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 affected, and nationality acquired by descent, birth or marriage is not affected either.
The pitch that dominates the CBI market, buy a Grenada passport and get an E-2 next quarter, 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
There is no statutory minimum. The rule is simply that the investment must be substantial and proportional to the business. In practice, consulates rarely approve much under USD 100–150k, and refusals on the grounds of a marginal enterprise 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 of their own. The contribution runs from USD 235,000 into the National Transformation Fund. But note the 3-year domicile bar for anyone who acquired citizenship after 2022.
Türkiye is an E-2 treaty country, with citizenship by investment available through real estate from USD 400,000 or a USD 500,000 bank deposit. The same 3-year domicile bar applies to anyone who acquired citizenship after 2022.
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 the route runs through Grenada or Türkiye, add the CBI cost, roughly USD 235k+ or USD 400k+ respectively, and three years of actual domicile.
- Route type
- Business & founder
- Timeline
- 2–8 months (Consular E-2 processing varies enormously by post. Some posts take 2–3 months. Others take considerably longer.)
- Physical presence
- There is 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
- Not applicable
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- Nationality of a country that holds a qualifying US treaty of commerce and navigationFor nationality acquired through CBI after 27 Dec 2022, three continuous years of domicile in the treaty countryA substantial, irrevocably committed and at-risk investment in a real, active, non-marginal US enterpriseAt least 50% ownership, or operational controlIntent to leave the US once the 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. That is 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. That means your worldwide income becomes subject to US tax. E-2 solves an immigration problem, not a tax problem.
- The investment must be substantial relative to the business, and the business itself cannot be marginal. In practice, that means it has to generate more than just a living for the investor and family. Passive real estate does not qualify.