An E-2 Visa is a visa option available for people who want to either buy or start a business in the U.S.. One of the requirements of an E-2 visa is that the investor must invest money in the U.S.. The money can come from any legitimate source and that includes a loan or a gift.
You can find out more about the full set of E-2 visa requirement by clicking here.
You can find out more about E-2 Investments from loans or gifts by clicking here.
Our E-2 visa clients often ask the question: What should be in an E-2 gift letter? To this end, we have included some guidance below.
Date
To: Whom it may concern
My name is Name and I am the describe relationship of Investor’s name. I am giving a gift of $XXX to my relationship to develop his/her business, name of business. Provide a brief description of how you earned or got the money (eg, The gift is from personal savings earned from working or The gift is from funds I received from the sale of my property). There is no repayment expected or implied.
Sincerely,
Name & signature
The E-2 visa regulations do not restrict who a gift can come from but the narrative should make sense. For example, a gift from a parent or sibling makes complete sense given the inherent closeness of the relationship. A gift though from an unrelated party or a friend where the gift does not really make sense may raise questions. If the relationship between the applicant and the person giving the E-2 gift is not based on a close relationship, an examiner can question the legitimacy of the gift as it is not that common in life for friends to gift large sums of money (at least I do not have any friends that would do that). This is especially the case if the friend does not have substantial resources. (eg. A friend that earns $75K per year and gifts $50K to a friend).
If an applicant is buying a business, the owner/seller of the business CANNOT be the person that gifts the money to the buyer.
