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E-1 and E-2 employee visas, for the company and the person it hires.
An E-1 or E-2 employee visa is E visa status granted to an executive, a supervisor or an essential employee of a company that treaty nationals own. The company qualifies through its own activity. For the E-1 treaty trader visa that activity is trade with the treaty country, and for the E-2 treaty investor visa it is an investment in a US business. The employee qualifies through the job and a passport from the same treaty country, and invests nothing.
The employee rules are one set of rules. The regulation that defines the treaty employee names the E-1 and the E-2 in a single sentence. The two tests for the job, executive or supervisory character and special qualifications, are written once for both. What differs is the company behind the employee, the treaty list its country appears on, and what the company proves again at each extension.
An employee outside the United States applies at a US consulate with Form DS-160 and Form DS-156E. An employee already in the United States in another status has the company file Form I-129 with USCIS. Five things decide the case under either visa: the company, the employee’s nationality, the job, the forms, and the conditions that attach to the status once granted. The spouse and children follow the employee.
Which companies can bring in E-1 or E-2 employees?
A company can bring in E-1 or E-2 employees when at least 50 percent of it is owned by nationals of one treaty country. Those owners must either hold E status in the United States or live abroad and be people who would qualify for it. The company itself must pass its own visa’s tests. A trading company meets the E-1 requirements: trade that is already under way, substantial, and more than half of it between the United States and the treaty country. An investing company meets the E-2 requirements: an investment that is substantial and at risk, a real and operating business, and income that does more than support the owners.
The employer can also be one person rather than a company. A treaty trader or treaty investor who holds E status, or who would qualify for it, may employ a national of the same country in a qualifying role.
The State Department’s conditions for the employer.
The rule(2) Employer and the employee must have the same nationality; and (3) Employer, if not residing outside the United States, must be maintaining “E” status in the United States.
9 FAM 402.9-7(A)
The third condition matters when an owner lives in the United States in another status. An owner who is in the United States on an H-1B or a student visa is not counted toward the treaty-national half of the company. A company that depends on that owner’s shares cannot bring in E employees, even when the trade or the investment itself would qualify. An owner is counted when the owner holds E-1 or E-2 status, or when the owner lives abroad and would be classified as a treaty trader or treaty investor.
Under 9 FAM 402.9-4(B), an owner who holds a green card cannot bring in E employees at all. Shares owned by permanent residents are also left out when the company’s nationality is counted.
A company can have only one treaty nationality for employee purposes, and the owners choose it when they hold more than one. The one exception is a company owned and controlled in equal halves by nationals of two treaty countries, which may bring in employees of either nationality. In every other case the company has one nationality, and every E employee has to share it.
Many consulates keep a register of companies that have qualified once. The State Department’s model record holds the company’s nationality, its US staff count and the date of the last review, which falls due every five years. It also records the volume and number of the trades for an E-1, or the amount of the investment for an E-2. Later employee applications from a registered company run on a shorter record for as long as nothing substantive changes, and a registered company still proves each employee’s role.
| Company | What qualifies it | What it shows for each employee |
|---|---|---|
| E-1 treaty trader | Substantial trade between the United States and the treaty country, already under way and more than half of the company’s international trade | The trade figures for the last full year, the owners’ nationality and shares, and the employee’s role |
| E-2 treaty investor | A substantial investment at risk in a real and operating US business that earns more than a living for the owners | The investment and the business’s accounts, the owners’ nationality and shares, and the employee’s role |
The company’s own tests are decided once and kept current. The employee’s role is decided on every application, first and later.
E-1 and E-2 employee nationality rule: the same passport as the owners.
For an E-1 or E-2 employee visa, the employee must hold the nationality of the treaty country through which the company qualifies, which is the nationality of its owners. A passport from a different treaty country does not qualify. A company owned by French nationals cannot bring in a German engineer on an E-2, even though Germany has its own treaty.
