USA
- Basis
- Trade in goods, services or technology
- What you prove
- Volume, continuity and US share of the trade
- When you can apply
- Once the trade exists
- Capital
- None required
- Marginal business rule
- Does not apply
- Typical profiles
- Exporters, importers and service firms
- Treaty countries
- 54
USA
Investment
E-1 and E-2 Visas: One treaty, two doors.
An E visa lets a citizen of a treaty country move to the United States to run trade or an investment. The E-1 is for traders and the E-2 for investors.
Written by Furkan Dogan·Updated October 2026
Quick answers
What is an E visa?
A US E visa is a nonimmigrant visa for citizens of countries that hold a treaty of commerce and navigation with the United States. The E-1 covers substantial trade with the US and the E-2 a substantial investment in a US business. Both cover the trader or investor, the enterprise's key employees, and their spouses and children.
What is the difference between E-1 and E-2?
The E-1 rests on trade that already flows, with the treaty country accounting for more than half of the company's international trade. The E-2 rests on capital the investor has put at risk in a real, operating US business that the investor develops and directs.
How long can you stay on an E visa?
Each entry admits the E visa holder for up to two years, and extensions come in two-year steps for as long as the trade or the business keeps qualifying. The law sets no maximum number of renewals. The visa in the passport has its own validity, set by nationality, and for many treaty countries it runs up to five years.
Which countries qualify for E visas?
The E-2 and E-1 treaty lists have 81 and 54 countries; 52 countries qualify for both, among them Turkey, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada and Mexico. Greece and Brunei hold E-1 rights only. Egypt, Grenada, Ukraine and 26 others hold E-2 rights only. India, mainland China, Brazil, Russia and Vietnam hold neither.
The short version
What is the E visa?
The E visa is the US treaty trader and treaty investor visa: a visa for business owners and the people who run their US operations.
The treaty sits between the United States and your country of citizenship, and it opens two doors. The E-1 is for a trader whose goods or services already cross the border; the E-2 is for an investor who has put capital into a US business.
60,963
Issued in FY 2024
E-1 and E-2, families included
None
Annual cap
No lottery, year-round filing
2 years
Admission per entry
Renewable in two-year steps
Included
Spouse work permission
No separate work permit needed
The legal rule
The law sets four tests.
“...an alien entitled to enter the United States under and in pursuance of the provisions of a treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and the foreign state of which the alien is a national... (i) solely to carry on substantial trade... principally between the United States and the foreign state of which the alien is a national; (ii) solely to develop and direct the operations of an enterprise in which the alien has invested... a substantial amount of capital...”
Four phrases in that paragraph set the four tests:
- 01
“Treaty of commerce and navigation”
Nationality is the gate. Your passport must come from a treaty country, and nationals of that country must own at least half of the business, traced through every holding company.
- 02
“Substantial trade”
The E-1 test. Officers weigh a continuous flow of transactions rather than one large deal, and over half of the firm's international trade must run between the treaty country and the US.
- 03
“Substantial amount of capital”
The E-2 test. The law sets no dollar minimum. The officer weighs what you invested against what the business costs, and the money must be committed and at risk.
- 04
“Develop and direct”
You run the business. Control normally means owning at least half of it, or holding operational control through a senior management role. Passive ownership does not qualify.
Purpose & background
Why does the
E visa exist?
The E visas exist because of treaties. Each treaty of commerce and navigation or investment treaty gives that country's citizens a right to enter the US to trade or invest. A country joins or leaves the list only when a treaty or a statute changes.
Congress wrote the treaty trader into immigration law in 1924 and added the treaty investor in 1952. Since then the list has grown by treaty and by statute, which is why some countries hold E-2 rights only and two hold E-1 rights only.
E visa history, year by year
- 1815
The UK convention takes effect, the earliest entry on the State Department's treaty list and still the basis for British applicants.
- 1924
Section 3(6) of the Immigration Act of 1924 lets treaty traders in outside the new national-origins quotas, the origin of today's E-1.
- 1952
The Immigration and Nationality Act adds the treaty investor at INA §101(a)(15)(E)(ii), and E-1 and E-2 take their present form.
- 1989 to 2001
Bilateral investment treaties add E-2-only countries: Bangladesh and Grenada in 1989, Egypt in 1992, Ukraine in 1996, Bahrain in 2001.
- 2022 to 2024
Congress adds a three-year domicile rule for nationality acquired through investment (2022) and opens the E category to Portugal (2024).
The E family
The E visa family.
The E-1 and E-2 are the two doors for business owners, and every E business can bring in its key people and their families in the same class.
E-1 and E-2 dependents
Spouses and children
A spouse and unmarried children under 21 receive the same E class, whatever their own nationality. The spouse may work.
Four situations
The right E visa,
in four situations.
Four common starting points, and where each one leads.
E-1
Your company abroad already sells to US customers.
Start with the E-1. The visa follows the trade the company already has, so no US investment is needed. The evidence is the transaction record: contracts, invoices and shipping or service records over time.
