E-2 processing time: from your first dollar to the visa in your passport

The question of how long the E-2 takes has two answers: the time you need until your business is ready for the application, and the time the consulate or USCIS needs to decide. You control the first one, and it is almost always the longer.

When people ask how long the E-2 takes, they usually think of the consulate: how long from application to visa? That is the shorter half of the answer. The longer half comes before it, in your own project. The E-2 requires that you have already invested or are actively in the process of investing, and that your business is about to launch. An application with a business plan and a bank account full of uncommitted money has no foundation.

This guide walks through the stages in the order they happen and separates two kinds of time: deadlines set by law or by agency rules, and periods that depend on you, on your counterparties or on how busy a consulate is. The basics of the visa are covered in our guide to the E-2 investor visa.

1Two clocks: your business and the government

The first clock is yours. It measures how long it takes you to form a company, get a tax ID, open a bank account, transfer capital and commit it so that it is genuinely at risk. Add to that a lease, equipment, suppliers, perhaps the purchase of an existing business. Nobody can speed this clock up for you, but you can plan it well.

The second clock belongs to the government. It starts when your file is complete and you apply, and it stops with the visa in your passport or USCIS approval. Fixed deadlines exist for this clock in only a few places, most importantly Premium Processing at USCIS. At the consulate, appointment availability and the review after the interview determine how long it takes.

Most timelines don't fail on the second clock but on the first: a company formed too late, a bank account that keeps you waiting, or an investment that isn't yet committed when you apply.

2Stage 1: company, tax ID, bank account, investment

The E-2 requires a real, operating business in the US that is at least 50 percent owned by nationals of your treaty country. Usually you form your own US company with a place of business for this, an LLC or a corporation. Forming the company is the fastest part. After that, the company needs a tax ID from the IRS, the EIN. Only applicants with a Social Security number or an ITIN can get one online; if your principal place of business is outside the US, you apply by phone, fax or mail. That takes time you should build in. More on this under Applying for an EIN.

With the EIN you open the business account. Only then can the capital flow. And only once it flows does the part the consular officer looks at begin: the FAM, the State Department's manual for consular officers, requires that the funds be irrevocably committed and the business be about to launch. Money that hasn't been spent isn't enough, nor are contracts that can still be cancelled, or the search for a location. If you're buying an existing business, you can make the purchase conditional on the visa being issued, provided the money is held in escrow.

The FAM doesn't state in dollars how much must be invested. It measures the investment against the cost of the business. Cut corners here and you lose time later, because the file has to be reworked. The standard is explained in our guide to the amount of investment, and the acceptable sources in our guide to the source of funds. Whether a startup, an acquisition or a franchise gets you to an application-ready business faster is compared in our guide Start, buy or franchise a business.

3Stage 2: the file and the business plan

While you build the business, the file takes shape. It must document each of the nine criteria the FAM sets for the E-2: treaty country, nationality, investment, real business, substantial amount, non-marginal business, your role in directing it, where applicable an employee's position, and your intention to leave when your status ends.

The business plan is what takes the most time. It must show that your business will do more than provide a modest living for your family, usually within five years of launch. That calls for credible revenue, costs and hiring. Under the FAM, unverified figures you prepared yourself are generally not enough. Third-party evidence, meaning contracts, invoices, leases and bank statements, is what carries a file. What matters in the plan is covered in our article on the E-2 business plan.

Also allow time for documents from home: proof of nationality, certificates for your spouse and children, evidence of where the money came from, such as a sales contract, a certificate of inheritance or several years of bank statements. Which of these need translating depends on the consulate.

4Stage 3a: the consular route

If you live abroad, you apply for the E-2 at a US embassy or consulate, with no prior petition to USCIS. Usually that is the post in your country of residence. You may also apply outside your consular district; the FAM prohibits a refusal on that ground alone.

The process: you complete Form DS-160. As the principal investor you don't need the supplementary Form DS-156-E, because its questions are built into the DS-160 for you; your family doesn't need it either, but E-2 employees do. You pay the application fee of $315 per person, submit the file as the consulate instructs and book the appointment. Our article Completing the DS-160 shows what the form looks like.

This stage has two parts. The first is the wait for an appointment. The State Department publishes it for every post in its wait-time tool, and it varies with demand. The second is the time after the interview: if everything is complete, the visa is printed and your passport is sent back. If the officer needs more documents or further review, the case is initially refused under INA 221(g) and sits until the documents arrive or the review is finished. There is no paid premium processing at the consulate. Everything about the process at US posts is in our section on the US visa at the consulate.

