An E-2 visa is a work visa given to treaty investors or employees of organizations from treaty countries. Treaty countries are countries that have a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation with the United States.
If you want your application for an E-2 visa to be successful, then you need to know of the following requirement.
Treaty countries
The term “treaty countries” is a bit vague. To be specific, if you want to be get an E-2 visa, you have to be from one of the following countries:
Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China (Taiwan), Colombia, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa), Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Grenada, Honduras, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea (South), Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom
Substantial Investment
Another requirement for a successful E-2 visa application is substantial investment. Although there are no official figures, the amount you have invested has to be large in proportion to the overall cost of acquiring or establishing the business. This business must also be a profit making one, meaning that investment in non-profits won’t qualify.
The investment must not be a marginal one. A marginal investment/business is one that brings returns that can only take care of the investor’s family needs. You also need to employ some U.S workers in your business.
Note that your investment has to be an active one. This means you need to be on the ground to manage its operations. Essentially, passive investments like stock purchases won’t qualify as substantial investment.
E-2 Visas for Employees
A company can apply for an E-2 visa for some of its employees. But for this to be successful, the employee has to either be in a managerial role or is highly skilled. The employee also has to be from the same treaty country as the company or the treaty investor.
Entitlements from E-2 visas
As the owner of an E-2 visa, you can live and work in the United States for a limited period of time. The period of the visa’s validity ranges from 2 to 5 years. However, you can renew it indefinitely. You and your employees have to work in the capacity on which you were granted the visa.
If there is any change in the character of the organization and it becomes different from the purpose on which the visa was granted, it has to be approved by the USCIS.
The application process for an E-2 visa is one that involves a lot of documentation and other complexities. You shouldn’t undertake an application without the guidance of a skilled immigration attorney.
You can contact the North Miami lawyers of Jurado & Associates P.A. to guide you through the process of E-2 visa application. Talk to one of our experienced immigration lawyers at (305) 921-0976, or send an email to [email protected]
