The E-2 lets a national of a treaty country live in the US to develop and direct a business in which they have invested a substantial amount of capital. You must have invested already, or be actively in the process of investing, and you must control the business: normally by owning at least half of it, or through operational control as its manager.
It is a temporary visa, and it can run for a long time. Your stay runs for up to two years at a time, and extensions of up to two years each have no limit on their number, as long as the business still qualifies. You must keep the intention to leave when your E-2 status ends. For the consulate a clear statement of that intention is normally enough, and you do not have to keep a home in Europe: you may sell your house and move everything you own.
The E-2 is not the EB-5. The EB-5 is a green card through investment, with amounts set in the statute and a job creation requirement. The E-2 is a visa for running your own business, measured against that business.
The E-2 depends on a treaty between the United States and the country of your nationality. Your passport decides, not where you live and not where your company is registered. Germany has had its treaty since 1956, Austria since 1931, Switzerland since 1855 and the United Kingdom since 1815. Portugal joined most recently: Portuguese nationals have been able to receive E visas since 15 March 2024.
| Nationality | E-2 treaty |
|---|---|
| Austria | Yes |
| Belgium | Yes |
| Bulgaria | Yes |
| Croatia | Yes |
| Cyprus | No |
| Czech Republic | Yes |
| Denmark | Yes |
| Estonia | Yes |
| Finland | Yes |
| France | Yes |
| Germany | Yes |
| Greece | No (E-1 treaty trader only) |
| Hungary | No |
| Iceland | No |
| Ireland | Yes |
| Italy | Yes |
| Latvia | Yes |
| Liechtenstein | No |
| Lithuania | Yes |
| Luxembourg | Yes |
| Malta | No |
| Netherlands | Yes |
| Norway | Yes |
| Poland | Yes |
| Portugal | Yes |
| Romania | Yes |
| Slovakia | Yes |
| Slovenia | Yes |
| Spain | Yes |
| Sweden | Yes |
| Switzerland | Yes |
| United Kingdom | Yes (see below) |
Source: U.S. Department of State, Foreign Affairs Manual, 9 FAM 402.9-10, treaty list as revised 17 February 2026 (CT:VISA-2190), https://fam.state.gov/fam/09FAM/09FAM040209.html. Read 25 October 2026. Treaty lists change; we confirm the position for every passport in your family at the start.
British nationals. The UK treaty applies to British territory in Europe (the British Isles other than the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar) and to its inhabitants, meaning people who actually and permanently reside there. You also need UK nationality; the nationality of another Commonwealth country does not count. If you are British and live elsewhere, raise it at the very start.
Two passports. A business can have only one qualifying nationality for the E-2, unless it is owned and controlled 50/50 by nationals of two treaty countries. If you hold two passports, you choose which one the business uses, and every E-2 employee of the business needs that same nationality.
A company as the investor. If your European company invests rather than you personally, its nationality is the nationality of its owners, wherever it is registered. At least half of it has to be owned by nationals of the treaty country, and where one company owns another, the chain is followed up to the people at the top. Shares held by US green card holders do not count towards that half.
Your family. Your spouse and children do not need your nationality. Their status comes from yours.
This is the question everybody asks first. The State Department's own manual answers it plainly: no set dollar figure constitutes a minimum. The investment is measured against the business you are buying or building, not against a number from someone else's case.
Substantial in relation to the business. The amount has to be substantial in proportion to the total cost of buying an established business or establishing a new one. It has to be enough to show your commitment to the business succeeding, and large enough to make it likely that you can develop and direct it successfully. The lower the cost of the business, the higher the share of that cost you have to put in.
At risk. Investment means capital placed at risk in the commercial sense, with the aim of making a profit. If the money cannot be partly or wholly lost when the business does badly, it is not an investment. Loans secured on the business itself do not count. Loans secured on your own personal assets, such as a second mortgage on your home, or an unsecured loan on your own signature, can count, because you carry the risk.
Committed. Money sitting in an account, or a promise to invest later, is not enough. The funds have to be committed to the business, really and irrevocably. A purchase made conditional on the visa can still qualify if the money is held in escrow and released once the visa is issued.
Yours, and clean. You need to show that you own and control the money and that it does not come from criminal activity, directly or indirectly. Inheriting a business is not itself an investment.
A real, operating business. The enterprise must be a real and active commercial undertaking that produces a service or a product for profit. A paper company does not qualify, nor does an idle speculative holding such as undeveloped land or shares you do not direct. Nonprofits are excluded.
