Non-immigrant Visas for Traders and Investors

E-1/E-2 Treaty Trader and Investor Visas

Investors and traders and their employees may receive visas to carry on substantial trade between the United States and the treaty country, or to develop and direct the operations of an enterprise in which the foreign national has invested, or is in the process of investing a substantial amount of capital. See a list of eligible countries

E Visas are generally issued for a period of two to five years depending on the volume of trade or the size of the investment. The E Visa status is renewable as long as the principal continues maintaining their status with the qualifying organization.

Derivative E Visas are available for Spouses and unmarried children under 21 years of age in order to accompany the principal alien. Spouses may obtain employment authorization from after admission to the United States. Dependent children are not authorized to work in the United States but may but may study in the U.S. without a student (F-1) visa.

See a list of eligible countries here.

E-1 Trader

The applicant must be a national of a treaty country and the trading firm for which the applicant is coming to the U. S. must have the nationality of the treaty country. The international trade must be "substantial" in the sense that there is a sizable and continuing volume of trade.

The trade must be principally between the U.S. and the treaty country, which is defined to mean that more than 50 percent of the international trade involved must be between the U.S. and the country of the applicant's nationality.

The applicant must be employed in a supervisory or executive capacity, or possess highly specialized skills essential to the efficient operation of the firm. Ordinary skilled or unskilled workers do not qualify.

E-2 Investor

An E-2 Visa is for a non-U.S. citizen who will own and/or work at a company in the U.S. which is majority owned by nationals of the non-U.S. citizen’s country. The person can work as an owner/operator or as a high level manager or person with special knowledge.

Applicants for a E2 Visa can either purchase an existing business or start their own business. In order to file, the applicant must show that the company has invested or will invest a substantial amount of money in the company. The exact amount of the investment is not stated in the law, but the law does require that a substantial amount of money be invested compared to the overall value of the company. Also, the company must employ other U.S. workers; the company cannot employ just the foreign national owner. If the company hires independent contractors, the government can take this into account when deciding whether to issue the E visa.

The applicant must take the steps to start your business before starting the immigration paper work. If the applicant purchases an existing business, we will need copies of all the purchase documents.

EB-5 Visas for Immigrant Investors

The EB-5 Visas for Immigrant Investors is a United States Visa created by the Immigration Act of 1990. This visa provides a method of obtaining a green card for foreign nationals who invest money in the United States. To obtain the visa, individuals must invest at least $1,000,000 USD, creating at least 10 jobs. By investing in certain regional centers with high unemployment rates, the required investment amount is only $500,000.

To qualify the foreign entrepreneur must invest in a "new commercial enterprise" which can be a startup business; a business that is purchased and restructured; or a troubled business in which the entrepreneur substantially changes/expands the net worth or number of employees of the business. Commercial enterprise means any for-profit activity formed for the ongoing conduct of lawful business including, but not limited to, a sole proprietorship, partnership, holding company, joint venture, corporation, business trust, or other entity that may be publicly or privately owned.

The investor must be actively involved in the management of the business. After two years, the investor must demonstrate that he/she has satisfied the aforementioned conditions in order to maintain lawful permanent residence in the United States.