USA
What the E-2 visa requirements ask of you
The United States E-2 treaty investor visa is decided on a set of tests, and every one of them has to hold at once. You need the nationality of a treaty country and an investment that is already committed. The amount has to be substantial for that business, the enterprise has to be real and operating, and its income has to be more than a living for your family. You control the business, and you intend to leave when E-2 status ends.
Two agencies apply the same tests. A consular officer works from 9 FAM 402.9 when you apply at a US consulate. A USCIS officer works from 8 CFR 214.2(e) when you change status inside the US. The definitions match, so a case built for one holds for the other.
Officers refuse these cases when the money is still in the investor’s own account, or when the business would only ever support the investor’s family. Each E-2 requirement below comes with the rule in the government’s own words, the evidence that proves it, and the gaps that weaken it. The evidence lists draw on the State Department’s own suggested checklist in the same manual.
E-2 visa requirements at a glance
The E-2 visa requirements sit on three things: your passport, your money and your business, plus the intent you state at the end. Every one of them is decided on documents.
| Requirement | What it means | Decided on |
|---|---|---|
| Treaty nationality | You are a national of a treaty country, and so is the business, through its owners | Passports and the cap table |
| Invested, or in the process | The money is spent or bound to the business, at risk, and yours | Bank records and contracts |
| A substantial amount | What you invested is large against what this business costs | The cost of the business |
| A real, operating enterprise | A for-profit business that trades, not a shell or a passive holding | Licenses, premises, customers |
| More than marginal | More than a living for your household, or jobs and spending in the US, within five years | Projections and payroll |
| Develop and direct | You control the business, normally through half or more of it | The ownership and control papers |
| Intent to depart | You will depart when your status ends; no home abroad is needed | Your own statement |
E-2 treaty nationality: your passport and your company’s
The first test is nationality, and it applies twice. You must be a national of a country that has a qualifying treaty with the United States. The enterprise must carry that same nationality through the people who own it. The State Department’s treaty country list names, for each country, whether the E-1, the E-2 or both apply.
The company’s nationality is traced to its owners
The ruleThe nationality of an individual treaty trader or treaty investor is determined by the authorities of the foreign state of which the alien is a national. In the case of an enterprise or organization, ownership must be traced as best as is practicable to the individuals who are ultimately its owners.
8 CFR 214.2(e)(7)
Nationals of your treaty country must own at least 50 percent of the enterprise, traced through every holding company to the natural persons who hold the shares. A company formed in Delaware and owned by two Turkish citizens is Turkish for E-2 purposes. A company owned by a Dutch holding company that is itself owned by a Brazilian family is Brazilian, and Brazil has no treaty.
A business may carry only one E-2 nationality, so a dual national picks one treaty country for the company (9 FAM 402.9-4(B)(d)).
- Your passport or citizenship certificate
- Passport copies of every owner from the treaty country, with the percentage each one holds
- The share register or cap table, followed through each holding company to the natural persons
- Articles and the operating agreement, showing the classes of shares and who holds the votes
- A cap table that stops at a holding company instead of reaching the people behind it
- A co-owner from a non-treaty country, or a green card holder, whose stake pushes treaty ownership below half
- A funding round that leaves treaty nationals with less than half of the equity, which ends the company’s treaty nationality and the E-2 with it
- Two passports used inconsistently across the company’s filings
Citizenship acquired through investment: the three-year domicile rule
Nationality bought through an investment program comes with a waiting period. Since December 27, 2022, an applicant who bought the treaty nationality that way, and has never held E status, needs three continuous years of domicile there first (INA 101(a)(15)(E)). Domicile means the country is your true, permanent home for those years; citizenship by birth, descent, marriage or ordinary naturalization carries no such period.
E-2 visa investment requirements: invested, or actively in the process
The second test is the money. It has to be at risk in the business, committed, and under your control. Money sitting in your account, however large the balance, has not been invested.
At risk, committed, and yours
The ruleThe treaty investor must be in possession of and have control over the capital invested or being invested. The capital must be subject to partial or total loss if investment fortunes reverse. Such investment capital must be the investor’s unsecured personal business capital or capital secured by personal assets.
8 CFR 214.2(e)(12)
At risk means you lose the money if the business fails. Committed means it cannot be pulled back: spent on the business, or bound to it by an agreement you cannot walk away from. A purchase that closes only when the visa is issued can still count. The price then sits with a third party who releases it on issuance and returns it on refusal.
What counts as capital, and which loans
The investment includes the purchase price of a business, the money you spent on equipment, inventory and improvements, and goods or machinery you shipped to the US for the business. Rent counts only for the months already paid or paid in advance; the market value of leased premises or equipment does not (9 FAM 402.9-6(B)(f)). Intellectual property counts where you can show its value.
