EB-2 Category (Treaty Investor)
The E-2 classification is authorized for a national of a country
with which the United States has a commercial treaty, who is
coming to the United States solely to direct and develop the
operations of an enterprise in which he or she has invested,
or is actively involved in the process of investing, a substantial
amount of capital. An investor must be coming to develop and
direct the business which means that there must be a controlling
interest.
The treaty investor
countries are:
Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium,
Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, China (Taiwan), Colombia, Congo
(Brazzaville), Congo, Dem. Rep. of the (Kinshasa), Costa Rica,
Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland,
France, Germany, Grenada, Honduras, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica,
Kazakhstan, Japan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands,
Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland,
Romania, Senegal, Slovak Rep., Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden,
Switzerland, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey,
Ukraine, United Kingdom, Yugoslavia.
The investment must be more than marginal, in other it must
have the capacity to generate more than just a living to the
investor and his family, or it must have a significant impact
on the local economy, e.g., in providing or generating jobs.
The investment must be a real and active commercial or entrepreneurial
undertaking, producing some service or commodity, as opposed
to a paper organization, an idle speculative investment in,
e.g., a bank account, undeveloped land or stocks, or a not-for-profit
organization.
The funds or other investment assets must belong to the investor,
whether, e.g., by gift, savings, or inheritance. They need not
come from outside the U.S. but must be received legitimately.
The funds or other investment assets must be placed at risk,
i.e., committed irrevocably, although they may be placed in
escrow subject to issuance of the visa.
Even if alien coming as employed executive, an investor must
be in a position to direct and develop the enterprise
