E2 VIsa Clarity

[TempunAlex 7]

Hey guys,

 

I've been researching online about the requirements for an E-2 Visa for investment.

 

For some strange reason there's absolutely nothing regarding having an American Spouse. The law for said visa states that the applicant must either be from a treaty country or have a spouse that's a citizen from any of the countries on the treaty list. However there is 0 information as to if having a United States Citizen as a spouse counts.

Can someone share some insight on this? 

 

Thank you!

[SteveInBostonI130 3,319]

E-2 does not require the person to be married to a USC.  It is for foreigners from qualifying countries to immigrate to the US if they have sufficient money to invest in the qualifying categories.

[Boiler 43,433]

E2 is a non immigrant visa, I am not sure what you mean about having a US Spouse, not an obvious or likely common situation.

[powerpuff 5,895]

~~ Topic moved from What Visa do I need to Work Visas as the question is about E2 visa ~~

[TempunAlex 7]

 

49 minutes ago, Boiler said:

E2 is a non immigrant visa, I am not sure what you mean about having a US Spouse, not an obvious or likely common situation.

There are 2 ways to qualify for the visa according to various sources including gov website. 

 

I will paste here what it says :

 

":Citizens of non-treaty countries can qualify to apply for an E-2 visa through one of two ways. Either by taking up the passport/citizenship of a treaty country or derivatively i.e. if the applicant investor is married to a citizen of a treaty country, they may be eligible to apply for an E-2 visa."

 

This means that if you are from a country that is not within the treaty but you are married to a person that is from a country of the treaty ou can still apply. What if your spouse is from the United States? Would that qualify since they are from the country of origin of the treaty? That is what I am trying to figure out.

 

Thank you!

[Boiler 43,433]

Treat countries are ones the US has a treaty with.

 

I do remember somebody who obtained an E1 who was married to a USC, needed a waiver that was available for a non immigrant but not a immigrant.

[TempunAlex 7]

56 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Treat countries are ones the US has a treaty with.

 

I do remember somebody who obtained an E1 who was married to a USC, needed a waiver that was available for a non immigrant but not a immigrant.

Do you have any idea what that waiver is? Would love to do more research on this and that seems like great help.

 

Thank you!

[Boiler 43,433]

I assume it was a D3.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

2 hours ago, TempunAlex said:

 

There are 2 ways to qualify for the visa according to various sources including gov website. 

 

I will paste here what it says :

 

":Citizens of non-treaty countries can qualify to apply for an E-2 visa through one of two ways. Either by taking up the passport/citizenship of a treaty country or derivatively i.e. if the applicant investor is married to a citizen of a treaty country, they may be eligible to apply for an E-2 visa."

 

This means that if you are from a country that is not within the treaty but you are married to a person that is from a country of the treaty ou can still apply. What if your spouse is from the United States? Would that qualify since they are from the country of origin of the treaty? That is what I am trying to figure out.

 

Thank you!

I believe the “married to citizen of treaty country” has to do with cross chargeability rules. Chargeability determines who can get a US visa.  Seeing as US citizens cannot get visas for the US, the logical answer to your question is no.

 

This is aside from the fact that you need to show non immigrant intent for a non immigrant visa, which is probably tricky if you want to be living in the US with your USC spouse. 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

1 hour ago, Boiler said:

Treat countries are ones the US has a treaty with.

 

I do remember somebody who obtained an E1 who was married to a USC, needed a waiver that was available for a non immigrant but not a immigrant.

But did they qualify for the E1 on their own merits? What did they need a waiver for?

[Boiler 43,433]

3 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

But did they qualify for the E1 on their own merits? What did they need a waiver for?

Racking my few brain cells and can not remember, maybe a false claim to US Citizenship or Drugs, definitely something a I 601 would not work for.

 

I was surprised, only one I have seen so sort of stuck in the memory. D3 can waive a lot more, not sure if it has any limits but more than the I 601.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

1 minute ago, Boiler said:

Racking my few brain cells and can not remember, maybe a false claim to US Citizenship or Drugs, definitely something a I 601 would not work for.

 

I was surprised, only one I have seen so sort of stuck in the memory. D3 can waive a lot more, not sure if it has any limits but more than the I 601.

But the OP is looking for a way to qualify for the visa in the first place. Waiver is useless if there’s no reason  to waive anything?

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

11 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

I believe the “married to citizen of treaty country” has to do with cross chargeability rules. Chargeability determines who can get a US visa.  Seeing as US citizens cannot get visas for the US, the logical answer to your question is no.

 

This is aside from the fact that you need to show non immigrant intent for a non immigrant visa, which is probably tricky if you want to be living in the US with your USC spouse. 

Too late to edit, I just wanted to clarify in case OP is not familiar with this - chargeability as referred to here determines who can apply for a visa for those visas that are restricted by nationality. 

[Boiler 43,433]

3 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

But the OP is looking for a way to qualify for the visa in the first place. Waiver is useless if there’s no reason  to waive anything?

This was about why someone married to a USC would want to apply for an E

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

6 minutes ago, Boiler said:

This was about why someone married to a USC would want to apply for an E

OP was asking if he could qualify for the E2 on cross chargeability rules (even though he didn’t phrase it that way) because his wife is a citizen of the US. Not sure what question you were answering.