Last Updated on April 26, 2024 by Anda Malescu
We are experienced business immigration lawyers in Miami, Florida. Contact us, your business immigration lawyer in Miami to schedule an appointment and find out more about the E-2 Investor Visa USA and other business immigration options for you.
The Investor Visa USA E2, also known as the E-2 Treaty Investor Visa USA or E-2 Investor Visa or simply Investor Visa, is a type of non-immigrant business immigration visa that allows a foreign investor together with his or her family to live and work in the United States through business activities.
This E2 investor visa is specifically designed for foreign investors and entrepreneurs who want to do business in the USA and meet all the key requirements for the E2 Investor Visa.
The E2 visa allows the investor or entrepreneur and his or her family to travel outside the United States and re-enter multiple times. In addition, the E2 visa USA can be renewed indefinitely as long as the E2 visa requirements are met and the business is successful.
E2 Visa USA spouse and children
Regarding the family of the E2 visa holder, the spouse and children can come and live in the United States. In addition, the spouse can work and the right to work is unrestricted meaning that he or she can work full-time or part-time in the United States, be self-employed or even work for the E2 business or a combination of these. However, the right to work is not granted automatically on approval of the E2 visa. In fact, after the E2 visa USA is approved, the spouse must first come to the United States and apply for a work permit with the USCIS. The work permit is called an Employment Authorization Card and it takes approximately 3 months to process depending on the time of the year. From the time of entering into the United States and until the spouse receives the Employment Authorization Card, he or she is not allowed to engage in employment in the United States. For example, David is a national of Israel and applies for an E2 visa at the U.S. Consulate in Tel Aviv for his business, a bakery in Miami, Florida. His E2 visa is approved and his wife, Yael, also receives her E2 visa. However, while Yael has the E2 visa in her passport she is not yet allowed to work in the United States. Yael must first come to the United States and while in the country apply for an Employment Authorization Card; only after obtaining the work permit she is allowed to work.
The children of E2 visa holders however, are not permitted to work in the United States, but they can attend public or private schools, universities or colleges in the United States.
If you are interested in the E2 Investor Visa for the USA, it is important to understand the basic E2 visa requirements. In order to qualify for an E-2 Investor Visa in the United States, you must meet the following key requirements:
The investor must be a national of a Treaty Country.
You must be an investor or entrepreneur who is a citizen of any of the Treaty Countries including 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, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Grenada, Honduras, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine and United Kingdom.
As of April 23, 2024, Portugal is an E2 Treaty Country and Portuguese citizens can apply for E2 visas and E1 visas for the United States. United States took important steps towards making Portuguese nationals eligible for E2 Investor Visa. Moreover, Israel and New Zealand became E2 Treaty Countries during 2019 and nationals of Israel and New Zealand can now apply for an E2 Investor Visa.
One important point to highlight is that in order to qualify for the E2 Investor Visa, you must be a citizen of one of the countries listed above. You cannot be a permanent resident of these countries and qualify for an E2 Investor Visa; specifically, in order to qualify for an E2 Visa your current passport must be from one of the Treaty Countries above. The most important aspect of this requirement is your citizenship. If you are a citizen of one of the E2 Treaty Countries, you can qualify for an E2 Investor Visa in the USA regardless of whether or not you currently reside in your country of citizenship.
For example, if you are a citizen of Bulgaria and you are married to a Colombian citizen and you reside in Colombia and you have been living there for over 5 years, you still qualify for an E2 Investor Visa because you are a citizen of Bulgaria. In this case your spouse is also from an E2 Treaty Country but you can still apply for an E2 Visa even if your spouse would be from Portugal (not an E2 Treaty Country) instead of Colombia because as a citizen of Bulgaria you are a national of a Treaty Country. In other words, as long as you remain a citizen of one of the E2 Treaty Countries you can apply for an E2 Investor Visa for USA.
The investor must invest in a bona fide enterprise.
To qualify for an E2 Investor Visa you must invest in a bona fide enterprise in the United States. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) defines a bona fide enterprise as a “real, active commercial or entrepreneurial undertaking which produces goods or services for profit.”
Simply put, you must invest in a business by starting a new business or purchasing a pre-existing business in the United States. One option is to form a new company in the USA and invest in a start-up or purchase the assets of a pre-existing business. A second option is to purchase an entire business entity as a going concern. Whichever way you decide to go about it, the bottom line is that you must invest in a business with the objective of generating profit and provide evidence to show the ownership structure of the US company, the organizational chart of the company and the business formation documents. Some evidence you can provide include tax returns, payroll, business licenses, business organizational chart and others.
