E-2 VISA SUMMARY

The E-2 Treaty Investor Visa allows a principal investor from a treaty country to invest in a business and live, along with his or her spouse and any unmarried children under 21, in the United States of America. The E-2 investor can invest into any active commercial enterprise in America, be it a gym or an e-commerce business or a restaurant. Passive investments, like purchasing idle real estate to lease out, do not qualify. There is no legal minimum investment - what’s important is that your investment is considered substantial, which will depend on your specific case. The E-2 Visa can be infinitely renewable, so you and your spouse can live forever in America - your children, once they age out of the E-2 Visa, can pursue other visa classifications for education or employment. The E-2 Visa does not lead directly to a green card, but you do have the opportunity in the future to reinvest into your business, create full-time jobs, and apply for the EB-5 Program.

THE E-2 VISA AS AN INVESTMENT VISA

BUT MORE ABOUT “INVESTMENT” THAN ABOUT “VISA”

The E-2 Visa is an “investment visa”. To obtain this “investment visa”, you must do both the “investment work” as well as the “visa work”.

Let’s start with the easier one: the “visa work”. The “visa work” is about 10% of the E-2 Visa process. It involves gathering and reviewing documents, filling in the appropriate legal forms, compiling the documents into an application, and sending the application in for review. The “visa work” is mostly done by immigration attorneys. However, most immigration attorneys only do the “visa work” - 10% of the E-2 Visa process - and not the “investment work”, which the E-2 Visa is really all about.

At the heart of the E-2 Visa is the “investment work”, which makes up about 90% of the E-2 Visa process. Here you undertake the trouble and toil that any new business owner goes through. You have to incorporate your business entity, search for a suitable opportunity, secure the commercial lease, purchase business assets, negotiate through the purchase-sale process, go through the franchising process, apply for permits and licenses, register with tax authorities, obtain contracting agreements, and so many other tasks in order to establish a strong business foundation for many years to come and to obtain the business documents you need to have in your E-2 Visa application.

E-2 investors face great obstacles going through the business development for the “investment work”. Unlike domestic American small business owners, E-2 investors do not have the credit history, the resources, or the connections. E-2 investors also face language and cultural barriers when doing business in America. Furthermore, it is difficult to combine business development with the restraints uniquely under the E-2 Visa (i.e. landlord wants a personal guarantee but you can’t agree unless you receive your E-2 Visa first).

If you wish to undertake the “investment work” all by yourself while letting an immigration attorney do the 10% “visa work” part, then regrettably Wealthlet may not be the right adviser for you. Wealthlet is for E-2 investors who want both the “investment work” and “visa work” done by a full team of professionals (Wealthlet’s all-in-one service includes the immigration attorney) in a comprehensive and coordinated manner at very little stress for the E-2 investors themselves. Wealthlet has overcome all the unique challenges facing E-2 investors going through the business development for the “investment work” (after all, E-2 business development is our specialization).

With Wealthlet, all of your self-burdened challenges with the “investment work” and even the “visa work” disappear. Wealthlet bears the burden of delivering you both a strong business foundation and a completed E-2 Visa application. Your only burden is simply to maintain communications with Wealthlet so that we are fully informed about your case, so that we may tell you about the developments throughout your E-2 Visa process, and so that we may have your consent through all business dealings. This is the Wealthlet Way.