Foreigner wants to invest in small US business - help needed

[AccocarlRal]

I'm a housewife living on the East Coast, who is here under a dependent visa. A potential investment opportunity opened up and I'm thinking of investing in it. It's a profitable small business but needs capital infusion to get itself back on track. I was wondering if there are any rules or regulations governing such an investment? The amount I'm considering is less than US$10K. But before I can extend my assistance, I need to know more since I don't want to get myself or the business into trouble.

Can anyone help me with this?

Thanks.

[jason t]

It depends on what country you are from. Nationals of some countries where there is an existing bilateral treaty are given preferential treatment. The threshold of investment for nationals of those countries is significantly lower than for nationals of other countries. There is no set amount for treaty country national but it must be substantial in relation to the business. I am not an attorney but your dependent visa may give you some rights too. An immigration attorney would be able to answer your questions. You may also find this link helpful:
http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1273.html

You're probably a permanent resident for income tax purposes, right? (This isn't the same thing as saying you have a work visa... For tax law, the permanent residency test has to do with days in the US...)

If that's the case, you're taxed like a US citizen... and in that case, you should be able to invest in a US company like any citizen.

The one place where this will get tricky for the business is if you lose your permanent residency status (again, not real permanent residency but PR status for tax purposes)... in that case, you can still invest... but the business will need to report payments to you and act as a withholding agent.

The business needs to confirm with an accountant who has a bit of international tax experience or a decent tax liability (er, not a QuickFinder)...

I have a website with a 10-step checklist. There are many other issues you need to be concerned with and you should make sure you have help from accountants and attorneys in the US. Don't assume the laws of each country are the same.

You definitely should check with your visa regulations and restrictions as you will not want to trigger any issues with the US government and your home country. I will follow up with US Immigration Office.

Victoria