If you are an investor from a treaty country, you can successfully get an E-2 visa. A treaty country is one that has a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation with the United States.

As a foreign investor, you must invest a substantial amount of funds in the business you want to start or run in the United States. You also have to run it personally. The visa also applies to managerial staff and skilled employees of the business.

If the business you want to start is an existing one in a foreign country, it must be traceable to the same treaty country you come from.

What is the definition of an investment?

There will be an investment when you place capital, funds or other assets, in the running or establishment of the business you want to start in the United States. The investments have to be commercially at risk. This means that there is the possibility of you losing your investment if the business fails.

How much do you have to invest?

In order to qualify for an E-2 visa, your investment has to be substantial. There is no specific figure you can use to determine a substantial investment. However, the USCIS uses a proportionality rule to determine how substantial an investment is. The rule is that the lower the overall cost of the enterprise, the higher the investment has to be in order to be considered proportional.

The value of your investment also needs to be relevant to the type of business you want to run. This means that if you want to establish a capital intensive business – like manufacturing – you need to invest a large sum.

Also, in addition to cash, you can invest other types of property like machines, or an intangible property like a patent.

Clean Funding Source

The funds you want to invest have to be lawful and easily traceable. This means they must not have come directly or indirectly from a criminal source.

The types of business you can establish

The types of investment that will qualify has to be a profit-making business. This means that non-profits will not qualify. The business also has to be an active one that requires your management. Essentially, passive investments like real estate and stocks will not qualify.

The Countries the US has a Treaty with

The following are the countries the U.S has a treaty with:

Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa), Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Grenada, Honduras, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovak Rep., Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom

If you are from any of these countries, then you qualify as a treaty investor and can apply for an E-2 visa.

As a treaty investor, you need the guidance of experienced immigration attorneys to help you process your E-2 visa application. The paperwork can be overwhelming, and there are a lot of costly mistakes you could make.

You can get in touch with experienced immigration attorneys at Jurado & Associates. P.A. You can reach us on (305) 921-0976 or send a mail to Romy@juradolawfirm.com.