The E-2 visa is a great visa for entrepreneurs. Spouses and children of E-2 investors can apply for an E-2 dependent visa and E-2 spouses can also work in the U.S. incident to their E-2 status.
Spouse and children of an E-2 investor can apply for an E-2 dependent visa. To show the spousal relationship, an E-2 investor will have to bring the original marriage certificate to the E-2 visa interview and to show parent-child relationship, the E-2 investor will have to bring the children’s birth certificates to the interview. The children of E2 investors must be unmarried and under the age of 21 to qualify for the E-2 dependent visa.
The question that sometimes arises is: Can your step-child apply for an E-2 visa as well?
Example
Jane is applying for an E-2 investor visa in 2022. Jane got married to John in 2020 and John has a child Tom from his previous marriage. Tom was born in 2010. Can Tom apply for an E-2 dependent visa?
Yes. For visa purposes, if a step-child is under the age of 18 when the marriage takes place, he/she will be able to apply for a dependent visa, in this case an E-2 dependent visa.
Please read our blog post that goes over E-2 visa requirements here.
Under the recently changed guidelines, E-2 spouses will no longer need to apply for a work authorization.
Please see our blog post on whether your E-2 spouse needs to apply for a visa at the same time as the principal applicant here.
