E1/E2 Visa

It all started when…

The E1 visa is for traders and their employees to carry on their business in the US if their home country has a commercial treaty with the US conferring visa eligibility (E1 is available for Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, and Estonia but not Iceland and Lithuania).  The international trade must be substantial both in terms of size and volume and the trade must be principally between the US and the treaty country (more than 50%). The E1 is also available to supervisory, executive or essential employees of an E1 qualified company.  There is no maximum time limit on the E1 so it can be extended indefinitely as long as the requirements continue to be met.

The E2 visa is for investors who are coming to the United States to develop and direct an enterprise in which they have made a substantial investment in a real operating enterprise and is a national of a country that has a qualifying commercial treaty with the US (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Lativa, Lithuania, and Estonia qualify but Iceland does not).  This investment may not be marginal (i.e. it must generate significantly more income than just to provide a living to the investor and his/her family, or it must have a significant economic impact in the US).  The E2 is also available to supervisory, executive or essential employees of an E2 qualified company.  There is no maximum time limit on the E2 so it can be extended indefinitely as long as the requirements continue to be met.