The country also has to hold the right treaty. The E-1 and E-2 treaty lists differ: 54 countries have the E-1 and 81 have the E-2, and Greece and Brunei have the E-1 alone. A Greek trading company brings its staff in as E-1 employees and has no E-2 route. A company from a country with E-2 rights only cannot use the E-1, however much it trades.
The employee’s nationality follows the employer’s.
The ruleThe employee must have the same nationality as the principal alien employer. In addition, the employee must intend to depart the United States upon the expiration or termination of E-1 or E-2 status.
8 CFR 214.2(e)(3)
The rule looks only at nationality, and where the employee lives makes no difference. An employee who holds the treaty nationality but has never lived in that country still qualifies.
An employee who holds two nationalities applies under the one the company uses. The owners of a dual-national company choose one treaty country for all E purposes. Every E employee of that company then holds that nationality and applies under it.
The same regulation also requires the employee to intend to leave the United States when E status ends. The employee does not have to keep a home abroad and may sell everything and move. The State Department’s manual treats an unequivocal statement of that intent as normally enough, and the file carries it as a short signed letter from the employee.
- The employee’s passport, and a second passport when the treaty nationality is not the one the employee travels on
- Passport copies of the owners who hold the treaty nationality, with the share each one holds
- The company’s choice of nationality, stated the same way in every E filing it has made
- A short signed statement that the employee will leave the United States when E status ends
- An employee whose only treaty nationality differs from the company’s
- A passport that expires within six months, because admission cannot run more than six months past the passport’s expiry
- An immigrant petition filed for the employee, who then has to satisfy the officer that the plan is still to leave when the status ends
E-1 and E-2 executive and supervisory employees.
The first qualifying role is an executive or supervisory position, and it reads the same in a trading company and in an investing one. An officer decides it on the duties of the position and the degree of control it gives the employee, and the job title alone carries little weight.
The executive and supervisory character rule.
The ruleThe applicant’s position must be principally and primarily, as opposed to incidentally or collaterally, executive or supervisory in nature. Executive and supervisory duties are those which provide the employee ultimate control and responsibility for the enterprise’s overall operation or a major component thereof.
8 CFR 214.2(e)(17)
An executive position gives the employee great authority to set the policy and direction of the enterprise. A supervisory position gives the employee responsibility for a significant proportion of the operations, and it does not generally involve the direct supervision of low-level staff.
Consular officers weigh the title and its place in the organizational chart, the duties, and the degree of ultimate control. They also weigh the number and skill level of the people supervised, the pay, and whether the employee has held such a role before. The director who runs a trading company’s US distribution and the plant manager who runs an investor’s factory are measured against the same list.
The weight of each factor changes with the size of the business. The State Department’s own example is the job title. A title such as vice president or manager says something about a position in a company with many employees, and almost nothing about the same title in a two-person office.
Routine work that a staff member would normally do can appear in the job only as an incidental part of it. A position that is mostly routine work, with some supervision of junior staff on the side, is not executive or supervisory, whatever the title says.
- A job description that names the decisions the employee makes alone, the budgets controlled and the policies set
- An organizational chart with the employee above named managers or professionals, and the number of people in each line
- Pay and a title in line with the level claimed, on the offer letter and in the company’s payroll plan
- Earlier executive or supervisory experience, with dates and the size of the teams led
- A day-to-day role of selling, coding or serving customers, with supervision as a side duty
- A team made up of low-level or part-time staff only
- A senior title in a company of two or three people, where the title alone shows little
E-1 and E-2 essential employees: the special qualifications test.
The second way to qualify is as an essential employee: a worker below executive level who has special qualifications that the business needs for its efficient operation.
The burden of proof falls on the company and the employee together. The company shows that it needs a specific skill and that the skill is specialized, and the employee proves possession of that skill.
The special qualifications rule, and what officers weigh.
The ruleSpecial qualifications are skills and/or aptitudes which make the employee’s services essential to the efficient operation of the treaty enterprise.
