E-2 Visa Requirements: The Complete Eligibility Checklist

The E-2 category is open only to nationals of countries that maintain a qualifying treaty of commerce and navigation, or an equivalent arrangement, with the United States. The State Department publishes the official treaty country list. Türkiye is a treaty country, which is why the E-2 route is widely used by Turkish entrepreneurs.

Nationality is determined by citizenship, not by where a person lives. When a company applies through its employees, the business itself must hold the treaty nationality, meaning at least 50 percent ownership by nationals of the treaty country.

U.S. immigration law requires a substantial amount of capital, but it does not set a fixed dollar minimum. Substantiality is judged by a proportionality test that weighs the investment against the total cost of buying an established business or creating a new one. A lower-cost business needs a higher proportion of its cost invested; a high-cost business can meet the test with a smaller proportion.

In practice, immigration practitioners commonly describe E-2 investments in the range of roughly 100,000 to 300,000 U.S. dollars for small businesses, although lower amounts have succeeded for low-overhead service businesses. These figures are observations from practice, not legal thresholds.

The funds must be irrevocably committed to the business and subject to partial or total loss if the venture fails. Money simply sitting in a bank account, or a mere intention to invest, does not satisfy the at-risk requirement. Documented spending on equipment, lease deposits, inventory, and similar startup costs helps demonstrate that the capital is genuinely committed.

The business must be a real, active commercial or entrepreneurial undertaking that produces a service or a good. Speculative or idle investment, such as undeveloped land held only for appreciation, does not qualify. A bona fide enterprise is one that is actually doing business, with the licenses, premises, and records that a genuine operation produces.

The enterprise must do more than provide a minimal living for the investor and family. This is the marginality test. A business meets it by showing a present or future capacity to generate significantly more than a minimal living, or by making a significant economic contribution, often shown through hiring U.S. workers. A five-year business plan with realistic projections is the standard way to document non-marginality.

The investor must be coming to the United States to develop and direct the enterprise. This control element is generally established through ownership of at least 50 percent of the business, or through operational control by a managerial position or another corporate device. A passive investor who does not control the business does not meet the develop-and-direct requirement.

The E-2 is a nonimmigrant visa, so the applicant must intend to depart the United States when E-2 status ends. Unlike some categories, the E-2 does not require maintaining a foreign residence, but an intention to leave at the conclusion of status is part of the eligibility picture. The E-2 can be renewed indefinitely while the business continues to qualify.

A spouse and unmarried children under 21 can generally accompany an E-2 investor in derivative status. E-2 spouses are admitted in the E-2S classification and receive work authorization incident to status, without a separate employment authorization application. Children in E-2 status can attend school but are not authorized to work.

Beyond meeting the eligibility tests, an E-2 application is assembled from a recurring set of documents. A typical E-2 visa checklist includes: