The "Treaty Trader" or E-1 Visa
The Treaty Trader Visa, or E-1, is available to the owner, director or key employee of a trading company, all sharing the nationality of a country that has signed a treaty of friendship and commerce with the United States, and that engages in the international exchange of goods and services principally and directly between that country and the United States.
“..owner, director, or key employee….”
You can qualify for this visa if you are the owner, director, manager or key employee of a business considered a “treaty trader” by U.S immigration authorities.
“..nationals of the same country….”
You, as the owner, director, manager, or key employee of the “treaty trader,” must have the same nationality as that business. Nationality must be of a country that has the relevant treaty of friendship and commerce with the United States. There are more than 80 such countries. Here is a list of them.
Since you are a human being (we hope), your nationality is easy to determine. It is generally that of the same country that issued your passport.
The nationality of the “treaty trader” which you own, direct, or manage, or for whom you work, may not be easy to determine if it is a juridical being, such as a corporation. You can look at this page to gain a better idea of the rules on nationality. Or may you talk with us about it.
Your spouse and minor children may come with you. They may have any nationality.
“international exchange of goods or services….”
The international commerce can be in any legal good or service.
Most people understand what a “good” is. It is almost any physical object that is bought and sold.
But your international commerce may also be represented as a payment in exchange for personal services that do not involve any physical object. A large and growing percentage of all economic activity in advanced economies is represented by services.
Services may include: information technology, finance, insurance, tourism, marketing and advertising, engineering, and consulting on almost any thing.
Your services may be considered to involve international commerce if they flow across international borders, that is, if you as the service provider, and your customer as the service recipient, are in two different countries.
“..principally….”
This international commerce must take place principally between the country of the treaty trader’s nationality and the United States.
Starting out, you should assume this means that at least 50% of your revenues from international commerce comes from U.S. sources.
“..directly….”
Your international commerce with the United States must flow directly between the treaty trader’s country of residence and the United States. Let us give you an example of commerce that does not meet this requirement:
Let us say that the treaty trader is a national of Colombia, which has the relevant treaty with the U.S. It sells vegetables it grows in Nicaragua to a buyer in the U.S. The produce is shipped directly from the company’s warehouse in Nicaragua to the Port of Houston. Nicaragua does not have a relevant treaty with the U.S. This exchange does not take place directly between Colombia and the U.S.
Amount of trade
You may be surprised to learn that the flow of commerce between your country and the U.S. does not necessarily need to be large. The E-1 Treaty Traders visa is not reserved for large multinational operations. Indeed, those types of companies are moer likely to use the L visa to transfer key personnel between international offices.
The required flow of commerce could be measured in two ways: in terms of its total amount in money, and in terms of its constancy and perseverance.
In terms of the first, the total revenues must be sufficient to support the recipient of the E-1 visa and accompanying spouse and children living in the United States. When you think about it, this is not asking too much. Would you really wish to bring your family and business to any foreign country, if you did not have the income sufficient to support them?
In terms of the second, the constancy and perseverance of the income from international commerce is as important as its amount. Making one sale per year of a relatively high-value product may be viewed less favorably than daily, weekly or even monthly sales of a low-value product.
Actual business,
not speculative
The international business you wish to demonstrate cannot be speculative. That means, you cannot tell U.S. authorities that you have a really good plan for doing business, but so far you have no real business at all. If your sales have not all taken place in the past, you must at least show that they will take place under legally valid contracts with U.S. counterparties.
The SIGNET Law Firm
We are dedicated to helping foreign business invest and operate in the United States successfully. As part of our services, we specialize in helping our clients procure the E-1 and E-2 visas, which enable them to live in the U.S. while they manage and operate their businesses.
Thank you.
We hope you have found this information useful. If you would like to speak with us, we are available.