E2
The Visa E is designed for business owners, or their employees, who need to stay in the US for long periods of time. However, the beneficiary of an E-2 visa must eventually return to their country of origin, and this visa is not equivalent to permanent residence, or 'Green Card'.
There are two categories of Visas E; namely the category E-1 for traders, and E-2 investor. Since those wishing to acquire a franchise in the US usually opt for the E-2 visa, reference to the particularities of that category will be alone.
In the hypothetical situation that a person meets the requirements for the E-2 visa, and want to acquire the rights to a franchise in the US, that person would be entitled to:
- Work legally in the US, wherever in the company in which he invested a substantial amount of capital, and served as a sponsor for the E-2 Visa.
- The visa will be granted for an initial period of five years, with an unlimited number of possible extensions for consecutive periods of five years.
- Traveling abroad without restriction
- Regardless of the nationality, get the spouse and minor children to accompany the principal beneficiary of the E-2 visa.
- The children do not get work permit, but the spouse can apply for permission to work in the US
Requirements
The request for an E-2 visa is subject to the following conditions:
- The applicant must be a citizen of a country that has signed an investment agreement with the US.
- The applicant must emigrate to the US to work in a business entity owned or a company in which at least 50% of shareholders belonging to citizens of the applicant.
- The applicant must be a business owner who serves as sponsor for the E-2 visa, or should come to occupy a key position in that business entity.
- The applicant must have made a substantial investment in a business in the US and such business must have profit.
- The applicant must intend to leave the US once the purpose for which the visa requested consummated.
Latin American Countries Whose Nationals Are The Possibility Of Request Visa E-2
Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Spain, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico & Panama.
The list of countries whose nationals can apply for E-2 visa, is not limited to those listed in the box above, and include others which have in effect, an agreement on trade and navigation with the US. These countries are Italy, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, Belgium, France, Germany, among others.
Application Process
The application of category E-2 can be made from the US or from abroad. To do this from within the US, the applicant must meet the following requirements:
- Must have attended the US legally, and that the last entry has not been under the Visa Waiver Program, or in one of the following categories: Alien in transit or as an exchange student subject to return home for two years, or under the category of promised of a US citizen.
- Have used a tourist visa to enter the US, but the applicant entered the preconceived intention to apply for E-2 visa once inside US territory.
- The applicant must not be working illegally in the US.
- The release date on the Form I-94 must not have expired.
- There should be a cause of 'inadmissible' in the record of the applicant. Immigration laws establish a series of situations that make a person inadmissible to the US, such as criminal record, among others.
If the applicants meet the requirements listed above, they could change the category E-2, and they would have to complete Form I-129, on the request of a non-immigrant worker. It is necessary, however, to distinguish between requests made from within the US and those made from abroad. As visas are granted only in consulates, the request made from within the US is technically not a visa, but a residence permit under the privileges of an E-2 visa. This implies that if the applicants leave the US, they have to go to the consulate to apply for an E-2 visa and do the paperwork request abroad. Hence the vast majority of people prefer simply to apply the E-2 visa from abroad. The application of E-2 visa must be made in US consulate based in the country where the applicant resides. For example, if the applicant is Spanish and Venezuelan nationality, but resides in the latter, then the request must be made from Caracas and not from Madrid, even if Venezuela does not have a treaty of commerce and navigation with the US.
The procedure for such a request would be to:
- Submit the application electronically Non-immigrant Visa, DS-160.
- Make the payment of government fees, which in the case of the E-2 visa is USD $ 205.
- After having paid such fees, schedule an interview with the consular post.
- The application must be subjected to the visa interview who should carry the necessary documents, including the confirmation page DS-160, proof of payment of the application fee, passport, photos, and documents proving eligibility for visa non-immigrant; including the Special Supplement E, Form DS-156E;
- If the country in which the applicant resides, is subject to tariffs of reciprocity, the amount needs to be paid.
Checklist For Visa Application E-2 From Abroad
- Complete the DS-160 form and add photo electronically;
- Complete the form DS-156 E;
- Photocopy the first page of the passport of each applicant, and demonstrate that the principal applicant is a national of some of the countries that qualify for E-2 visas;
- If married, furnish your marriage certificate;
- If you were previously married, divorce decree or death certificate, to prove that the previous marriage ended;
- Acquire trials documenting the lawful origin of the funds invested in the US;
- Acquire evidence that the beneficiary owns the company in the US (e.g. documentation of the percentage of shares held in the company and partnership agreements or franchises, etc.). Failing that, prove that it is a key employee of the company, which has the same nationality as the owner of the company, and possess the antecedes to take this job position;
- Getting evidence of investment in the US including the value of the company, represented by the invested funds, bank transfers, statements, leases, inventory of assets of the company, etc;
- Submit a business plan;
- Submit an organizational chart, where a description of each post is included;
- Provide evidence that the applicant abandon the US Once completed the purpose for which it requested the E-2 visa;
- Provide proof of payment of fees for the visa;
