What Is a Treaty Country for E-1 and E-2 Visas?

A treaty country for E-1 and E-2 visas is a nation that holds a qualifying commerce or investment agreement with the United States, or has been designated by an act of Congress, so that its citizens can apply for the E-1 treaty trader or E-2 treaty investor classification. The authority sits in Section 101(a)(15)(E) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1101, and the Department of State keeps the operational list.¹ If your country of citizenship isn’t on that list, the E-1 and E-2 categories aren’t available to you, no matter how strong the business case.

Which Agreements Make a Country a Treaty Country

Three kinds of arrangements can put a country on the list, and the type of agreement determines which E visa its nationals can pursue.

Treaties of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation

FCN treaties are the oldest foundation for E eligibility, and many have been in force for decades. They generally cover both trade and investment, so countries with an FCN treaty in effect usually qualify for both E-1 and E-2 visas.

Bilateral Investment Treaties

Beginning in the 1980s, the United States started signing Bilateral Investment Treaties focused on cross-border investment rather than trade broadly. A country whose only qualifying agreement is a BIT typically qualifies for E-2 investor visas but not E-1 trader visas, which is why more than two dozen countries sit on the treaty list for E-2 purposes only.²

Acts of Congress

Congress can also grant treaty country status by statute, usually conditioned on the other country giving reciprocal visa treatment to U.S. nationals. New Zealand received E-1 and E-2 status through Public Law 115-226, with visas issued starting June 2019. Portugal was designated by Public Law 117-263, with visas issued starting March 2024. Israel’s E-2 eligibility came through Public Law 112-130, and E-2 visas began issuing in May 2019 once Israel confirmed reciprocal treatment for Americans.² The gap between the statute passing and visas actually issuing is worth noticing: designation on paper and operational eligibility are not the same date.

Countries Don’t Always Qualify for Both Visas

This is the point that catches applicants most often. A country can be on the treaty list for E-1 purposes, E-2 purposes, or both, and the difference tracks the agreement behind its designation. Countries whose only qualifying instrument is a Bilateral Investment Treaty generally qualify for E-2 investor visas but not E-1 trader visas. Albania, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Egypt, Georgia, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Panama, Romania, and Ukraine are among the countries that appear in the E-2-only column.²

Before you shape a business plan around a specific E category, confirm that your country of citizenship is designated for that specific visa. A national of an E-2-only country cannot pursue an E-1 no matter how substantial the trade flows.

You Have to Be a Citizen, Not a Resident

Treaty country status attaches to a person through nationality. You must hold citizenship of the treaty country. Permanent residency there, a long-term visa, or long habitation is not enough, and your passport is what establishes the connection.³

Citizenship Obtained by Investment

A separate rule applies if you got your nationality through a financial investment program, the arrangements sometimes marketed as golden passport schemes. The statute requires that you have been physically present in that treaty country for a continuous period of at least three years at some point before applying, unless you’ve previously been granted E status under this provision.¹ Buying a passport from a treaty nation you’ve never actually lived in will not, on its own, unlock the E category.

Businesses Carry Their Owners’ Nationality

When a company seeks E classification (as the treaty trader or treaty investor entity, or as an employer sponsoring employees), at least 50% of the enterprise must be owned by persons who hold the nationality of the treaty country. The place of incorporation is not what matters. A Delaware LLC still carries the nationality of its owners for E-visa purposes.⁴ If ownership shifts and the 50% threshold is no longer met, the business loses its treaty nationality, and everyone holding E status through it loses the basis to remain.

The same nationality rule reaches employees. An employee sponsored on an E-1 or E-2 must share the nationality of the principal treaty employer.⁴ A German-owned E-2 company cannot use E-2 employee status to bring in a Brazilian national, however specialized that person’s skills.

What Each Visa Requires in Broad Strokes

Confirming your country’s treaty status is a threshold question, not the whole test. Each visa has its own substantive requirements.

The E-1 treaty trader visa is for nationals of treaty countries carrying on substantial trade principally between the United States and the treaty country. “Trade” reaches beyond goods to include services, technology transfer, banking, insurance, transportation, tourism, and certain news-gathering activities. More than 50% of the qualifying international trade must be between the United States and the treaty country of the trader’s nationality.⁵³

The E-2 treaty investor visa requires a substantial investment of capital in a real, operating U.S. enterprise, with the investor actively developing and directing it. There is no fixed dollar minimum. Instead, USCIS applies a proportionality test measuring the investment against the total cost of establishing or acquiring the business, and the funds must be genuinely at risk. The business cannot be a marginal enterprise, meaning one without the capacity to generate more than a minimal living for the investor and family, though a new business can qualify if it can reach that income level within five years of E-2 status beginning.⁴³

Check the Current List Before You Plan

The Department of State publishes the official treaty country list, showing which countries qualify for E-1, which for E-2, which for both, and when the relevant agreement entered into force.² Consult it before you take concrete steps. New legislation gets enacted, reciprocity confirmations can take years after a statute passes, and the State Department page reflects the operational status rather than what has merely been signed. That list is the answer to the “does my country qualify” question in any given month.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1101 – Definitions
2
U.S. Department of State. Treaty Countries
3
U.S. Department of State. Treaty Trader and Treaty Investor and Australians in Specialty Occupations
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. E-2 Treaty Investors
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. E-1 Treaty Traders