E-2
You are buying or starting a business in the US.
That is an E-2 case. Commit the capital before the application and keep a clear record of where the money came from and how it reached the business. The officer reviews the source and path of the funds as well as the amount.
Both
Your business could qualify for both.
Pick the basis with the stronger documentary record this year. An E-2 company that later exports back to the treaty country can add an E-1 record. A trading company that opens a US operation with its own capital can add the E-2.
Neither
Your passport is on neither list.
A passport with no treaty rights closes the E route. The options are a second passport from a treaty country, subject to the waiting period for citizenship acquired through investment, or a different visa. The L-1A fits managers of a company with a US arm, the O-1A a documented record of achievement.
Which door is yours?
E-1 vs E-2 visa: the differences.
The two-year admission, the green card position and family rights are the same for both. These are the points that differ.
- Basis
- Capital invested in a US business
- What you prove
- Amount, source and commitment of the funds
- When you can apply
- Once funds are committed and opening is near
- Capital
- No fixed minimum, weighed against total cost
- Marginal business rule
- Must do more than support the investor within five years
- Typical profiles
- Founders, franchisees and business buyers
- Treaty countries
- 81
E visa stats
E-1 and E-2 visa
approval rates.
Visas issued as a share of all consular applications, by fiscal year, from State Department data. E-2 issuance has grown every year since FY 2020.
E-1 visa approval rate
91.8%
of E-1 applications issued in FY 2024
5,639 issued, 502 refused
- 88.0%FY 2020, 3,278 issued of 3,725 applications
- 94.2%FY 2021, 4,851 issued of 5,149 applications
- 92.0%FY 2022, 5,383 issued of 5,848 applications
- 92.2%FY 2023, 5,806 issued of 6,297 applications
- 91.8%FY 2024, 5,639 issued of 6,141 applications
E-2 visa approval rate
90.1%
of E-2 applications issued in FY 2024
55,324 issued, 6,108 refused
- 87.8%FY 2020, 23,493 issued of 26,759 applications
- 92.5%FY 2021, 33,129 issued of 35,812 applications
- 90.5%FY 2022, 45,878 issued of 50,701 applications
- 90.7%FY 2023, 54,812 issued of 60,427 applications
- 90.1%FY 2024, 55,324 issued of 61,432 applications
USCIS changes of status and extensions are counted separately. Counts include spouses and children; refusals include 221(g) cases that can be overcome later. Japan led FY 2024 with 17,116 E visas, ahead of Canada (7,962) and Germany (4,205); Turkish nationals received 843. Every application is decided on its own record.
FAQE Visa
E Visa
Common Questions.
No. A US consulate places the E visa in the applicant's passport, in the E-1 treaty trader or E-2 treaty investor class. The lowercase e-visa is an online tourist permit some countries issue, and ESTA is the Visa Waiver Program's online entry permission for short visits. The United States issues no electronic visa for trade or investment.
No. The applicant and the business both need the treaty nationality: nationals of that country must hold at least a 50 percent stake in the company. Citizens of a country without a treaty have no direct route. A second citizenship in a treaty country counts; since December 2022, one acquired through investment counts only after three years of domicile there.
Yes. An enterprise can qualify under both classes at once when it trades with the treaty country and also carries a qualifying investment. Each person holds one class at a time, tied to the basis that person relies on. The owner who directs the investment applies as E-2, the manager who runs the trade as E-1.
Yes. The spouse of an E-1 or E-2 holder is admitted in the same class and may work without a separate work permit. Since November 2021 USCIS treats that permission as part of the status, and the admission record carries an E-1S or E-2S code. Children under 21 receive E status and can study, but not work.
Only when the applicant's country of nationality holds both treaties, and then by qualifying afresh on the other basis; nothing converts on its own. A move from E-2 to E-1 means showing that trade with the treaty country has become substantial and principal. The reverse means showing a substantial investment under the applicant's control.
No. The visa in the passport and the permitted stay are separate. Visa validity depends on the holder's nationality and controls when the holder may enter. Each entry gives up to two years, whatever remains on the visa, and leaving and re-entering on a valid visa starts a fresh admission period.
Sources
INA §101(a)(15)(E) · 8 CFR §214.2(e) · 9 FAM 402.9 (State Department Foreign Affairs Manual, revised February 17, 2026) · State Department Treaty Countries list · Report of the Visa Office FY 2024, Tables XV(B) and XVI · NIV Workload by Visa Category, FY 2020 to FY 2024 · State Department visa fee schedule · USCIS E-1 and E-2 pages
9 FAM 402.9 · Report of the Visa Office, Table XV(B) · NIV Workload by Visa Category · USCIS: E-1 Treaty Traders · USCIS: E-2 Treaty Investors
2–6 months
$9,800–$13,800
Which E visa fits your business?
Take the eligibility check. About 3 minutes of questions show whether the E-1 or the E-2 fits your business, and what is still missing.