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Can I Use a Home Office for an E-2 Visa?

By January 14, 2016March 10th, 2021E-2 Visa, Immigration, Investor Visas
Wiki Commons Labeled for reuse. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Kit_Out_My_Office's_'HD_Colour'_(yellow)_office_furniture.png

An E-2 visa is the perfect visa option for an entrepreneur that wants to start a business in the United States.  You can find the full set of E-2 visa requirements by clicking here.

One of the E-2 requirements is that the U.S. Company must have office or other leased space (for example, a warehouse) in the U.S. to accommodate employees and/or inventory.  This question often arises: Can an E-2 Investor use a home office for an E-2 visa?  The short answer is no.  Instead, the government is looking for a valid commercial lease that will accommodate the employees that are necessary to run the business.  Similarly, if the business has inventory that needs to be stored, the government would not be impressed with a residential garage as the storage location, but instead would require a commercial lease with a factory or warehouse.

If you are leasing office space, the lease does not have to be a closed door office but the lease should be for fixed and dedicated work stations and often the government wants to see photos of the office space.  Immigration officials can be quite particular with this requirement.  In one case, we submitted black and white photos of the office space to the government and they asked for color photos. In another case, the government asked for identification of each of the people in the picture that we submitted and their roles in the company. We have also received requests from the government to provide the square-footage of the office space.  The government has also at times questioned leases if they were called licenses.  Generally speaking virtual offices are not acceptable and this is the case even if your business is such that an office may not be practical or needed.   

A lease does not have to be a defined term and can be month to month but a longer commitment provides more proof to the government that you are serious and have more funds at risk.  You can also prepay your lease to increase your investment amount.

You should keep in mind that commercial lease means that the lessor is a business and the property being rented is zoned for commercial use.  As such, obtaining a lease from a friend for renting a portion of their home is usually not acceptable.  One of the key elements that consular officers use to determine whether an E-2 applicant is serious is the lease so this requirement should be taken seriously.

One exception to this general rule is if the business you have is mobile. For example, if your business was a food truck or an oxygen bar where you went from location to location offering services a commercial lease may not be required.


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4 Comments

  • Kimble says:

    if you cannot answer a simple question, why do you have a comments section?

  • Jamerson says:

    Hi, I have a E2 business question. Can I share an office with another company, sharing costs and equipment as we run similar business or this is not allowed?

    • IanScott says:

      Hello and thank you very much for contacting us. We know that the decision to start a business in the U.S. is one that brings many questions to the forefront and we are here to help. This firm was founded on an E-2 visa so we understand much of what you are concerned with. Our goal is to assist you so that you can realize the dream of growing a business in the U.S.. I have attached a link to our E-2 visa brochure below that describes our services and fees and you can see from the brochure that we can also help you with your business plan and your business entity set-up.

      E-2 Visa Brochure

      https://legalservicesincorporated.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/E-2BrochureScottLegal2018.pdf

      We would like the opportunity to help you and welcome the chance to set up a one hour consultation with one of our lawyers who regularly processes E-2 visas. This lawyer will be able to answer all of your questions and can give you valuable information so that you can make informed decisions. Our consultations can be arranged based on your convenience and can be done over the telephone, via Skype, or in person.

      Our consultation fee of $250 will be refunded to you if you end up hiring us and I have attached the link to set up a consultation below.

      https://secure.lawpay.com/pages/scottlegalservices/operating

      We hope you decide to give us the opportunity to assist you and please let us know if you would like to set up a consultation.

      Kind regards,

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