A loan secured by your house, or an unsecured loan on your own signature, is capital at risk, because you lose personal assets if the business fails. A loan from a relative or a business partner works the same way and is documented with a promissory note. A loan secured by the assets of the enterprise itself does not count, even where personal assets sit alongside as collateral (9 FAM 402.9-6(B)(c)).
In the process of investing means close to opening
The ruleMere intent to invest, or possession of uncommitted funds in a bank account, or even prospective investment arrangements entailing no present commitment, will not suffice.
9 FAM 402.9-6(B)(e)
You do not have to be open on the day you apply, but you must be close to it. Scouting locations, or signing contracts that either side can still walk away from, is not being in the process of investing. A signed lease with the first rent paid, equipment bought and delivered, and a business account funded for opening all count.
Take a bakery. The lease is signed, the ovens are bought and installed, and two months of rent are paid from money that has left your account. That is being in the process of investing. The same bakery with a letter of intent for the premises and the money still in your savings is not.
- Wire receipts from your account into the business account, and the business account statements showing the money at work
- Paid invoices, receipts and canceled checks for equipment, inventory and improvements
- The executed lease and the canceled check for the first rent
- For a purchase, the signed agreement, the closing papers, or the third-party statement holding the price
- For a franchise, the signed franchise agreement and proof that the franchise fee was paid
- Funds still in your personal account on the day you file
- A loan secured by the business’s own assets
- A lease signed but no rent paid, and premises with nothing in them
The E-2 substantial investment test: proportional, not a minimum
The third test is the amount. The investment has to be substantial in relation to the total cost of buying or creating that enterprise, and large enough to show your commitment and make success likely. There is no dollar threshold: “No set dollar figure constitutes a minimum amount of investment to be considered ‘substantial’ for E-2 visa purposes” (9 FAM 402.9-6(D)).
How the proportion rule works
The ruleGenerally, the lower the cost of the enterprise, the higher, proportionately, the investment must be to be considered a substantial amount of capital.
8 CFR 214.2(e)(14)
The rule compares what you invested with what the business costs. For a cheap business you are expected to fund most or all of that cost: $100,000 put into a business that costs $100,000 to open passes. For an expensive business a smaller share can pass: $10 million put into a $100 million business can be enough on the size of the sum alone (9 FAM 402.9-6(D)(c)). No percentage clears the test on its own.
The cost of an existing business is its purchase price. The cost of a new business is what it takes to get it open: premises, equipment, inventory, licenses and the operating expenses until the doors open. Capital that also covers the first year of operating costs, so the business does not depend on early revenue, is strong evidence of that commitment.
- A signed purchase agreement or a market appraisal for an existing business
- Invoices and contracts for the equipment, inventory and improvements already bought
- Trade association statistics or chamber of commerce estimates for the start-up cost
- A first-year operating budget showing what the invested capital covers
- A cost estimate built only from your own figures, with nothing an officer can check
- An investment that covers a small share of a low-cost business
- A business whose stated cost changes between the plan and the filing
E-2 visa business requirements: real, operating, for profit
The fourth test is the business itself. It has to produce goods or services for profit and meet the legal requirements for doing business where it sits: registration, licenses, permits and tax accounts. A non-profit cannot qualify, and neither can a paper company, undeveloped land held for appreciation, or a portfolio of shares you do not direct (9 FAM 402.9-6(C)).
The bona fide enterprise rule
The ruleThe enterprise must be a real, active, and operating commercial or entrepreneurial undertaking which produces services or goods for profit. The enterprise must meet applicable legal requirements for doing business in the particular jurisdiction in the United States.
8 CFR 214.2(e)(13)
A new enterprise passes when the officer is satisfied that it will be real and active once the visa is issued. The evidence for a start-up is therefore the lease, the licenses and the first contracts rather than a trading history.
A physical office is not a requirement; an applicant “does not necessarily need a physical office space to qualify for an E visa” (9 FAM 402.9-4(D)). Premises still matter as evidence where the business needs them to function, and a consultancy run from a home office can qualify on its contracts, its clients and its licenses.
The job-shop line
A company whose business is supplying workers to fill another employer’s positions is not the E-2 pattern. Project-based services delivered to a client, such as an engineering design contract carried out at the client’s site, are a commercial product and qualify (9 FAM 402.9-6(G)).
- Business and occupational licenses, and the sales tax registration
- The lease or deed, and photos of the premises, equipment and stock
- Utility bills, commercial account statements and supplier invoices
- Client contracts, purchase orders and invoices issued, and marketing material
- Tax returns or financial statements where the business already has a record
- An LLC with a bank account and nothing else
- A rental property or a share portfolio presented as the enterprise
- A staffing model whose only product is workers placed with other companies
The E-2 marginal enterprise rule: more than a living, within five years
The fifth test asks what the business is for. Under 8 CFR 214.2(e)(15)(15)), a marginal enterprise lacks “the present or future capacity to generate more than enough income to provide a minimal living” for you and your family.
