Investor & Business Visas

Overview

Two main paths let foreign investors start, buy, or expand a U.S. business: the E-2 treaty investor visa and the EB-5 immigrant investor program.

What We Handle

Business plan review, investment documentation, source-of-funds evidence, and petition preparation and filing for both E-2 and EB-5 cases.

Investment amounts and requirements change periodically — we'll confirm current thresholds for your case.

The E-2 in Detail: What "Substantial" Actually Means

The regulations do not set a dollar threshold for an E-2 investment, and anyone who quotes you one as a rule is describing a rumor rather than a requirement. The test is proportional.

The investment must be substantial in relation to the total cost of purchasing an established business or establishing a new one. It must be an amount sufficient to show a real financial commitment, and of a magnitude that supports the likelihood the investor will successfully develop and direct the enterprise. The consequence of the proportional test is counterintuitive: the lower the cost of the business, the higher the proportion of it your investment must represent.

The capital must also be at risk in the commercial sense — committed to the business and subject to partial or total loss if it fails. Funds sitting in a bank account earmarked for a business are not yet invested. Signed leases, purchased equipment, paid deposits, and executed contracts are what irrevocable commitment looks like on paper.

The source of funds has to be documented and lawful. This is often the most labor-intensive part of an E-2 filing, and it is the part clients most consistently underestimate.

The E-2 Business Itself

The enterprise must be a real, active, operating commercial business producing goods or services. A holding entity, a passive investment, or an idle property does not qualify.

It also must not be marginal. A marginal enterprise is one without the present or future capacity to generate more than enough income to provide a minimal living for the investor and their family. A new business does not have to be profitable on day one — there is a window to demonstrate that capacity — but the business plan has to show a credible path to it, with hiring projections that are grounded rather than aspirational.

The investor must develop and direct the enterprise, which generally means owning at least 50 percent of it or otherwise holding operational control. An investor who writes a check and steps back does not meet this.

Employees of a treaty investor may also qualify in some situations, where they share the investor's nationality and serve in an executive or supervisory role or possess essential skills.

E-2 Status: Duration, Renewal, and the Catch

The maximum initial period of stay is two years. Extensions of stay or changes of status may be granted in increments of up to two years each, and there is no limit on the number of extensions. On return travel from abroad, an E-2 holder is generally readmitted for a two-year period automatically.

That structure is why the E-2 is described as indefinitely renewable but not permanent. It can be maintained for many years, and families do build lives on it — but every E-2 holder must maintain an intention to depart the United States when their status ends or is terminated.

The corollary is that the E-2 leads nowhere on its own. It does not convert into a green card, and time spent in it does not accrue toward permanent residence. Families who want permanence eventually need a separate immigrant path, and building one usually takes years of lead time.

One meaningful practical advantage: spouses of E-2 workers in valid status are considered employment authorized incident to status, meaning the spouse may work without applying for a separate work permit.

The EB-5 in Detail: Investment, Jobs, and Conditions

EB-5 asks for two things: a qualifying investment in a new commercial enterprise, and the creation of full-time positions for at least ten qualifying employees.

Full-time means a minimum of 35 hours per week. An investor in a standalone project must create those positions directly through the enterprise. An investor going through a regional center may count indirect and induced jobs, calculated by economic methodology, for a substantial share of the requirement — which is the main practical reason regional center investment exists.

The required investment amount is set by regulation, with a lower amount for projects in a targeted employment area — a rural area or an area of high unemployment — and a standard amount everywhere else. Those amounts are subject to periodic inflation adjustment on a schedule set by statute, so the correct figure is the one in effect when the petition is filed, not the one someone quoted last year. We confirm it for your case.

A standalone investor and a regional center investor file different petition forms. The evidence differs too: a standalone filing has to carry the business plan and job creation showing on its own, while a regional center filing relies substantially on the project's documentation — which makes evaluating the project itself, and the regional center behind it, the most important due diligence an EB-5 investor does.

What Happens After an EB-5 Petition Is Approved

Approval of the petition is followed by adjustment of status or consular processing, and the investor and qualifying family members receive conditional permanent residence for a two-year period.

Conditions are removed by filing Form I-829 during the 90-day period immediately before the second anniversary of admission or adjustment. That filing is where the promises made at the petition stage are tested: the investment was sustained, the enterprise operated, and the jobs were created.

This is why the quality of the underlying project matters more than the paperwork around it. A well-documented petition attached to a project that does not create the jobs produces a conditional green card that cannot be made permanent.

The 2022 statutory overhaul also created reserved visa allocations for rural projects, high-unemployment area projects, and infrastructure projects, which can affect waiting times differently by project type. Note as well that the regional center program operates under a congressional authorization with an expiration date — its status is something to confirm at the time of investment rather than assume.

Choosing Between Them

E-2 and EB-5 are not two versions of the same thing. They differ in what they require and in what they produce.

The E-2 is generally faster, generally requires less capital, and can be renewed indefinitely — but it is available only to nationals of treaty countries, requires active management, and never becomes permanent residence.

The EB-5 is open to investors of any nationality and leads to a green card, but it requires a larger investment, a job creation showing, and a longer timeline, and it can involve substantial waiting depending on the investor's country of birth.

A treaty-country national who ultimately wants permanent residence sometimes uses both — operating on E-2 while an immigrant case is pending. Whether that sequence makes sense depends on the business, the family, and the timeline, and it is a conversation to have before capital is committed rather than after.

Who This Guide Is Not For

This guide is about coming to the United States through your own investment. If a U.S. employer wants to hire you, see the H-1B guide, or the O-1 guide if your record involves significant recognition in your field. Canadian and Mexican professionals should see the TN guide.

It is also not for someone who wants a passive return without operating a business. E-2 requires developing and directing the enterprise, and EB-5 requires job creation that a genuinely passive holding will not produce.

It does not cover the L-1 intracompany transfer, which is the right category for an executive, manager, or specialized-knowledge employee moving within an existing multinational company. If you already own a business abroad and want to open a U.S. office, ask us about that route before assuming E-2 is the answer.