The investment must be made in a US business which is real in the sense that provides a tangible good or service. Examples of businesses that qualify for an E2 Investor Visa in the USA include restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops, advertising and marketing agencies, cleaning services, retail stores, yoga and dance studios, property management companies, language schools and kindergartens, and others. These are only some examples of businesses that can qualify for an E2 Investor Visa, but in general any business can qualify as long as it is not a passive or speculative and used only to hold investments without offering a direct line of services or products through which to generate profit.
For example, if you own intellectual property such as trademarks and patents in the European Union, China and the United States and you start a company in the US to hold all your intellectual property, your company would likely not qualify for an Investor Visa in the USA because the investment is idle. Similarly, holding funds in a business bank account or stocks and bonds or other securities would not qualify for an E2 Investor Visa because the investment is speculative and passive. On the other hand, real estate investments are not immediately disqualified from an E2 Visa, but their success depends a lot on how the business is structure to ensure a thriving business model. With the expertise of the right business immigration lawyer, real estate investment companies can be successful and highly profitable for an E2 Investor.
The investor must invest a substantial amount of capital in the U.S. enterprise.
Aside from being a citizen of a Treaty Country and investing in a new or pre-existing business in the US, you must also invest a certain amount of capital in the US company. The investment amount must be substantial in the sense that the invested capital must be sufficient to ensure the successful operation of the business. There is no minimum investment required but the amount invested in the business should be enough to give a real chance to the business and help the business take off.
There is often a misconception that in order to apply for an E2 Investor Visa in the USA, you must invest a minimum of $100,000 or otherwise the Investor Visa is denied. This is not true. The rule of thumb is that $100,000 is sufficient to ensure that a business takes off successfully but by no means is this a requirement. And not only is this not a requirement but in some cases $100,000 can be viewed as far too little capital. For example, if you want to start a Michelin Star restaurant in Miami, Florida in the heart of Miami’s financial district on Brickell Avenue and you have $100,000 to invest, your E2 Investor Visa would likely be denied because such a business requires far more investment to ensure its success.
Our experienced business immigration lawyers in Miami, Florida have secured E2 Investor Visa approvals for 5 years (the maximum period allowed) with investment of less than $100,000 in various cases and for different businesses.
The investor must have control of the funds and the funds must be placed at risk.
Another E2 Visa requirement is that you must have control over the funds invested. This means that the capital invested must be yours regardless of how you acquired the funds and as long as the funds do not come from an illegal source. The source of your investment funds may be from gifts, inheritance, sale of personal or real property, salary and other earnings, dividends, sale of business, certain loans, and others.
In addition, you must place the investment at risk in the sense that you must have already spent a substantial portion of the money towards the startup or purchase of a pre-existing US business before applying for the E2 Investor Visa. In other words, you must be in a position where you will lose your investment if your E2 Visa is not approved. If you are able to walk away from the investment without losing anything, you do not qualify for the E2 Investor Visa in USA.
The investment may not be marginal.
For your investment not to be marginal, your business in the US must have enough return on investment to make a significant economic contribution. The E2 business must generate significantly more income than just providing a living for you and your family and it must have a significant impact on the US economy. A positive impact on the US economy means that your business is capable of employing a certain number of US workers. This E2 visa requirement is usually met by providing a comprehensive business plan in line with USCIS requirements and prepared by a professional specializing in business plans for E2 Visa.
The investor must be coming to the U.S. to develop and direct the enterprise.
In addition, you must be coming to the US to develop and direct the enterprise. You must own over 50% of the U.S. business, be in a role that allows you to manage and direct the business and develop the business strategy or possess operational control through a managerial position or other corporate devices. If you are not the investor applying for the E2 Visa, you must be employed in a supervisory, executive or highly specialized skill position. Ordinary skilled and unskilled employees do not qualify for an E2 Investor Visa in the USA.
In order for an employee to qualify for the E2 Investor Visa, he or she must meet certain E2 visa requirements including:
- The employee must be a citizen of the same treaty
country as the E2 investor - The employee must be an “employee” as defined by
the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) pursuant to the U.S. Code; and - The E2 Investor applying for the employee must
prove that the employee is necessary for the business.
The E2 Investor Visa application comes with a bag of requirements and navigating them be challenging. While some of them are clearly stated, the most important requirements lie in a grey area where only business immigration experience prevails to know what is needed. Contact us, your experienced business immigration lawyers in Miami Florida to schedule an appointment and find out more about the Investor Visa USA E2 and other visa options available to you.
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