Some answers are easy to come by, others remain elusive. But the story that has emerged is a tale of what can happen when the challenges of running a business collide with the complicated rules of immigration visas. Even as Bon Savor’s old space is being prepped to open as the Grass Fed Burger Bar, www.bonsavor.com continues to live on the Internet without a hint of the restaurant’s demise.
Bon Savor’s slow death began in September 2009, when Zabala, Konovalov, and their baby son flew to Bogota to see her family. Those who know the couple say they had reviewed their paperwork to make sure everything was current, and they had every intention of returning. But when they attempted to fly back two weeks later, Zabala and Konovalov learned from the US Embassy in Bogota that their visas had been revoked because they had failed to maintain the requirements of the documents.
The US Department of State declined to comment about Zabala and Konovalov’s case. But an aide for US Representative Michael Capuano, whose office was contacted by Jamaica Plain activists on the couple’s behalf, confirmed that Zabala had an “E2 Investor’’ visa, or what some people casually call a “job creator’’ visa. Konovalov had an accompanying spousal visa (he is from Russia, and attended Harvard Business School), and their son, born in Boston, is a US citizen. Under the requirements of an E2 Investor visa, recipients are required to make a “substantial’’ business investment that they will control or operate and grow while living in the United States.
According to Margaret Holland Sparages, the Boston immigration lawyer who represented Zabala and Konovalov, Zabala’s E2 visa had just been renewed for a second five-year term when the couple flew to Colombia to have their son baptized and visit with her family.