Some consulates keep a register of companies already reviewed for E visas. For later applications by employees of the same company, that can make the review easier, as long as nothing material has changed at the company. The FAM calls for such registrations to be reviewed at least every five years.

5Stage 3b: change of status with USCIS

If you are already in the US in valid status, for example on a B-1 visitor visa or another work visa, you can switch to E-2 status with USCIS using Form I-129. If you entered on ESTA, you can't: for Visa Waiver Program travelers, 8 CFR 248.2 rules out a change of status. Your spouse and children file at the same time on Form I-539.

The big advantage of this route is predictability. With Premium Processing (Form I-907, $2,965), USCIS commits to deciding or issuing a request within 15 business days, or the fee is refunded. If the agency issues a Request for Evidence, the clock restarts with your response. For the family's I-539, USCIS offers Premium Processing only in certain student and exchange categories, not for E-2 dependents. Without Premium Processing, timing follows the processing times USCIS publishes per form and service center.

The downside: an approved change of status is not a visa. As long as you stay in the US, you are in E-2 status. Once you leave, you need a visa from the consulate to return as an E-2. So if you travel to Europe often, the change of status only saves time at the start. How the two routes fit together is explained in our section on Change of Status.

6After approval: how long the E-2 lasts

When you enter the US on an E-2, you're admitted for up to two years. If you leave and come back on a valid visa, the border authority (CBP) will usually grant you up to two more years. The visa itself can be valid for longer than any single stay. Its validity depends on the State Department's reciprocity schedule for your nationality: German and Austrian nationals get up to 60 months, Swiss nationals up to 48 months, each with unlimited entries, so check the schedule for your own country. Your spouse and children fall under the schedule for their own nationality if they come from a treaty country, otherwise under yours, but never for longer than your visa or your stay.

Inside the US, you can extend your stay with USCIS by up to two years at a time. The regulations set no maximum number of extensions. The condition is that you've complied with the terms of your E-2 throughout and that the business still qualifies. If the business changes fundamentally, for example through a merger, acquisition or sale, you need new approval first. Everything on validity, stays and extensions is in our guide Extending your E-2, and extensions in general are covered under Extending a US visa.

7What drags the process out

Most delays aren't caused by the authorities but by the file. A 221(g) refusal for missing documents costs you weeks. The good news: you have a year to submit what's missing, without filling in a new DS-160 and without paying the application fee again. At USCIS, a request for evidence stops the clock, even with Premium Processing.

Anything you change in the business while the application is pending also costs time: a new co-owner, a different ownership split, a new location. Every change has to be traceable in the file. And a 214(b) refusal resets the clock completely, because only a new application will help. What to do in that case is explained in our guide E-2 refused.

Buying a franchise adds another deadline: the franchisor must give you its disclosure documents at least 14 calendar days before you sign or make your first payment. Those two weeks are time well spent, but build them into your plan.

8Planning a realistic timeline

The stages add up to one simple rule: plan backwards from the day you want to start in the US. Before that comes your consulate appointment or the USCIS decision. Before that, a complete file. And before that, a business where the money isn't just transferred but committed. If you only start setting up the company once you've already rented a home in America, you'll almost always end up under pressure.

Build your family's steps into the plan too. Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 accompany you on the E-2, and your spouse may work in the US in that status. Children approaching their 21st birthday deserve special attention in the timeline. More on this under Spouses and children.

And don't treat the consulate interview as a formality. How it works and which questions typically come up is covered in our guide to the E-2 interview. Thinking about the company and the visa as one plan from day one saves the most time: you set up the company with a US company formation including a business location, the account with US Bank Account Opening, and the visa roadmap sets the order.

In short

• The longest stage of the E-2 is usually the build-up: company, tax ID, bank account, investment and a business that's close to launch. Until then, the application has no foundation.
• At the consulate, timing depends on the wait for an appointment and the review afterwards; there's no premium processing there.
• At USCIS, Premium Processing for $2,965 gets you a decision or a request for evidence within 15 business days; but a change of status is not a visa.
• Once approved, each stay lasts up to two years; extensions are granted for up to two years at a time, with no fixed limit.

How we help you

• Visa Roadmap for Company FormationFormation and visa in one plan, so the company carries the visa.
• Visa RoadmapIn writing: which visa fits you and your family, prepared with the immigration attorney on the firm's team.
• Visa and Green Card ConsultationWhich route to the USA fits you, settled in one conversation.
• US Company FormationLLC, Inc or LP in Delaware, Florida, California, New York, Texas or Wyoming.
• US Bank Account OpeningYour own access to the American financial system, even without an SSN.