Immigration lawyer explains the main requirements to obtain the E2 Visa for investors. To contact an Immigration Lawyer with more questions about the E2 Visa, visit our website.

E2 Visa Requirements

Attorney Menchaca, what are the main requirements to apply for an E2 visa?

The E2 visa, is an investor visa, I call it the small investor visa.

And obviously the first requirements going to be that you invest in your own business in the United States the second requirement is that the business you invest in be able to create jobs in the United States.

Okay, so what is the typical amount that people invest with this visa?

So look, I recommend a minimum of a hundred thousand dollars although as I say that I know that I’ve had many many clients who invested anywhere between fifty and a hundred thousand dollars and have successfully obtained their E2 visa, so the minimum is probably somewhere in there.

Ok. Now let me tell you what the law says, the law says, invest the minimum amount of money needed to be successful in the business that you choose.

Ok. So if you invest in a big business and you want to create say car company to compete with Ford and Toyota then you’re gonna need millions and millions of dollars versus if you want to come to the United States to open up a bakery and all it takes is seventy five thousand dollars to open up a bakery, and be successful, then your minimum is going to be seventy five thousand dollars.

You set your own minimum when you choose the business you want to invest in.

So in your experience what type of business people usually invest in?

Oh, so many, I’ve been doing what I do for a long time so I can’t even remember them all I’ll give you some examples:
dry cleaning, insurance companies, consulting companies, security companies, bakeries transportation companies, eighteen wheelers that move things around, small transportation companies that move like fed ex boxes and deliver for fed ex, restaurants, and all sorts of franchise business.

I see, so on one time and you mentioned that you needed to create jobs, how do you know how many jobs to create with this visa?

So again the E2 visa law is very flexible, what it says is that you need to create the number of jobs needed to be successful.

Okay, so if you need a thousand jobs in order to compete with Ford and Toyota to make cars, then you minimums gonna be a thousand jobs.

If you’re gonna need a bakery and that takes only four jobs, then four jobs is what you need to do.

The law says look, I want to create a business that’s big enough for you to be able to make a living as the investor, and I also want other people to be able to make a living off of your business, so that means create jobs but the number is flexible depending on the business that you choose.

So one last question, is anybody in the world that wants to invest in the United States eligible to apply for an E2 visa?

Unfortunately not everybody, but most people are.

So the United States and your country of nationality need to have a commercial treaty between the two and if they do then your country would be on the list of the two countries so if you have the nationality of a country that’s on the E2 country list you can qualify and if you want to find the list of E2 countries you can find it on the website of my law firm.

Thank you attorney Menchaca.

My pleasure.

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