Bilingual EN/RU immigration lawyer for Tarpon Springs, FL. E-1 treaty trader visas for Greek nationals, family green cards, citizenship. (305) 315-3425.
Tarpon Springs, on the Gulf coast of northern Pinellas County, is home to the largest Greek-American community in the United States, famous for its sponge docks, family-run businesses, and seafaring heritage. At Fitenko Law PLLC, Attorney Ekaterina Fitenko, Esq. brings bilingual (English & Russian) immigration counsel to Tarpon Springs, as part of our Tampa Bay and statewide Florida practice.
Wherever you are in Tarpon Springs (ZIP codes 34688 and 34689) or Pinellas County, we can represent you.
Nationality decides which treaty visa is open to you, and for a Greek citizen the answer is E-1, not E-2. The Department of State's reciprocity schedule for Greece prints No Treaty against E-2 and gives E-1 a 60-month multiple-entry visa with no issuance fee; the treaty behind it has been in force since 13 October 1954. The distinction decides cases here, because E-1 is a trade visa and Tarpon Springs is a trading town. Alongside it sit family-based green cards and naturalization, which is what most of the community actually needs.
E-1 asks what you move between the two countries, not what you put into a business. Two tests decide it. Substantial trade means a continuous flow of items between the United States and Greece — numerous transactions over time, and USCIS sets no minimum dollar amount. Principal trade means more than 50% of your international trade volume runs between the two countries, under 8 CFR 214.2(e)(11).
Sponge importing is the textbook fit: goods bought in Greece and sold here are trade in the plain sense of the word. A Tarpon Springs restaurant that buys everything from local suppliers is not, however Greek its menu — there is no international trade to count. That is the line we check before anything else, because it decides whether a case exists at all.
Initial stay is two years; extensions run in increments of up to two years with no limit on how many, and you must keep an intention to depart when the status ends. Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 come as E-1 dependents — their nationalities need not match yours — and are granted the same period of stay; a spouse in E-1 status is employment authorized incident to that status.
If your plan is to buy a business rather than to trade, E-1 will not carry it, and the honest answer is a second nationality: most EU member states are on the treaty table with E-2 rights. Check any country against that table before paying anyone for a passport — see our E-2 page.
This is the larger half of the work here. A U.S. citizen petitions for a spouse, parent or unmarried child under 21 on Form I-130 with no annual quota, and for adult children and siblings in the preference categories, where the wait is measured by the Visa Bulletin. A fiancé(e) still in Greece comes on Form I-129F. We handle marriage green cards, relative petitions and naturalization on Form N-400, and documents issued in Greece need a certified translation under 8 CFR 103.2(b)(3).
Tarpon Springs sits within the jurisdiction of the Tampa Field Office, covering Pinellas County. We establish the correct office early and prepare accordingly. Because immigration is federal, we represent you from anywhere in Florida by secure video and e-filing.
Tarpon Springs is anchored by its historic Greek community, alongside other Mediterranean and Latin American families. Russian-speaking clients are served fully in their native language.
No, and the reason is nationality rather than the size of your investment. Greece has no E-2 treaty with the United States: the Department of State's own reciprocity schedule for Greece prints No Treaty against E-2. What a Greek passport does open is E-1, the treaty trader visa, if more than half of your international trade runs between the United States and Greece. If E-2 is what you need, you need nationality of a country on the treaty table — most EU member states are on it, and so are Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia and Moldova, while Russia is not.
Yes. Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can receive E-1 dependent status, and their nationalities do not have to match yours. They are granted the same period of stay as you, and a spouse in E-1 status is employment authorized incident to that status. We file the family together.
Pinellas County cases, including Tarpon Springs, are served by the Tampa USCIS Field Office.
Nearby: Clearwater, Tampa. Across Tampa Bay.
Speak with immigration attorney Ekaterina Fitenko, Esq. about your Tarpon Springs case — consultations in English and Russian.
Schedule Now (305) 315-3425