E1 Visa
The E1 visa is for “Treaty Traders” who are individuals from any of 30+ countries that have treaties with the United States.
Like its sister visa, the “E2 Visa—Treaty Investor” the E1 Visa allows the trader to open a company in the United States and operate that company.
The treaty trader is a little different to the E2 (treaty investor) because it requires trade between the visa holder’s home country and the United States.
Key Considerations for E1 Visa
E-1 Treaty Trader visa is for individuals or employees entering the U.S. to engage in international trade.
The definition of “trade” between the visa holder’s home country and the US is pretty broad. It can cover goods, services, banking, and many other forms of legal trade between the two countries. (See Requirements below.)
The E-1 may also be issued for immediate family – spouse and children.
E1 Visa Requirements
- Applicant must be a national of a country the U.S. maintains a treaty. Note that this is not a requirement for family members.
- Carry on “substantial” trade, which refers to continuous flow of sizable international trade items. There is no minimum monetary value or volume, but greater weight is given to number of exchanges versus monetary value.
- Trade items include goods, services, banking, insurance, transportation, tourism, technology, news-gathering.
- Carry on principal trade between U.S. and treaty country, which is defined as over 50% of total trade volume of the trader.
Requirements of E-1 “Employee of Treaty Trader”
Employee must:
- Be same nationality of the principal employer (who must be national of treaty country).
- Meet definition of “employee” under relevant law.
- Be engaging in supervisory or executive capacity, or have relevant special qualifications.
Additional E-1 Visa Terms
Period of Stay – up to two years. Extensions may be granted in increments of two years, with no maximum number of extensions limit.
Family members – includes spouses or children under 21 years. Nationality need not be the same. Spouses may be approved for work.
Travel abroad – travel is permitted for the treaty trader or employee, and an automatic 2-year extension granted upon re-admission. This new readmission period will not be granted automatically to family members, who should carefully monitor the period of stay and apply for extension to remain in U.S. lawfully.
Other employment – An E-1 trader or employer may only work in the activity he/she was approved for at time of E-1 issuance. However, he/she may also work in the treaty organization’s parent in some circumstances.
Trust Velie Law With Your E1 Visa Application
If your E1 Visa Application is important to you, here are four great reasons why you should speak to Velie Law Firm today.
- The care we put into all our applications gives us the highest success rates in the industry.
- Plus you get our “Success Guarantee” — if your first application is not successful, we’ll review and resubmit at no cost.
- You’ll deal directly with our in-house attorneys (no affiliates).
- Our services are flat-rate. You won’t pay one penny more!
* Our approval rate displayed is the average for calendar year 2014. Any result Velie Law Firm might have achieved on behalf of one client in one matter does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.