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Immigration

Information for the Foreign Investor...Who should be listed as the buyer on the sales contract?. Non-resident aliens are subject to different U.S. estate and gift tax rules than those applied to U.S. citizens. Call us for the names of advisors.

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What if you want to stay forever? There are various visas available for people who want to live in the United States;

E2 Visa This is the investment visa. The immigrant starts a business or buys an existing business in the U.S. The amount that must be invested has now been increased to $1 million, but if the business is started in an undeveloped area such as certain areas of Central Florida, the amount is halved to $500,000. This visa does not lead to permanent residence.

L1 Visa This visa is for those who already have a business outside of the U.S. The immigrant can be transferred to that business as an intra transfer. This option can lead to permanent residence status (a green card)

H Visa This visa is for those with special skills not possessed by citizens of the U.S. It is renewable for three years.

Visa Lottery This visa is available for immigrants with a high school degree. The age of the person is immaterial.

Extending stay in U.S. requires a B1 or B2 Visa

It’s not difficult to extend the time you can stay in the U.S. as a visitor, according to immigration & tax lawyer Stanley Rose. Recent changes to immigration law made 90 days the default time allowed visitors. Rose, a Southwest Florida tax lawyer says that visitors from visa waiver countries such as Great Britain and Ireland, can go to the U.S. Embassy and obtain a B2 visa that will allow the immigration officer to extend that amount of time to 180 days. For further information on this subject, please visit Rose's website, or email him at SRose@RoseTaxLaw.com

There are many other types of visa available, according to Ricardo Skerrett, Attorney-at-Law, Immigration Practitioner. You will find an extensive list of these visas on Attorney Ricardo Skerrett's website , a bi-lingual source of information and articles about immigration and citizenship. 

 

Average island prices drop but sales pick up pointing to good season

The average price of property sold on Sanibel between January 1st and September 30th has dropped 19% so far this year making a 25 percent decrease on average prices of sold property on Sanibel over two years.

The most expensive properties showed the biggest drop with a 27 percent drop in beachfront property prices and a 23 percent drop in bay front property. The only property type that gained was inland property which increased 13 percent in the first three quarters of this year.

Captiva fared no better with property prices overall dropping 30 percent over the year and 26 percent over two years. All categories dropped with near beach properties dropping as much as 55 percent.

Take a longer view and the picture is better. Captiva does better than Sanibel. Over five years, the average price of Captiva property has gained 57 percent. (But bear in mind that Captiva was still recovering from Hurricane Charlie five years ago and prices were depressed.) Average prices on Sanibel dropped just  9 percent over five years.

 

Take a still longer view and all categories fared, if not brilliantly, at least adequately.  Sanibel prices have increased 50 percent in the last ten years  and Captiva prices have gone up 42 percent with Captiva beachfront and Captiva near beach homes starring with 86 percent and 94 percent increases respectively. For a spreadsheet of island prices over ten years and more, e-mail Wendy at Wendy@SanibelProperty.com

And now for even better news……  Following a dismal start, a lackluster spring and a mediocre summer, sales have already started picking up for the fall with 17 homes and 14 condos either pending or contingent. This is highly unusual: October is generally our slowest month.