More than marginal. The business must have the present or future capacity to generate more than a minimal living for you and your family, or to make a significant economic contribution. For a new business, that capacity should generally be realizable within five years of starting normal business activity. A credible business plan is the main evidence. A physical office is not a requirement in itself, though it can help show the business is real.
The State Department gives its officers a checklist for every E-2 application. Your file has to answer each point, and the interview follows the same order.
With the E-2 the order is everything: invest and make the business ready to trade first, apply second. A business plan with money that will only arrive later is not enough.
Yours, your family's and any co-owner's. The nationality that the business will carry is decided here, before anything else.
You hold at least half or have operational control. Structure and state are chosen with the visa in mind, and the US business is the vehicle your investment demonstrably goes into.
The money is committed, at risk and spent on what the business needs to start: premises where the plan needs them, equipment, stock, people. Alongside, the paper trail that shows where every dollar came from.
A tax number, a US bank account with movement on it, contracts with customers and suppliers, and a business plan that shows the business will be more than marginal within five years.
From outside the US you apply directly at the US embassy or consulate responsible for where you live, with no USCIS petition first. If you are already in the US in another lawful nonimmigrant status, a change to E-2 status can be requested from USCIS instead, on Form I-129.
Each entry gives you up to two years. Extensions run in steps of up to two years with no limit on their number, as long as the business still meets the rules.
As an E-2 investor you may work only in the activity for which your status was approved: developing and directing your business. A substantive change, such as a merger, an acquisition or the sale of the business, has to be approved by USCIS on a new Form I-129 if you want to stay in E-2 status. Smaller changes need no filing.
Your business can also bring in staff on the E-2. They need the same nationality as the business, which must be at least half owned by treaty nationals, and they must come for an executive or supervisory role or with special qualifications that make them essential to the business. Knowing the language and the culture of home is not enough by itself. An investor who holds a US green card cannot bring in E-2 employees.
Your spouse is not tied in the same way, and may work for any employer.
Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can come with you or follow later, whatever their nationality, and they are generally granted the same period of stay as you.
Your spouse is authorized to work incident to E-2 status, without applying for a separate permit. Since 30 January 2022 the I-94 record shows the code E-2S, which an employer accepts as proof. Children do not receive work authorization through your status.
Watch the travel dates. When you re-enter the US you receive a fresh period of up to two years, but that new period applies to your family only if they enter with you, or travel and return themselves within it. Otherwise they need to extend their own stay in time, on Form I-539. And plan early for a child approaching 21. The practical side of the move is on moving to the USA.
Before you invest a single dollar, find out which visa fits you and your family. The E-2 depends on your nationality, on your business and on where your money comes from. Check that first, and you invest in the right business.
If a company abroad can send you, look at the L-1 first: it is usually faster and simpler, and it carries dual intent. Most people arrive at the E-2 because there is no company abroad substantial enough to send them. That is an eligibility gate, not a judgement about difficulty. An E-2 prepared with care works.
The E-2 does not lead to a green card by itself. If you want to stay for good, you need a second route alongside it, for example a green card through investment under the EB-5, or through an employer.
Timing matters. Once a green card petition has been filed for you, the consulate has to be satisfied that you still intend to leave at the end of your authorized stay. Which filing comes when, and from where, is part of the plan from the start, especially for families whose children are close to 21.
The State Department sets no minimum dollar amount. The investment has to be substantial in relation to the cost of the business you buy or build, at risk and committed, and the business has to be real, operating and more than marginal. What that means for your plan comes out of your own numbers.
Then the E-2 is closed to that passport. Look at whether a business abroad could send you on the L-1, whether anyone in the family holds a second nationality, or whether a green card route fits. We go through it with you.
You choose, but a business can carry only one qualifying nationality, and all its E-2 staff need the same one. The exception is a business owned and controlled 50/50 by nationals of two treaty countries.
Yes. For an established business the cost the investment is measured against is usually the purchase price. A purchase conditional on the visa can still count if the money is held in escrow until the visa is issued.
Not necessarily. A physical office is not a requirement for the E-2 in itself, though it can help show the business is real, and some businesses obviously need premises.
Yes. Spouses in E-2 status are authorized to work incident to their status, shown by an I-94 with the code E-2S. Children do not receive work authorization through your status.
Yes, through a second route such as the EB-5 or an employer. The E-2 requires the intention to leave when your status ends, so the timing of a green card filing needs planning.
Your passport, your plan and your timing. We will tell you whether the E-2 is open to you, or whether another route fits better.
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