United States · Business & founder
E-2 Treaty Investor Visa
Open and unlimited in number, but the citizenship-by-investment back door was substantially closed on 27 December 2022 by PL 117-263 (the AMIGOS Act provision in the FY2023 NDAA). Anyone who acquired treaty-country nationality through a financial investment must now show three continuous years of domicile in that treaty country before qualifying for E-2. Citizenships acquired by investment BEFORE 27 December 2022 are not caught, and nationality acquired by descent, birth or marriage is not caught.
The 'buy a Grenada passport, get an E-2 next quarter' pitch that dominates the CBI market has been legally dead since December 2022 for anyone acquiring the citizenship after that date — you now need three years of genuine domicile in Grenada or Türkiye first. Marketers still sell the old story. Verify the acquisition date before anyone wires a contribution.
Qualifying routes
No statutory minimum. There is only a 'substantial' and 'proportional' test; in practice consulates rarely approve much under USD 100–150k, and marginal-enterprise refusals are common at the low end.
Grenada is an E-2 treaty country and is heavily marketed to Indian and Chinese nationals precisely because their own countries have no E-2 treaty. Contribution from USD 235,000 to the National Transformation Fund — but see the 3-year domicile bar for post-2022 acquirers.
Türkiye is an E-2 treaty country; CBI via real estate from USD 400,000 or a USD 500,000 bank deposit. Same 3-year domicile bar applies to post-2022 acquirers.
The facts
- Minimum investment
- $150k
- Total landed cost
- USD 150k+ into a real operating business, plus USD 15–40k in counsel and business-plan work; if routed through Grenada or Türkiye add the CBI cost (roughly USD 235k+ or USD 400k+ respectively) and three years of actual domicile
- Timeline
- 2–8 months — Consular E-2 processing varies enormously by post; some posts are 2–3 months, others considerably longer
- Physical presence
- No minimum, but the visa exists to let you direct and develop the enterprise; long absences undercut renewal
- Family
- spouse (work-authorised incident to status)unmarried children under 21 (no work authorisation; status ends at 21)
- Permanent residency
- None. E-2 is a non-immigrant status renewable indefinitely in 2-year increments — it never ripens into a green card.
- Citizenship
- None directly
- Language test
- n/a
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- nationality of a country with a qualifying US treaty of commerce and navigationfor CBI-acquired nationality post-27 Dec 2022: three continuous years of domicile in the treaty countrysubstantial, irrevocably committed and at-risk investment in a real, active, non-marginal US enterpriseat least 50% ownership or operational controlintent to depart the US when status ends
- The 3-year domicile bar for post-27-December-2022 CBI acquirers is the single most misrepresented fact in the Caribbean CBI market. Domicile means actually living there, not holding the passport.
- India and China have no E-2 treaty — that is the entire reason the Grenada and Türkiye routes exist, and exactly the population the 2022 law targeted.
- E-2 never becomes a green card. Families who spend a decade on E-2 and then need permanent residence must start over on EB-5, EB-1 or NIW.
- Children age out at 21 and must find their own status — a real problem for families who arrive with teenagers.
- Spending enough time in the US to run the business will usually make you a US tax resident under the substantial presence test, with worldwide income exposure. E-2 is an immigration solution, not a tax solution.
- The investment must be 'substantial' relative to the business and cannot be 'marginal' — i.e. it must generate more than a living for the investor and family. Passive real estate does not qualify.