The E-2 visa allows for foreign national investors to obtain non-immigrant status by operating an ongoing business in the United States. E-2 status grants recipients two years of non-immigrant status in the United States and can be renewed for as long as the recipient’s business is ongoing.
Unfortunately, the E-2 visa’s criteria allows for subjective interpretation by immigration officials. This subjective standard can lead to bewildering decisions that have adverse and serious consequences to the applicants.
Take the example of the Kitchens. A U.K. couple, they are the owners of a Maine restaurant and have been E-2 visa holders since 2000. For ten years the USCIS (and INS before them) consistently concluded that the couple’s business qualified for E-2 status and renewed their status every two years. But during their latest extension application, a lone USCIS official determined that their company no longer met the E-2 standards and denied their application. Now, after ten years of operation, the couple is forced to leave the country, sell their company, and take their economic benefit with them.
The couple’s problems demonstrate the need for E-2 applicants to not just attempt to meet the minimum E-2 requirements, but to take the steps necessary to demonstrate that their application will be approved and continually renewed every two years. To speak to an immigration attorney about the E-2 visa, please contact Gafner Law Firm.