TREATY TRADERS AND INVESTORS - E VISA
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Designed to foster international economic relations and to encourage foreign investment in the United States, the E Visa allows foreign organizations which are involved in international trade or are making an investment in the United States, to send their representatives to oversee their business’ U.S. activities. The E Visa is only available to organizations and nationals of those countries that have entered into a trade or investment treaty with the United States. (See list of qualifying countries below.)
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE E VISA
1. The organization must be a national of a selected country. The nationality of an organization is determined by the nationality of its owners. Fifty percent or more of the owners must be nationals of a selected country for their organization to be considered a national of that country.
2. The individual representative of the organization who is being sent to the United States to oversee the organization’s activities must also be a national of the same country as the organization.
The E Visa is subdivided into two sub-classifications: The E-1 Visa for Trade Organizations and the E-2 Visa for Investment Organizations, see below.
SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS FOR E-1 VISA
The E-1 Visa is available to companies form selected countries engaged in the substantial trade between that country and the United States.
More than half of the organization’s international trade must be between the United States and the qualifying country of origin. A history of trade between the selected foreign country and its U.S. subsidiary is required. The type trade is defined rather broadly and may include services such as computer consulting or marketing, for example, and not just trade of goods.
An individual representative must be either performing supervisory or executive duties or, in the alternative, must have special skills that cannot be found in a U.S. worker but are essential in conducting trade on behalf of a petitioning business.
SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT FOR E-2 VISA
E-2 Visa is available to companies that make an active and substantial investment in the United States economy in expectation of profit.
An active investment is defined as an irrevocable commitment to funds. Usually, the investor’s own money or personal obligations would have to be at risk. Furthermore, it cannot be an investment that is passive or purely speculative, such as buying stocks, bonds or real estate and waiting for them to appreciate. However, investment into real estate such as an apartment building, for example, may be considered active investment.
The investment must be substantial. There is no minimum monetary amount required. However, the amount of money invested must be sufficient for the business purpose.
Finally, the investment may not be merely marginal in nature. A marginal investment is one where the return is expected to be sufficient only to support the alien and his family. Thus, the enterprise is expected to create jobs for American workers.
The E-2 alien employee must have an essential role in the enterprise either as a principal investor or a managerial employee.
Example: Elise, an Argentinean, is the owner of a mid-sized company that manufactures and sells high-quality pet food. They market and sell their products wholesale to veterinarians and top-end pet stores all over South America. The company has a gross annual sales of about $500,000. Elise believes her pet food would do very well in North America and so decides to open a branch office and plant in the United States. She has about $50,000 to invest in such an enterprise. Based on the facts of this scenario, Elise may be eligible for E-1 Visa.
TERM
Beneficiaries of the E Visa are granted E status for a five-year period. Five year extensions may be obtained for as long as the person continues to be eligible. Like other work related Visas, E Visa holders are allowed to simultaneously seek Permanent Residency status.
Spouses and minor children of E Visa holders are eligible for derivative status. Note that there is no requirement that the family members be nationals of a treaty country.
OBTAINING THE E VISA
If the applicant for the E Visa is in the United States in another nonimmigrant status, he may apply for a change of status to the INS. If he is outside of the United States, he is not required to apply to the INS and await approval, but may apply directly to the U.S. Consulate. Opting for this route will save several weeks or months of time.
THE FOLLOWING COUNTRIES HAVE ENTERED INTO TRADE AND/OR INVESTMENT TREATIES WITH THE UNITED STATES:
BOTH TRADE & INVESTMENT (E-1 AND E-2 VISAS AVAILABLE)
Argentina Germany Oman
Australia Honduras Pakistan
Austria Iran Paraguay
Belgium Ireland Philippines
Bosnia Italy Slovenia
Canada Japan Spain
China Korea Surinam
Colombia Latvia Sweden
Costa Rica Liberia Switzerland
Croatia Luxembourg Thailand
Estonia Macedonia Togo
Ethiopia Mexico Turkey
Finland Netherlands United Kingdom
France Norway
TRADE ONLY (E-1 VISAS AVAILABLE)
Bolivia Denmark Israel
Brunei Greece
INVESTMENT ONLY (E-2 VISAS AVAILABLE)
Armenia Georgia Romania
Bangladesh Jamaica Senegal
Bulgaria Kazakhstan Slovakia
Cameroon Kyrgyzstan Sri Lanka
Congo Moldova Trinidad & Tobago
Czech Rep Mongolia Tunisia
Ecuador Morocco Ukraine
Egypt Panama Zaire
Grenada Poland