USCIS, E-2 Treaty Investors
Consular officers weigh the experience and training it takes to acquire the skill, how unique it is, and whether US workers with it are available. They also weigh the salary the skill commands, the employee’s proven expertise, and the function of the job. The DHS regulation lists the same factors and adds the employee’s time with the enterprise and how the skill ties to the company’s own processes.
The regulation does not separate the two companies, and the State Department’s examples fit both. They are continuous product development and quality control, a service otherwise unavailable in the United States, and familiarity with the operation abroad. In a trading company the last two usually carry the case: the service the company sells across the border, or knowledge of the parent’s products, suppliers and pricing. In an investing company the first usually does, such as a production method or a proprietary system.
An E-1 employee’s own work does not have to mirror the company’s trade split. The company shows that more than half of its international trade is with the treaty country. After that, an employee may spend the day on sales to third countries or inside the United States, and the case still qualifies.
Knowledge of a foreign language and culture does not, by itself, meet the test. It can form part of an essential role, for example a trainer who teaches the parent company’s methods in its own language. The role has to rest on more than the language.
An essential employee does not need a history with the company. Apart from the start-up case below, no rule requires earlier employment with the enterprise. The test looks at the business’s need and at the employee’s possession of the skill, and a company may need a skill that no one on its payroll holds.
- A job description tied to the company’s own products, processes or clients, with the skill named in each duty
- The employee’s CV with dates, plus diplomas, certificates and training records for the skill
- A written account of why a US worker cannot do the job now, with the recruiting tried or the training time a replacement would need
- For a start-up need, the date by which US staff will be trained or hired
- A generic job title with duties any qualified local hire could perform
- Language, culture or familiarity with the home market as the whole of the skill
- A start-up or training role with no end date
A skill can stop being essential.
The ruleA skill that is essential at one point in time may become commonplace at a later date. Skills that are needed to start up an enterprise may no longer be essential after initial operations are complete and running smoothly. Some skills are essential only in the short-term for the training of locally hired employees.
8 CFR 214.2(e)(18)
At the first application and at every later one, the file shows the skill and how long the business will need it. The State Department gives a long-term example and a short-term one. A long-term need covers continuous product development, quality control, or a service otherwise unavailable in the United States. A short-term need of a year or two covers the start-up of a business or of a new activity, and the training of technicians in manufacturing, maintenance and repair.
USCIS applies the two-year point at extension. Under 8 CFR 214.2(e)(20), it presumes that an employee with special qualifications who came for start-up operations can finish within two years. Without special circumstances it does not extend that stay.
Ordinarily skilled workers can qualify in one situation: a new business, or one expanding into a new field, needs people who know the operation abroad for a short time. Their special qualification is knowledge of the employer’s own operation, and the post expects the enterprise to train US staff within a short time.
Filing the E-1 or E-2 employee application: consulate or USCIS.
An employee outside the United States applies for the E-1 or E-2 employee visa at a US consulate. An employee already in the United States in another lawful status can have the company file Form I-129 with USCIS to change status. The company is the petitioner on that form, with the E-1/E-2 Classification Supplement attached, and the supplement is one form for both classifications.
| Route | Who files | Forms | Who decides |
|---|---|---|---|
| At a US consulate | The employee applies, and the company completes the business parts of the file | Form DS-160 and Form DS-156E, with the company’s documents and the employer letter | A consular officer, at the interview or after further review |
| Change of status with USCIS | The company, as petitioner | Form I-129 with the E-1/E-2 Classification Supplement from the company, plus Form I-539 for the dependents | A USCIS officer, on the posted processing time or on premium processing |
| Extension with USCIS | The company, as petitioner | Form I-129 with the E-1/E-2 Classification Supplement, filed before the current stay ends | A USCIS officer |
Only the consular route produces a visa in the passport. A change of status grants E status inside the United States, and the employee’s first trip abroad needs a visa application at a consulate.
