELGIUM 39 KAZAKHSTAN 876 SERBIA-MONTENEGRO 401 BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA 59 KYRGYZSTAN 184 SLOVAKIA 331 BULGARIA 2,893 LATVIA 175 SLOVENIA 10 CROATIA 62 LIECHTENSTEIN 0 SPAIN 37 CYPRUS 12 LITHUANIA 1,200 SWEDEN 87 CZECH REPUBLIC 137 LUXEMBOURG 2 SWITZERLAND 167 DENMARK 45 MACEDONIA, FORMER TAJIKISTAN 46 ESTONIA 47 YUGOSLAV REP. OF 190 TURKEY 1,011 FINLAND 27 MALTA 4 TURKMENISTAN 48 FRANCE 260 MOLDOVA 269 UKRAINE 5,029 Reunion 1 MONACO 0 UZBEKISTAN 1,026 GEORGIA 287 NETHERLANDS 53 Aruba 1 |
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BAHAMAS, THE 19 |
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AUSTRALIA 333 NAURU 0 SOLOMON ISLANDS 0FIJI 676 NEW ZEALAND 224 TONGA 55KIRIBATI 0 PALAU 0 TUVALU 0 MARSHALL ISLANDS 0 PAPUA NEW GUINEA 3 VANUATU 1 MICRONESIA, FEDERATED SAMOA 8 STATES OF 0 |
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ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 1 DOMINICA 18 PERU 872ARGENTINA 117 ECUADOR 1,167 SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS 1 BARBADOS 4 GRENADA 3 SAINT LUCIA 6 BELIZE 4 GUATEMALA 27 SAINT VINCENT ANDBOLIVIA 17 GUYANA 47 THE GRENADINES 6BRAZIL 397 HONDURAS 47 SURINAME 0CHILE 9 NICARAGUA 21 TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 102 COSTA RICA 24 PANAMA 30 URUGUAY 12 CUBA 743 PARAGUAY 8 VENEZUELA 130 |
Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-99: Canada, China (mainland and Taiwan, except Hong Kong S.A.R.), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, India, Jamaica, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.
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