Visas and the queue

E-2 treaty investor visa

Also called E-2, E-2 visa, treaty investor.

The E-2 treaty investor visa is a nonimmigrant classification for a national of a country holding a qualifying treaty of commerce and navigation with the United States who has invested, or is actively in the process of investing, a substantial amount of capital in a bona fide US enterprise and seeks entry solely to develop and direct it.

What it decides

There is no dollar threshold. The capital must be substantial in relation to the cost of buying or creating that kind of enterprise, the enterprise may not be marginal, meaning it lacks the present or future capacity to generate more than a minimal living for the investor and family, and the investor must develop and direct it, shown by owning at least 50 percent, by operational control through a managerial position or corporate device, or by other means. Initial admission runs up to two years and extensions come in increments of up to two years, with no stated ceiling on how many, but the holder must maintain an intention to depart when the status ends, so E-2 does not itself lead to a green card. It is not fatal to one either: an E application may not be denied solely because an immigrant petition has been filed or approved, which matters to an E-2 holder who later files Form I-526E. An investor who acquired the treaty nationality through a financial investment and who has not previously held E status must also have been domiciled in that country for a continuous period of at least three years at some point before applying.

Governed by 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(E), INA 101(a)(15)(E). The three year domicile parenthetical sits in the flush text of subparagraph (E), not in clause (ii), and was inserted by section 5902(b) of Public Law 117-263, the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, approved 23 December 2022. 8 CFR 214.2(e)(2) for the classification itself, (e)(5) for the departure intention and the rule that a filed or approved immigrant petition is not by itself a ground of denial, (e)(14) for substantial amount of capital, (e)(15) for marginal enterprise, (e)(16) for solely to develop and direct including the 50 percent ownership test, (e)(19)(i) for the two year admission and (e)(20) for the two year extension increments.

Where this is explained properly

Pages here that go into e-2 treaty investor visa rather than mentioning it.

Related terms

EB-5 Immigrant Investor ProgramEB-5 is the employment-based fifth preference immigrant visa category: a foreign national who invests the required capital in a new US commercial enterprise receives permanent residence, granted first on a two year conditional basis, and keeps it by proving that the investment created full-time jobs for at least ten qualifying US workers. It leads to residence, not citizenship.
Direct EB-5Direct EB-5, which USCIS calls the standalone program, is an EB-5 investment made without a regional center and filed on Form I-526, where only the full-time jobs created by the new commercial enterprise itself, or by its wholly owned subsidiaries, count toward the ten.
Minimum investment amount$800,000 for an investment in a targeted employment area or in an infrastructure project, and $1,050,000 for every other investment, set by 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(C) (INA 203(b)(5)(C)). The amount that applies is the one in force on the date the petition is filed.
Adjustment of statusAdjustment of status is the process under 8 U.S.C. 1255 by which someone already in the United States becomes a permanent resident without leaving, on Form I-485, instead of collecting an immigrant visa at a consulate abroad. An EB-5 investor who adjusts is granted conditional permanent residence for two years, the same status a consular applicant receives on admission.
L-1 intracompany transfereeL-1 is temporary US work status for an employee a multinational moves into a US parent, branch, affiliate or subsidiary, as an executive or manager under L-1A or in a specialized knowledge role under L-1B, after one continuous year of employment abroad with the same group of companies.

Checked against primary sources on 10 August 2026. Back to the glossary