Which Business is Best for An E2 Visa

In this article, we are going to answer the question:  What business is best for an E2 visa?  The answer to that question is an important one because people commonly are concerned about what type of business they should invest in when considering an E2 visa.  But – spoiler alert – the answer is that it depends on you.  Read on to learn more.

We are Ashoori Law, led by Michael Ashoori, a U.S. immigration lawyer based in Los Angeles, California.  At our law firm we work with clients from all over the world, and we regularly post articles and videos to make sure that you are up to date with the latest immigration news.  If, after reading this article, you have more questions, then we invite you to contact us at Ashoori Law.  Feel free to call us at +1-818-741-1117 or you may schedule a free consultation by clicking this link.

The E2 Visa

The E2 visa is a special non-immigrant visa that allows citizens of certain countries who have an E2 treaty with the United States to invest in a business in the United States so they can either invest in a brand-new startup company, or they can purchase an existing company. Based on making that investment, they can get an E2 visa to live in the United States and to operate their business. So, this is a wonderful option for investors, entrepreneurs, business owners, and others to come to the United States and get the opportunity to operate their own business and grow their own business in the US.

Oftentimes, however, people don’t have a clear idea of what type of business they want to invest in. That decision has a lot to do with the business requirements of the E2 visa program. One of the main requirements, as it pertains to the E2 visa, is that you must invest in an active for-profit business.

1. Requirement of of investment in an Active, For-Profit Business

Let’s take a look at those two components.  “Active” basically means that the business has to do some sort of an active commercial activity, like a restaurant. The business cannot be some sort of passive business, such as owning a home and just renting that home to a single tenant. A passive investment would not qualify for an E2 visa. A “for-profit” business means what you would expect.  Thus, investment in a non-profit business, like a charity of some kind, would not qualify for an E2 visa. 

Now that we know what an “active for-profit” business means, the E2 visa leaves you with a variety of investment choices:

• You can invest in a franchise,
• You can do your own brand-new startup company,
• You can purchase an existing business,
• Your business can be involved in some sort of a service like a cleaning business,
• You could invest in some sort of a retail store where you sell some sort of a product,
• You could invest in a restaurant or a cafe.

There are many options that you can choose from to qualify for an E2 visa.  That is why so many investors have so-called “decision fatigue.” They don’t really know what to invest in.

So, let us identify some factors that you may want to consider when when choosing what type of a business to invest in.  (Please note:  this is not intended as investment advice, just a way to help you identify some important factors from an immigration standpoint). 

2. Business Investment Factors

The first factor you should consider is:  What do I feel comfortable doing? And what do I think has a good chance of success or that I reasonably foresee myself having success in?  Those are very important questions to ask yourself because if you want to extend and renew your E2 visa, you have to show that your business is not small.  In other words, your business, for E2 visa purposes, cannot be a marginal enterprise (one that only provides enough income for the E2 investor and their family).

When it comes time to renew your E2 visa, you have to show that your business is not a marginal enterprise. To do that, your business has to have some level of success. Accordingly, when you are choosing between different options for your E2 visa business, you want to choose a business in which you feel confident in, and that you will enjoy.

The second factor is:  How much can I invest in this business? One of the key requirements to qualify for an E2 visa is that you must make a substantial investment in your business. The regulations do not specify what dollar amount is considered substantial. At our law firm, we recommend at least $100,000, but investments for less than that can also get approved. For example, we had a case in which one of our clients got their E2 visa approved based on making an investment of $55,000. Remember, not all businesses are the same.  For some businesses, an investor can go in and easily spend $100,000 to get that business operational.  For other businesses, however, it can be a big struggle to figure out how you are going to spend money in that business.

For example, assume you want to start a restaurant.  Getting a restaurant built and established can be very expensive. There is a lot of room to invest money for somebody who is going to start a restaurant. By contrast, with a service-based business like a tutoring company, you might have a hard time figuring out where you need to make substantial investments, because a tutoring company does not have the kind of initial expenses and overhead that a restaurant has (perhaps only a computer and website).

To be sure, we are not recommending that investing in a restaurant is better than a tutoring company, or some other service-based company.  We are just making sure that you understand you should determine how you will spend your investment ahead of time, before getting too deep into the E2 visa process and realizing that you will have difficulty making that substantial investment.

Conclusion

As you can see, the question of which business is best for an investment when seeking an E2 visa, you need to be aware of the type of business that will qualify for an E2 visa, and you need to think ahead about how much and where you will spend your substantial investment in the business.  We hope this article gave you a little help in that regard.

My name is Michael Ashoori and I’m a U.S. immigration lawyer and the founder of Ashoori Law. As an immigration lawyer, I help families, professionals, investors, and entrepreneurs get visas, green cards, and citizenship to the United States.  If you have any questions, feel free to schedule a free consultation by clicking this link.