Does an E-2 Investment Have to Come From Your Home Country?

An E-2 visa is a visa category that is available to people from certain countries that want to buy or start a business in the U.S.  The visa requires that the applicant invest in the U.S. and that the business must ultimately create U.S. jobs.  The required investment amount depends on the type of business that you start, but expenditures can be as low as $50,000 for this visa.  You can find a full set of the E-2 visa requirements by clicking here.

One of the fundamental E-2 visa requirements is that the applicant must be from a Treaty country.  There are approximately 80 Treaty countries including, Canada, Australia, France, Pakistan, Chile, Argentina, Japan, United Kingdom, and more.

One question that often comes up is whether or not the funds invested must come from or originate in the Treaty country.   The clear answer is NO.   Provided the funds come from a legitimate source, they can come from any country.  For example, if an E-2 applicant from Australia borrowed money from a U.S. citizen to invest, and the U.S. citizen earned the money in the U.S., these investment funds would qualify.   There would not be a requirement that the funds came from or originated in Australia.