E-2 Visa Background

This category of visa is useful to individuals seeking to live in the US but who are not able to obtain sponsorship from a close family relative or an employer.

It is similarly useful for companies of all sizes who need to transfer employees to work in the US.

As the name suggests, the E-2 Treaty Investor visa was designed to encourage investment into the USA.   E-2 visas can be obtained for the owners of businesses in the US as well by certain employees of that business.

Below is a brief guide to the requirements of the E-2 Treaty Investor visa.

Introduction

In order to take advantage of the category, applicants must satisfy a number of tests.

These tests relate both to the applicant themselves and to the business in which they wish to invest or have invested in.  

In brief, the requirements can be described as follows:

Nationality

The applicant must be a citizen of a treaty country.  In addition, the US business in which the applicant is investing must be controlled by or owned by nationals of a treaty country.

Investment must be Substantial

The investment into the US business must be substantial.  Although the US authorities have accepted investments of $100,000 as being substantial it is likely that the vast majority of applications with investments this low would be denied.  Most successful applications involve investments of more than $150,000 although the actual level of investment required will vary dramatically with the type of business envisaged.  To be able to confidently identify businesses that clearly meet the criteria of the E-2 visa most applicants begin their search with a budget of at least $200,000.

Investment must be Active

The investment must be made into an active business.  It is not sufficient, for example, to invest funds into a property with a view to obtaining capital growth from that investment.

On the other hand, it may be sufficient to invest funds to establish a property development business or to manage a number of tenanted properties.

Investment must not be Marginal

This requirement has been used to ensure that applicants can not use the category simply to invest in a business that can only support the applicant and their family in the US.  The US business must usually either employ US citizens or the applicant must be able to show that the business will be able to employ US citizens within a maximum period of 5 years.  

Permanent Residence

The E-2 visa is defined as a non-immigrant visa and, as such, does not in itself lead to permanent residence status in the US (commonly referred to as a Green Card).  There is no limit, however, to the number of extensions that may be obtained to an applicant's E-2 visa.  E-2 visa holders can, therefore, effectively remain in the US indefinitely provided they continue to satisfy the criteria of the E-2 visa.

It is possible for E-2 visa holders to obtain a Green Card by alternative means and we should be happy to discuss the various routes that may be available.

Further Information
Should you wish to discuss any aspect of the E-2 Treaty Investor visa please do not hesitate to contact us.