There are two ways through. The business earns, or will earn, more than that living. Or it makes a significant economic contribution, for example by hiring US workers or buying from US suppliers at a scale that matters.
The five-year horizon
The ruleThe projected future income-generating capacity should generally be realizable within 5 years from the date the alien commences the normal business activity of the enterprise.
8 CFR 214.2(e)(15)
The clock starts when normal business activity begins, rather than on the filing date. Nothing in the rule sets a number of employees, and a business can pass on income alone; in practice payroll is the clearest evidence of a contribution beyond your household. A one-person consultancy that projects only the owner’s salary fails this test.
- For an existing business: corporate tax returns, the payroll register, quarterly payroll reports, and W-2 and W-4 forms
- For a new business: a business plan with a market analysis, hiring projections, a first-year budget, the allocation of the invested capital and five-year financial projections
- Signed contracts, purchase orders or letters of intent behind the projected revenue
- Projections with no basis an officer can check against a contract or a market figure
- A plan whose revenue barely covers the owner’s salary in year five
- No hiring and no supplier spending anywhere in the five years
Develop and direct on the E-2: 50 percent ownership or operational control
The sixth test is your role. You enter to develop and direct the enterprise, and you show that by controlling it. Control means owning at least 50 percent, holding operational control through a managerial position or another corporate device, or control shown by other means (8 CFR 214.2(e)(16)(16))). Passive ownership fails, and so does a title with no authority behind it.
The control rule: a title is not control
The ruleMerely occupying a managerial position, however, is not sufficient to meet this requirement if the applicant does not and will not control the enterprise.
9 FAM 402.9-4(B)(c)
Ownership of half or more settles the question in most cases. The consular rule at 22 CFR 41.51(b)(11) puts it the same way: you do or will develop and direct the enterprise by controlling it. Below that, the documents have to show that the decisions are yours: the operating agreement, the voting rights, the board resolutions and your position in the organization.
Two equal partners control; three or more do not
A 50/50 joint venture or partnership of two parties gives each of them control, provided each keeps full management rights, because neither can act without the other. The rule’s name for this is negative control (9 FAM 402.9-6(F)(b)). Both partners can qualify as investors, each on a substantial investment of their own.
An equal partnership of three or more gives none of the partners control through ownership. The owners can still qualify collectively when together they hold at least 50 percent and develop and direct the business. Each then enters as an employee of the US enterprise in an executive, supervisory or essential role (9 FAM 402.9-6(F)(d)-(e)).
- The operating agreement or shareholders’ agreement, naming who decides what
- The cap table with voting rights, not only economic shares
- A job description for your own role in the business plan, with the policies, goals and financial decisions you set
- Board minutes or written resolutions showing you making the decisions
- A minority stake with no agreement that gives you control
- A manager title over a business that someone else runs day to day
- A three-way equal split with no collective structure and no employee role for each owner
E-2 visa source of funds: lawful, traceable, in your control
The money has to come from a lawful source, and you have to show the path it took from that source into the business. Savings, gifts, inheritance, contest winnings, the sale of property or a business, and loans secured by your own assets are all acceptable sources. The officer may ask for whatever documents are needed to trace the funds.
The source rule: any lawful origin, inside or outside the US
The ruleThe source of the funds need not be outside the United States. The source of the investment must not, however, be the result of illicit activities.
9 FAM 402.9-6(B)(b)
Two limits apply. You must have possession of and control over the funds, so money that belongs to a relative or a silent investor does not count as yours. And inheriting a business is not an investment in it; the inheritance settles ownership, and the capital at risk still has to be shown.
- Savings account statements and tax returns showing the money accumulating over time
- Proof of the sale of a property or a company, with the proceeds credited to your account
- A gift letter, or a promissory note for a loan from family, friends or partners
- Bank statements showing the funds moving from the source to the business account, without gaps
- Cash deposits with no documented origin
- Funds mixed with other money between the source and the wire
- A transfer from a third party who is not a documented lender or donor
E-2 visa dual intent: the intent-to-depart rule
The E-2 is not a dual-intent visa, and the intent test is narrower than that label suggests. You do not need to keep a home abroad, and you do not need to show that you will leave by a fixed date. You must show an unequivocal intent to depart when your E-2 status ends, and in most cases your own statement is enough.
The intent rule: no foreign residence required
The ruleThe applicant may sell their residence and move all household effects to the United States. The applicant’s expression of an unequivocal intent to depart the United States upon termination of E status is normally sufficient.
9 FAM 402.9-4(C)
If you are the beneficiary of an immigrant petition, the officer needs more. You have to satisfy the officer that you still intend to leave at the end of your stay rather than remain to adjust status. That petition, or an approved labor certification, cannot on its own be the reason an E-2 application is refused (8 CFR 214.2(e)(5)(5))). The intent test is applied again at every extension and every entry, so the timing of any later green card step matters.
