Do you wish to come to the United States and start a business? If so, the E2 visa may be just the visa for you. Essentially, E2 visas are for foreign entrepreneurs who have the passion and focus to start a business (either from scratch or by purchasing an existing business) and to use that business to employ U.S. citizens.
To qualify for E-2 classification, the treaty investor must:
Let's look into each of these requirements in more detail. First, the treaty investor must be a national of a country in which the United States maintains a treaty of commerce and navigation. How do you find out whether your country fits that definition? Simply click on the following link. This is the first step.
The second step is to either invest in or be actively in the process of investing a substantial amount of capital in a bona fide enterprise in the United States. There are several sub-requirements within the second step. These are as follows:
Simply owning a business that buys and sells real property would not classify since the investment would not irrevocably committed as the investor could simply sell the property to recoup his money. The same holds true for owning a business to invest your money in mutual funds since the funds could easily be pulled whenever the investor so chose. There absolutely has to be an at-risk component to your business in order to qualify such as starting a restaurant or purchasing a carwash.
The requirement for the business to be currently operational or commenced imminently can be tricky for the investors that wish to start their own business from scratch as such as business cannot possibly be currently operational since the visa hasn't been granted yet and the business hasn't started. The best advice to satisfy this requirement would be to go ahead and have everything in place prior to the investor obtaining the visa and traveling to the United States. For example, the investor should already have started a company in the U.S. (albeit at this point in the process it will be a company that is one in name only). You will achieve this by filing for corporate status with the secretary of state for the state in which you intend to run your business. For some, this might be an LLC and for others it might be a corporation - just remember that the investor must own at least 50% of the business to qualify. An additional step, is that you should have all of your contracts be signed and ready to go for whatever assets you intend to purchase for your business - just make sure that the buy-sell agreements have a clause which makes the agreements null and void in the event the E2 visa is denied to the investor. Also, you will need to put the funds in an escrow account in the United States, which will be transferred to the seller of whatever you will be purchasing immediately upon the granting of the E2 visa by the U.S. consulate.
Additionally, the business cannot be a marginal business - meaning that it isn't enough for you to simply hire yourself and your family members. You will have to have a five year plan which shows to the consular official that your business will hire U.S. workers within five years of starting the business. The five year plan can sometimes be the trickiest as it requires you to hire a CPA that has familiarity with the E2 visa and can assist you in creating the five year plan for your business.
The final requirement is that the investor own at least 50% of the business. This is probably the easiest step as it can be accomplished by producing to the consular official the corporate documents which evidence this. This will often times be in the form of an operating agreement of an LLC or through the evidence of shares issued to the shareholders of a corporation.
The E2 visa is one of the most complicated visas to get. They require substantial documentation in order to prove each of the requirements. They also require a substantial investment. Obviously, it depends on the type of business you are running, but you should be prepared to invest a minimum of $100,000 in your business if you want your E2 visa application approved. You should also be prepared to hire an immigration attorney and CPA to help you with your application. Louisiana immigration lawyers at Liberty Law Group have substantial experience in helping their clients in the E2 visa process. Give us a call today for a free consultation and allow us to give you the roadmap for obtaining an E2 visa.
To qualify for E-2 classification, the treaty investor must:
- Be a national of a country with which the United States maintains a treaty of commerce and navigation;
- Have invested, or be actively in the process of investing, a substantial amount of capital in a bona fide enterprise in the United States; and
- Be seeking to enter the United States solely to develop and direct the investment enterprise. This is established by showing at least 50% ownership of the enterprise or possession of operational control through a managerial position or other corporate device.
Let's look into each of these requirements in more detail. First, the treaty investor must be a national of a country in which the United States maintains a treaty of commerce and navigation. How do you find out whether your country fits that definition? Simply click on the following link. This is the first step.
The second step is to either invest in or be actively in the process of investing a substantial amount of capital in a bona fide enterprise in the United States. There are several sub-requirements within the second step. These are as follows:
- The investor has made or is in the process of making an at risk, irrevocably committed investment (funds in bank account do not qualify);
- The enterprise is currently operational or will commence operations imminently;
- The investment is substantial;
- The investment is more than a marginal one solely for earning a living. The enterprise has the present or future capacity to generate more than simply enough income for a minimal living for the treaty investor and his or her family (the projected future capacity should be realized within 5 years after the business start-up);
Simply owning a business that buys and sells real property would not classify since the investment would not irrevocably committed as the investor could simply sell the property to recoup his money. The same holds true for owning a business to invest your money in mutual funds since the funds could easily be pulled whenever the investor so chose. There absolutely has to be an at-risk component to your business in order to qualify such as starting a restaurant or purchasing a carwash.
The requirement for the business to be currently operational or commenced imminently can be tricky for the investors that wish to start their own business from scratch as such as business cannot possibly be currently operational since the visa hasn't been granted yet and the business hasn't started. The best advice to satisfy this requirement would be to go ahead and have everything in place prior to the investor obtaining the visa and traveling to the United States. For example, the investor should already have started a company in the U.S. (albeit at this point in the process it will be a company that is one in name only). You will achieve this by filing for corporate status with the secretary of state for the state in which you intend to run your business. For some, this might be an LLC and for others it might be a corporation - just remember that the investor must own at least 50% of the business to qualify. An additional step, is that you should have all of your contracts be signed and ready to go for whatever assets you intend to purchase for your business - just make sure that the buy-sell agreements have a clause which makes the agreements null and void in the event the E2 visa is denied to the investor. Also, you will need to put the funds in an escrow account in the United States, which will be transferred to the seller of whatever you will be purchasing immediately upon the granting of the E2 visa by the U.S. consulate.
Additionally, the business cannot be a marginal business - meaning that it isn't enough for you to simply hire yourself and your family members. You will have to have a five year plan which shows to the consular official that your business will hire U.S. workers within five years of starting the business. The five year plan can sometimes be the trickiest as it requires you to hire a CPA that has familiarity with the E2 visa and can assist you in creating the five year plan for your business.
The final requirement is that the investor own at least 50% of the business. This is probably the easiest step as it can be accomplished by producing to the consular official the corporate documents which evidence this. This will often times be in the form of an operating agreement of an LLC or through the evidence of shares issued to the shareholders of a corporation.
The E2 visa is one of the most complicated visas to get. They require substantial documentation in order to prove each of the requirements. They also require a substantial investment. Obviously, it depends on the type of business you are running, but you should be prepared to invest a minimum of $100,000 in your business if you want your E2 visa application approved. You should also be prepared to hire an immigration attorney and CPA to help you with your application. Louisiana immigration lawyers at Liberty Law Group have substantial experience in helping their clients in the E2 visa process. Give us a call today for a free consultation and allow us to give you the roadmap for obtaining an E2 visa.