Entrepreneur Visas for the United States

The E2 Visa permits an entrepreneur to move to the United States for the purposes of investing in and operating a business. You must invest a sizable sum, usually upwards of around $100,000 and present a business plan to demonstrate how you will manage and develop that business. Entrepreneurs holding E2 visas can bring their spouse and any children under the age of 21 with them to the United States. Your spouse is permitted to work in the United States. The main requirement of the E2 visa is that you must be a citizen of an E2 treaty country (click here to find out if you country has an E2 treaty with the United States). If you are not a citizen of an E2 treaty country, you can first obtain citizenship of an E2 country. Grenada and Turkey are both E2 countries with fast pathways to citizenship by investment.

Entrepreneurs who have already started their business overseas and seek to expand to the US can use the E2 visa route, but they may also use the L1 visa route, which is for intracompany transfers. Under the L1 visa rules, it is permitted to establish a new US office of your company and transfer eligible staff – including the entrepreneur/owner – to the United States to work in that office. The L1A visa is for managers and executives and the L1B visa is for employees with specialized knowledge. The L1 visa is renewable up to a maximum of seven years for L1A visas and five years. During or after this time it is possible to seek a Green Card.

The EB1C is similar to the L1A visa in that it targets global managers and executives. The main difference that the EB1C visa is a permanent residency visa (Green Card) and the L1 Visa is a temporary work visa. Many EB1C visa holders initially start out with an L1 application and transition to an EB1C at a later stage – especially as the EB1C route does not permit a new office filing.

Entrepreneurs seeking to rapidly grow a firm in the United States are permitted to apply for the International Entrepreneur Parole Program. Parole is not a visa, it simply permits the entrepreneur to be in the United States for thirty months, with the option of extending for an additional thirty months. The entrepreneur must have a stake in a US startup and should be able to demonstrate that it has the potential to scale rapidly.

Under the US EB5 Investor Visa, entrepreneurs can invest a minimum $800,000 in return for US Green Cards for themselves, a spouse, and any children under the age of 21. The investment must be in a new commercial enterprise and must create ten jobs. Under the Direct EB5 route an investor can make and manage their own investment. However, others opt for the Regional Center route, which assists with compliance with the rules of the program. This allows the entrepreneur to pursue their own business interests in the United States without worrying about maintaining ten employees on payroll.