Form DS-156E follows one rule on the trader’s side and another on the investor’s. Every E-1 principal applicant files it, the trader and each employee alike, and the consulate scans it into the record. On the E-2 side the investor does not file it, and the executives, managers and essential employees do. For an employee the outcome is the same under both visas: one DS-160 and one DS-156E, with the company’s pages of the DS-156E completed by the employer. Spouses and children file neither.
The company sets out the case in a letter on its letterhead, signed by an officer of the company, and the supporting documents follow the letter’s order. The letter covers the business and its E-1 or E-2 basis, the position and its duties, the people the employee will supervise, and the salary. For an essential employee it also states why the skill is needed and for how long. A trading company attaches its trade records for the most recent full year, and an investing company attaches the investment and the accounts.
One rule reaches a narrow group of E-2 employee cases. Since Executive Order 14286 of April 28, 2025, USCIS asks for proof of English proficiency in any E-2 application for a job that involves driving a commercial motor vehicle. A passed standardized English test or the employee’s signed statement serves as evidence. USCIS said on its E-2 page, reviewed August 20, 2026, that it generally accepts a visa issued after June 15, 2026 as proof, because consulates now screen for it. Its E-1 page, last reviewed April 8, 2025, carries no such line.
Timing follows the E-2 process, and the E-1 process runs the same way. A consulate’s E visa unit reviews the file before it schedules an interview, and USCIS decides on its posted processing time or faster on premium processing. The fees are one schedule for both classifications, at the consulate or through the company’s petition, as the E-2 visa cost and E-1 visa cost pages show.
E-1 and E-2 employee status: two years at a time, one employer.
Under 8 CFR 214.2(e), an E-1 or E-2 employee is admitted for up to two years at a time. USCIS extends the stay in increments of up to two years, with no set number of extensions. The validity of the visa in the passport is a separate period. It follows the reciprocity schedule for the employee’s nationality, from three months to five years. Each entry on a valid visa earns a fresh admission of the same length as the first.
One employer, and the subsidiary exception.
The ruleTreaty employees may perform work for the parent treaty organization or enterprise, or any subsidiary of the parent organization or enterprise.
8 CFR 214.2(e)(8)
An E employee may work only in the employment that is consistent with the terms of the status and with the activity the classification rests on. Work for a subsidiary counts as the same employment when the applicant showed three things at the time the status was granted.
- The subsidiary and its relationship to the parent, and that the subsidiary itself qualifies as a treaty enterprise
- That the work there requires executive, supervisory or essential skills
- That the work is consistent with the activity the status was granted for
Mergers, sales and a change of employer.
USCIS has to approve a substantive change in the job before it happens. A merger, an acquisition or the sale of the division where the employee works counts as one. The company files a new petition with evidence that the employee still qualifies, or the employee applies at a consulate for a new visa on the new terms.
A change that does not affect eligibility needs no filing, for example a new title with the same duties or a new office address. When the company is unsure, it files the same form with the fee and a description of the change and asks USCIS whether the change is substantive. One request covers several employees caught by the same restructuring.
An employee who starts work for a new employer without that approval has failed to maintain status. A move to an unrelated company is a new case on its own facts. The new employer must qualify as a treaty enterprise of the same nationality, and the new role must pass one of the two tests. The filing comes before the first day of work. A move from a trading company to an investing one, or the reverse, changes the classification as well. The new employer’s own E-1 or E-2 basis is then proved from the start.
The end of the job, and the company’s own standing.
The employee keeps status for up to 60 consecutive days after the job ends, once in each period of stay, under 8 CFR 214.1. The period is shorter when the stay itself ends first. The employee may not work during those days unless another rule allows it, and a new employer’s petition or a change of status filed inside them keeps the stay lawful. DHS proposed on September 10, 2026 to remove the 60-day grace period, and comments run until November 10, 2026. The 60 days apply until a final rule takes effect.
