E-2 Investor Visa - German & Japanese Entrepreneurs

Who the E-2 visa is for

You are in the right category if most of the following are true:

• • You hold a German or Japanese passport (treaty nationality is about citizenship, not where the money sits).
  • You have invested, or are actively investing, a substantial amount of capital in a bona fide U.S. enterprise.
  • You will develop and direct that enterprise — not hold a passive stake.
  • The business will do more than support your family’s living expenses.
  • You intend to leave the United States when E-2 status ends.

We offer 3 Plans

PDF – E2 Visa Service Plans

Qualifying employees of a treaty-owned company, executives, supervisors, and certain essential-skill staff, can also apply. The company itself must be at least 50 percent owned by nationals of the same treaty country. U.S. citizens and green-card holders do not count toward that 50 percent.

Typical files we see: a German GmbH opening a Florida or Delaware subsidiary; purchase of an operating U.S. business or franchise; a Japanese trading or services company staffing a U.S. office; an entrepreneur moving with a spouse and school-age children.

What you get with an E-2 visa

• Live in the United States while you run the qualifying business.
• Work for that enterprise (the principal does not receive open-market work authorization).
• Travel in and out on a multiple-entry visa. German E-2 visas are commonly issued for up to five years; each admission is usually up to two years on the I-94.
• Renew indefinitely if the business and the investor still qualify.
• Bring a spouse and unmarried children under 21. After arrival, the spouse may apply to USCIS for an employment authorization document and work for any employer.
• Children may attend U.S. schools.
• Apply from abroad (consular visa) or, if already in lawful status in the United States, request a change of status on Form I-129.

What you do not get: a direct path to a green card or citizenship. E-2 time can sit alongside a later EB-5, EB-1C, EB-2 NIW, employer-sponsored, or family-based case. That is a separate filing. See How to convert an E-2 visa to a green card.

There is no official minimum investment. Older marketing that treats “$100,000–$200,000” as the rule is misleading. A thin consulting practice at $120,000 can fail; a well-documented operating company at a similar figure can succeed. The question is whether this business is capitalized and at risk.

How German clients apply: Frankfurt

Frankfurt is the only U.S. post in Germany that runs an E-visa unit. Berlin and Munich do not adjudicate first-time E-2 company registrations.

The 2026 sequence is:

1. Form the U.S. company and place the investment at risk.
2. Complete a DS-160 for each traveler and pay the E-category MRV fee (currently $315 per person). Select Frankfurt as the post. German E-2 applicants generally pay no extra reciprocity fee.
3. File Form DS-156E and a short, tabbed evidence package. Frankfurt wants a concise file, often a tight page cap on core evidence and a short business plan, submitted as a paper original and a PDF to the E Visa Unit at Gießener Straße 30.
4. Wait for the E-visa unit to review the company. That pre-interview review commonly takes six to eight weeks.
5. Book the interview only after the unit clears the file.
6. Attend in person in Frankfurt. Dependents should plan to appear as well.
7. If approved, collect the passport and seek admission at a U.S. port of entry as an E-2 nonimmigrant.

Full document list, interview day, fees, and the delays that actually stall cases:
E-2 Visa Through Frankfurt in 2026: Process, Documents, Timing and Common Delays

Japanese clients follow the same legal test at Tokyo or Osaka, with that post’s own packet rules. We coordinate both.

Applying from inside the United States

If you are already in the United States in valid nonimmigrant status, you or your employer may file Form I-129 with USCIS and ask to change or extend status to E-2. That is not a visa stamp. The first time you leave, you will still need a consular E-2 visa, for Germans, that means Frankfurt, before you can return.

ESTA / Visa Waiver admissions are for temporary visits. You cannot change status from the Visa Waiver Program. Do not tell CBP you are “moving” on an ESTA trip used to inspect a business.

E-2 is usually the right first step when you want to operate a business yourself on a shorter timeline and a lower capital outlay. EB-5 is the right step when the goal is a green card and the capital and job-creation test can be met. L-1 is the right step when a German or Japanese parent company is transferring a manager or specialized-knowledge employee. Many clients use more than one of these over a five-year period.

More on EB-5, green cards, and the L-1 visa.

Family members

The spouse and unmarried children under 21 receive derivative E-2 visas. They do not need to share the principal’s nationality in every case, but each person files a DS-160 and, in current practice, should expect an interview.

After admission, the spouse files Form I-765 with USCIS for work authorization. That EAD is not automatic at the consulate. Children may study; they do not receive work authorization from the E-2 itself.

What we do on an E-2 matter

This is not a form-filling service. The work that changes outcomes is the work before the forms:

• Choose the U.S. entity and ownership structure so treaty nationality stays intact (including GmbH and Kabushiki Kaisha holding chains).
• Map source of funds so a Frankfurt or Tokyo officer can follow salary, company profits, a property sale, or an inheritance without a 221(g).
• Put the investment at risk in the right order, lease, equipment, inventory, payroll, before the package is mailed.
• Write the cover letter to the Foreign Affairs Manual elements, not to a generic “business plan” template.
• Keep the Frankfurt/Tokyo packet inside the post’s format and page rules.
• Align every DS-160 answer with the corporate file.
• Prepare you for the interview in the language you will actually use at the window.

We also handle the Florida real estate, subsidiary, and tax coordination that often sits under the visa. One team, both legal systems.

Opening a subsidiary, or moving a family on an E-2 in 2026, talk to us before the funds move. 

Book a $299 E2 Strategy session

What you get
• 45 minutes
• A short written note after the call: file or wait, likely plan, and the first document gaps

Amount credited in full toward legal fees if we are engaged within 14 days. 

Disclaimer

The material in this post represents general information and should not be deemed legal advice. Any use of the website DOES NOT create or constitute an attorney-client relationship between German American Real Estate & Immigration Law Center, LLC (law firm) or any employee of or other person associated with the law firm and a user of this website. It is intended as an educational resource for
understanding the laws. Since the law is continually changing, some parts of this website may become outdated before the next update. It is always best to consult an attorney about your legal rights and responsibilities regarding your particular case.