Abraham Benhayoun Immigration Law Offices

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Abraham Benhayoun Immigration Law Offices

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Law Offices of Abraham Benhayoun, P.A.

is a Miami-based immigration law firm that provides quality legal representation to foreign investors and intending immigrants.

10/15/2026

As Hispanic Heritage Month comes to an end, this one is personal for me.

A lot of the people I work with are building a life between countries.

They have family somewhere else.

Businesses somewhere else.

History somewhere else.

And they are trying to figure out how the United States fits into everything they have already built.

I understand that part.

Immigration is paperwork and legal rules, obviously.

But there is a real life sitting behind all of it.

10/13/2026

There is no one “work visa.”

That is where a lot of people start off wrong.

H-1B, O-1, TN, L-1, R-1, and P-1 all exist for different reasons.

The job matters.

The worker’s background matters.

The employer matters.

Sometimes the corporate relationship matters too.

A very accomplished person may have a strong O-1 case and a weak H-1B case.

An executive working for an international company may fit an L-1 much better.

You start with the actual person and the actual job.

Then you look at which visa fits.

10/09/2026

People put a lot of attention on the visa interview.

I understand why.

But by the time you sit down in front of the consular officer, a lot has already happened.

The government has your application.

It may have prior visa records.

It may have petition information, travel history, employment history, and other immigration records.

So the preparation is not about memorizing perfect answers the night before.

It starts much earlier.

Your application, documents, prior filings, and what you say at the interview should all tell the same story.

10/05/2026

A family decides to move to the U.S. a little earlier so the kids can start school on time.

Sounds simple.

But for families with foreign businesses, investments, real estate, or other assets, those extra weeks in the U.S. can matter for tax purposes.

U.S. tax residency does not always begin when someone thinks they officially “moved.”

Travel history matters.

The green card date can matter.

Even the first entry after getting an immigrant visa can matter.

This is why I tell international families with significant assets to look at the immigration calendar and the tax calendar together before fixing the move date.

10/01/2026

International Coffee Day.

This one I can get behind.

Immigration law changes fast, clients have questions, deadlines do not care what time it is, and sometimes coffee is part of the job.

Nothing deep here.

Just appreciation for the thing helping a lot of us get through the morning.

09/28/2026

An investor owns property outside the U.S. that has appreciated significantly over the years.

They are planning to move to the U.S. on an E-2 visa, and someone mentions estate tax in passing. They look it up. U.S. estate tax applies to worldwide assets once you are a U.S. tax resident, and the exemption for non-resident aliens is only $60,000.

That property, those investments, the family business, all of it becomes part of the U.S. estate tax calculation the day they cross the substantial presence threshold.

If they transfer or restructure those assets before becoming a U.S. tax resident, the move is tax-neutral. If they do it after, it triggers capital gains.

The planning window is short, and it closes the moment the substantial presence test says you are a U.S. tax resident, regardless of whether your visa is approved yet.

Immigration strategy and tax strategy are not separate conversations. They happen on the same timeline.

09/22/2026

An investor calls and says they want to put $100,000 into an E-2 business.

First question back: what business?

Because $100,000 might be substantial for a consulting firm with no inventory and low overhead. It is probably not substantial for a restaurant that needs build-out, commercial kitchen equipment, permits, licenses, and six months of operating capital before it opens.

USCIS does not publish a safe number. They look at the proportionality between your investment and the total cost of running the business successfully. If you funded 80% of what the business actually needs, that is substantial. If you funded 30% and the plan does not explain how the rest gets covered, the petition gets questioned.

The investment has to match the business model, not the other way around.

09/17/2026

IT Professionals Day falls during a stretch when a lot of tech workers are not celebrating.

Layoffs keep coming. H-1B holders get the news, and suddenly the professional problem becomes an immigration problem. The grace period clock starts on the last day of employment, not the day you start looking for a new job.

60 calendar days. Weekends count. Holidays count. Day 61 is unlawful presence.

You can interview. You can network. You cannot work, no freelancing, no contract gigs, no side projects. The H-1B portability rule lets you start with a new employer as soon as they file the transfer petition, but only if that petition does not get denied later.

The timeline is unforgiving, and the job market is not built for urgency.

For IT professionals on H-1B, the system does not pause when the pressure is highest.

09/15/2026

Hispanic Heritage Month starts this week, and for Venezuelan families navigating U.S. immigration, heritage is not just history. It is logistics.

The U.S. embassy in Caracas reopened in March 2026, but visa services are still unavailable. Applicants still fly to Bogotá, Guayaquil, Ciudad Juárez, Georgetown, or Santo Domingo for consular interviews. The National Visa Center assigns the location. You do not get to choose based on where you have family or where travel is cheapest.

Third-country processing means extra visa applications, extra travel costs, time away from work, and uncertainty about timelines that were already unpredictable.

For Venezuelan business owners, professionals, and families, consular processing is never the simple path. It is the only path, and it adds layers that applicants from other countries do not face.

That context matters when the calendar celebrates heritage and the embassy still cannot process the visa.

09/13/2026

The question comes up in every E-2 consultation: how much do I actually need to invest?

And the answer never changes: there is no minimum.

That does not mean you can pick any number. USCIS tests whether the investment is substantial relative to what the business actually costs to run. A consulting firm with low overhead might clear the bar with a smaller investment. A restaurant with build-out, equipment, inventory, and staffing needs significantly more.

The number has to match the reality of the operation. If the business plan says you need $200,000 to launch successfully and you only invested $80,000, the petition gets flagged as undercapitalized.

Substantiality is not about guessing a safe dollar amount. It is about proving the investment is enough for the business to work.

Address

2750 NE 185th Street. Suite 304
Aventura, FL
33180

Telephone

+17866368250

Website

http://abrahambenhayoun.com/

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