The employee’s status also depends on the company staying a treaty enterprise. For an investing company that means the owners keep the treaty-national half. If the owner becomes a permanent resident and the share falls below half, the company loses its E-2 nationality and its employees lose the basis for their status. An owner who plans a green card case settles the staff’s status first. For a trading company the same ownership rule applies, and the trade has to stay substantial and principal as well. A year in which the treaty country’s share of the company’s international trade falls to half or below leaves the company unable to qualify its employees at the next application.
Spouses and children of E-1 and E-2 employees.
The spouse and unmarried children under 21 of an E-1 or E-2 employee receive the employee’s classification on any passport. Their nationality is not material to the classification, so a Turkish employee’s Brazilian spouse enters as an E dependent.
The spouse may work for any US employer from the day of admission. The I-94 of an E-1 spouse carries the code E-1S, and that of an E-2 spouse the code E-2S. An employer accepts either as proof that the spouse may work, and no separate application is needed. Children admitted as E-1Y or E-2Y may study and may not work.
Dependents stay for as long as the employee’s status lasts, and the employee’s short trips abroad do not end it. At a consulate each files a DS-160 and shows the relationship, and inside the United States the family files Form I-539 alongside the company’s petition.
Common questions
Up to two years per admission. USCIS extends E-1 and E-2 status in increments of the same length as long as the company and the role still qualify. The visa in the passport has its own validity under the reciprocity schedule, which can run shorter or longer than any single stay.
Yes. The spouse of an E-1 employee is admitted with the code E-1S on the I-94, the spouse of an E-2 employee with E-2S, and either may work for any US employer with no separate application. Children under 21 hold E status too, may attend school, and may not work. The family’s nationality does not matter.
Yes. A company that qualifies as a treaty trader may bring in nationals of its own treaty country as executives, supervisors or essential employees, in E-1 status. The company proves its trade once and keeps it current, and each employee proves the shared nationality and the role. The employee rules are the ones the E-2 uses.
Yes, when the owner lives outside the United States and would qualify as a treaty trader or treaty investor. No, when the owner lives in the United States in any status other than E-1 or E-2, or holds a green card. The owner qualifies the company by holding E status, or by being classifiable for it from abroad.
Yes, as an employee of a treaty investor’s business. The owners make the investment, and the employee proves the shared nationality and a qualifying role: executive or supervisory, or special qualifications essential to the business. Unskilled and routine positions do not qualify, and the status ends with the employment or the company’s qualification.
Yes, when the enterprise qualifies through its owners as a group and the owner’s job is executive, supervisory or essential. The usual case is three or more equal partners, none of whom controls the company alone. Together they hold the treaty half, and each enters as an employee rather than as the trader or the investor.
No. The test is whether the business needs the skill and whether the employee has it, and a company may need a skill that none of its staff holds. The exception is the skilled worker sent for start-up or training, whose special qualification is familiarity with the employer’s operation abroad.
Sources
- E-1 Treaty TradersU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services · April 8, 2025
Show all 9 sourcesShow fewer sources
- E-2 Treaty InvestorsU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services · August 20, 2026
- 9 FAM 402.9, the Foreign Affairs Manual chapter on E visas (employees at 402.9-7, Form DS-156E at 402.9-5(A) and 402.9-6(A))U.S. Department of State · February 17, 2026
- Treaty Trader and Treaty Investor Visas (E-1 and E-2)U.S. Department of State
- 8 CFR 214.2(e): Treaty traders and investorsCornell Law School, Legal Information Institute
- 8 CFR 214.1(l): Period of stay, including the 60-day grace periodCornell Law School, Legal Information Institute
- 22 CFR 41.51, the State Department regulation on E-1 and E-2 classificationCornell Law School, Legal Information Institute
- Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, and its instructions (edition 09/09/26)U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
- INA 101(a)(15)(E), 8 USC 1101(a)(15)(E), the statutory basis for E visasCornell Law School, Legal Information Institute
2–6 months
$9,800–$13,800
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