A treaty country is a foreign state with which a qualifying Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, or Navigation
or its equivalent with the U.S. A Treaty Country includes a foreign state that is accorded treaty
visa privileges under section 101(a)(15)(e) of the INA by specific legislation. A listing of
countries with whom the U.S. currently has treaties can be downloaded from the State Department’s Foreign
Affairs Manual.
For the alien to visit the U.S. temporarily for trading or investing purposes, the requirements outlined
in the Code of Federal Regulations must be met. Potential applicants should studiously review
those regulations.
Treaty Trader (E-1) :
The E-1 classification is authorized for a national of a country with which the United
States has a commercial treaty, who is coming to the U.S. solely to engage in trade of a substantial
nature principally between the United States and the alien’s country of nationality. The
trade involved must be international exchange (successfully negotiated contracts binding on all parties) of
items of trade between the U.S. and a treaty country. Title to the trade item must pass from one
treaty party to the other.
There is no petitioning process for the E categories. If outside of the U.S., the alien may apply
for an E-1 visa on his or her own behalf directly to a U.S. consular office abroad. If the alien
is inside the U.S., the I-129 is used to apply for a change of status, extension of stay, or change of employment.
Application Requirements :
The applicant must be a national of a country with whom the U.S. has the requisite treaty or agreement;
The activity must constitute a trade as defined by regulations;
The trade must be of a substantial nature, i.e. an amount of trade sufficient to ensure a continuous flow of
trade items between the
U.S. and the treaty country;
The trade conducted by the alien must be a trade principally between the United States and the treaty country
of which the alien is a
national. Trade is deemed to be principally between
the U.S. and treaty country when over 50% of the volume of international trade
conducted
by the alien treaty trader is between the U.S. and treaty country of which the alien is a national;
If the applicant is not the principal trader, the applicant must show that s/he is employed in a supervisory
or executive capacity, or
possesses special qualifications that make the his/her
services essential to the successful and efficient operation of the enterprise;
The employee must be of the same nationality as the principal alien employer.
The alien employer must be an enterprise or organization at least 50% owned by persons having the nationality
of the treaty country.
The applicant must show that s/he intends to depart the U.S. upon the expiration of E-1 status. (However,
an application for initial
admission, change of status, or extension of stay in E
classification may not be denied solely on the basis of an approved request for
permanent
labor certification or a filed or approved immigrant visa preference petition.)
Notes:
Dependents (spouses and unmarried children under 21 years of age) of an E-1 or E-2 alien will be admitted under the
same classification as the principal. The dependent spouse and child(ren) are not required to have the
same nationality as the principal alien.
The spouse of an E-1 can now file for work authorization.
You may be able to revalidate an E visa while in the US. Your E visa can only be
revalidated if your passport contains a previous E visa (the same classification as the visa now being sought).
