3 Tips to Help You Get Your E-2 Visa Approved

The E-2 visa is a great visa option for investors and entrepreneurs to live and work in the U.S. In this guide, we will explain 3 tips to improve your chances of E-2 visa approval.

Introduction

The E-2 visa is an investment-based non-immigrant visa. To qualify for an E-2 visa, you must invest a substantial amount of capital into a U.S. business. After the investment has been put “at risk” (discussed below), you may apply for your E-2 visa. 

With an E-2 visa, one can manage and operate their business in the U.S. Another benefit of the E-2 visa is that it allows your spouse to apply for work authorization to be able to work in the U.S. Additionally, another benefit of the E-2 visa is that you can renew it over and over again as long as your business meets E-2 visa requirements. 

With that general overview, let’s discuss 3 tips to help increase your E-2 visa approval chances.

Tip #1: Invest at Least $100,000 in Your Business if Possible

Our first tip is to make sure that you invest at least $100,000 in your business, if possible, to support E-2 visa approval. This is because the E-2 visa requires that you make a “substantial investment” in your U.S. business.  The E-2 visa regulations do not specify a dollar amount which is considered “substantial.” But, we generally recommend investing at least $100,000 if possible. Please note that investments for less than $100,000 can still qualify for E-2 visa approval. For more details on the minimum investment requirements for the E-2 you can check out our detailed article here. 

Tip #2: Put Your Investment Funds “At Risk”

Next, our second tip is to make sure you put your investment funds “at risk” to strengthen E-2 visa approval. The E-2 visa requires that your investment funds be put at risk. This means that your funds should be subject to loss. To put your funds at risk, the funds should actually be spent toward your business. If the funds are merely deposited within the businesses operating account (but are not spent) then the funds are not considered to be at risk. 

The investment funds must be put at risk before applying to improve your E-2 visa approval chances. Your investment funds can be spent on business expenses such as office supplies, office furniture, equipment, inventory, lease payments, etc.

Tip #3: Make Sure Your Business is Operational

Our third tip to support E-2 visa approval is to make sure that your business is already operational or close to being operational. The E-2 visa requires that your business be real and operating. This means that your business should either already be operating, or should be on the brink of being operational. If your business is no where near operational status, you should not apply for an E-2 visa.

Main Points

As an overview, this article explains 3 tips to help achieve E-2 visa approval. The first tip is to try and invest at least $100,000 in your business. The second tip is to make sure you put your investment funds at risk. This means you should spend your investment funds on business expenses before applying for your E-2 visa. Finally, tip three is that your business should already be operating or on the verge of operating, before you apply for your E-2 visa.

If you have any questions regarding the E-2 visa, Ashoori Law would be happy to assist you or you may give us a call at +1-818-741-1117 or email us at contact@ashoorilaw.com.