An E-1 visa is a great visa for treaty traders who engage in international trade between the U.S. and their home treaty country. In some scenarios (such as when the business in the U.S. is not as established), it may be helpful to submit a Business Plan with your petition.
To qualify for an E-1 visa, you must be a citizen of a country that signed a qualifying treaty with the U.S. Please see the list of countries that qualify for an E-1 visa here.
Business Plan is not usually required for E-1 visa petitions but in some cases, it may be very helpful. Please click here to find out in which scenarios it may be helpful to submit a Business Plan.
What should the E-1 Business Plan look like?
The E-1 Business Plan should have the following sections:
- Executive summary: this is usually a short summary that has all of the key information regarding the company, such as what your company does, who it sells to, financial snapshot, employee snapshot. This is usually the first thing an examiner will look at and at times will be the only thing read. You can read our blog post about What should be included in the executive summary when you click here.
- Section describing the products/services your company is offering and your target market– here you can also add the information about the trade in the last couple of years and how much of the trade has been with U.S. clients (or if the E-1 company is a U.S. entity, how much of the trade is with your home treaty country).
- Your marketing strategies and your competitors
- Your hiring plan: this section should focus on hiring U.S. employees, but you should also mention how many employees you have in your home country. Please note that it is not required to hire U.S. employees for your E-1 visa, but in some cases, it may be helpful to submit it with your petition, as hiring U.S. employees is always a plus.
- Financial information summary: The company’s financial plan contains the business’s projected financial statements as well as an explanation that provides a basis for the assumptions and figures in the statements. A company’s financial statements consist of a balance sheet, the profit and loss statement, and a cash flow statement.
The E-1 business plans are generally very similar to E-2 business plans.
You can read our blog post on the differences between the E-1 and E-2 visa when you click here.
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