The Famous E-2 Investor Visa

An investor, executive and/or the essential employee will benefit tremendously from the E-2 investor visa. The E-2 investor Visa is a non-immigrant visa that is used by businesses or individuals coming into the United States to start a new business, purchase a business, or open a US subsidiary of their foreign business. In order to qualify for an E-2 investor Visa, you only need to invest an amount of capital that is customary for the type of business you are investing in.  There are ABSOLUTELY NO minimum investment requirements.  However, your investment needs to make sense relative to the business you are proposing to open in the United States.  Some of the other requirements that you must meet in order to obtain an E Visa are:

1. The business must be “active”, not passive;
2. It must be a business that will generate enough income for not only you (the investor) and your family, but for other employees and their families;
3. The business must grow over time;
4. The investment in the E Visa enterprise cannot consist of your whole life savings with nothing left to spare;
5. The business plan needs to make sense; and
6. The majority of ownership needs to be held by the treaty investor (individual or company)

The important piece of this visa, that is priceless to medium and large companies, is the ease of moving executives and essential employees, with the same nationality of the company, in and out of the United States.  Once the company has been granted E visa status, it can then apply (simply and easily) for visas for foreign employees without large applications or wait times.   This is a great alternative to the L – Intracompany Transfer Visa that is commonly used by companies to move employees back and forth between two countries.

The E Trade Visa –

There is another E visa that many people do not discuss which is the same as the E investor visa, but is granted based on Trade with the US.  So long as your foreign company is able to prove that over 50% of the total volume of international trade or sales is between the U.S. and their company, then the E Trade Visa is a spectacular option.  Don’t be fooled by the name of the visa (“Trade”).  The amount of international trade can be measured in not only tangible products, but services also.  It is even easier to obtain than the E visa for investors talked about above!

Remember that only Treaty countries can benefit from the E Investment or Trade Visa.  A list of these countries can be found on the Department of State Website.