- A signed statement of intent to depart, which is normally sufficient on its own
- Ties abroad where the officer asks for them: property, family, business interests
- A consistent record, with no statement in a form or online that the plan is to stay for good
- Telling the officer that the plan is to settle permanently
- A pending adjustment of status application on another basis, left unexplained
- Describing the move as final in your own words, in the DS-160 or at the interview
How do E-2 requirements differ from the E-1?
On the basis of the case. The E-2 rests on capital you have placed in a US business; the E-1 rests on trade you already carry on between the US and your treaty country. Nationality, the treaty and the intent-to-depart rule are the same for both.
Three E-2 tests have no E-1 counterpart: the investment being at risk, the amount being substantial, and the business being more than marginal. The E-1 asks instead whether the trade is substantial and whether more than half of it runs between the two countries. An E-1 needs a trading history before you apply; an E-2 can be filed on a business that is about to open.
Check your E-2 visa eligibility against every test
E-2 eligibility rests on the tests below, and no single test can carry the others. A large investment does not repair a nationality problem, and a strong business does not repair money still in your account. The useful question is which test is still open.
- A passport from a treaty country, and a business owned at least half by nationals of that country
- Money already committed to the business and at risk, from a source you can document
- An amount that is substantial against what this business costs to buy or to open
- A real, operating, for-profit enterprise, registered and licensed where it sits
- A business that will earn more than your family’s living, or create jobs, within five years
- Control: at least half the ownership, or documented operational control
- An intent to depart when your status ends, stated without hedging
How the imigOS eligibility check works
The check asks about your nationality, your money and the business you are building or buying, then reads the answers against every US visa category on imigOS. The E-2 result sits next to the other routes your record reaches.
- Answer the questions. A few minutes on your passport, your funds and the business, with the question set adapting as you go.
- See where you stand. Which of the tests your answers clear, and which other pathways your record reaches, with no account needed.
- Talk it through if you want to. A free discovery call with an imigOS expath, an immigration expert who is not a lawyer, covers eligibility and planning rather than legal advice.
- Meet the attorneys. Where the E-2 or another pathway fits, you see which licensed attorneys take that case type, and you decide whether to go ahead.
The check takes a few minutes, costs nothing, and shows the result without an account. Check your E-2 eligibility before the money leaves your account.
Common questions
There is no cap and no lottery for the E-2, so the difficulty sits in the evidence. Four tests take most of the work: funds committed rather than parked, a business that earns more than the investor’s living, a traceable source of funds, and control the documents support. A case that clears those four is decided on its documents.
Yes. Each investor applies separately and must meet every test on their own investment, which has to be substantial in proportion to their stake. A 50/50 split between two partners gives each of them control under the negative control rule. Three or more equal partners do not control the business individually and enter as employees instead.
Yes, when the loan is secured by the investor’s own personal assets, such as a second mortgage on a home, or is unsecured on the investor’s signature, because the investor then loses personal assets if the business fails. A loan secured by the enterprise’s own assets does not count as capital at risk.
No. The regulation does not require a business plan, and a plan is not one of the tests. For a new business it is the usual evidence on the marginality test: the State Department checklist lists five-year financial projections supported by a thorough business plan as the way to show that capacity.
No. The Foreign Affairs Manual states that an applicant does not necessarily need physical office space to qualify for an E visa, while noting that premises can be relevant to whether the business is real and operating. A business that needs premises has to show them; a service business can qualify on contracts, clients and licenses.
The enterprise stops qualifying as a treaty enterprise. Existing E-2 status cannot be extended on that business, employees cannot be brought in under it, and a still-valid visa in a passport does not restore the qualification. Shares held by owners who became US permanent residents do not count, so one owner’s green card can trigger the same result.
Not on its own. The E-2 is a nonimmigrant category with no built-in path to permanent residence, and it can be extended for as long as the business keeps qualifying. A green card comes through a separate immigrant petition, and the intent-to-depart test is applied again at every E-2 extension and entry, so the timing of that petition matters.
Sources
- E-2 Treaty InvestorsU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services · August 20, 2026
- 8 CFR 214.2(e): Treaty traders and investorsCornell Law School, Legal Information Institute
- 9 FAM 402.9: Treaty Traders, Investors, and Specialty Occupations (E Visas)U.S. Department of State, Foreign Affairs Manual · February 17, 2026
- INA 101(a)(15)(E), 8 USC 1101(a)(15)(E): Treaty traders and investorsCornell Law School, Legal Information Institute
- 22 CFR 41.51: Treaty trader, treaty investor, or treaty alien in a specialty occupationCornell Law School, Legal Information Institute
- Treaty CountriesU.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs
3–10 months
$10,000–$14,000
