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最終更新日: 2026年9月6日
For German entrepreneurs, the E-2 treaty investor visa is still one of the most practical ways to live in the United States and run a business there. It is not a green card. It is a renewable nonimmigrant visa grounded in the 1956 Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between Germany and the United States. In 2026, almost every first-time German E-2 case still runs through one post: the U.S. Consulate General in Frankfurt.
Berlin and Munich handle many other visa categories. They do not run the E-visa unit. If you are building a U.S. company from Germany, Frankfurt is the file that matters.
This article explains how that file actually moves in 2026: the sequence, the documents Frankfurt expects, realistic timing, fees, the interview day, and the delays we see most often. Consular instructions change. Confirm the current Frankfurt E-visa checklist before you print and mail anything.
What the E-2 visa is and also what it is not
An E-2 visa is available to a German national who has invested, or is actively in the process of investing, a substantial amount of capital in a real and operating U.S. enterprise that the applicant will develop and direct. Certain executives, supervisors, and essential employees of a qualifying German-owned company can also apply. Spouses and unmarried children under 21 can receive derivative E-2 visas. After arrival, a spouse may apply to USCIS for work authorization. See USCIS article.
It is not a path that “converts” automatically into permanent residence. The applicant must intend to leave the United States when E-2 status ends. That said, many clients later pursue a separate immigrant petition for example: EB-5, EB-1C, EB-2 NIW, or family-based Green Cards while the business is operating. Those are different cases, with different evidence.
There is no published dollar minimum. “Substantial” is measured against the nature of the business (the proportionality test), and the enterprise cannot be marginal, meaning it cannot exist only to give the investor a living. Funds must be the investor’s, lawfully obtained, and at risk in the enterprise. Sitting in a personal U.S. bank account is not an investment.
Why Frankfurt is different from other E-2 posts
Frankfurt does not treat an E-2 the way a tourist visa is treated. There is a dedicated E-visa unit. The company is reviewed before an interview is granted. You generally cannot book a first-time investor interview and hope the officer reads a binder on the spot.
Two other 2025–2026 rules shape the calendar:
- Applicants are expected to apply in their country of nationality or residence. Third-country shopping for a faster post is no longer a reliable plan.
Interview-waiver rules were narrowed. E-2 principals, spouses, and children should plan on appearing in person in Frankfurt unless the post expressly tells you otherwise.
If you are already inside the United States in another status, a change of status on Form I-129 is a different route, decided by USCIS, not Frankfurt. A change of status does not put an E-2 visa stamp in the passport. The first time you leave, you will still need a consular E-2 visa to return. Most of our German clients therefore build the case for Frankfurt from the start.
The Frankfurt sequence in 2026
Read this as a sequence. Each step depends on the one before it.
1. Build the company and the investment so the file can be proven
Before anyone opens a DS-160, the underlying facts have to exist. That usually means:
- a U.S. entity (often a Florida or Delaware LLC or corporation) with a clean ownership chart;
- a German treaty-national ownership of at least 50 percent — U.S. citizens and green-card holders do ではない count toward treaty nationality;
- a real premises, not a virtual mailbox presented as an office;
- funds moved from a documented German (or other lawful) source into the enterprise;
- contracts, equipment, inventory, payroll setup, insurance, and a website or other proof that the business is operating or will open imminently;
- a role for the applicant that is clearly “develop and direct,” not passive.
Buying a turnkey business can be faster to document than a brand-new startup, because there are historical numbers. A startup can still qualify. It simply has to show that the capital is committed, the plan is credible, and the business will generate more than a subsistence living.
2. Complete Form DS-160 and pay the MRV fee
Every applicant — principal and each family member — completes a DS-160 online and uploads a compliant photo. Select Frankfurt as the processing post. Print the confirmation page with the barcode. The DS-160 answers must match the company package. A job title on the DS-160 that does not match the cover letter is a classic Frankfurt problem.
The current E-category Machine Readable Visa (MRV) application fee is $315 per person. German E-2 applicants generally do not pay an additional reciprocity issuance fee; German E-2 visas are typically issued for up to 60 months, multiple entry. Confirm both points on the State Department reciprocity page for Germany before you pay, because fee schedules change. Schedule of fees
A separate Visa Integrity Fee of $250 per issued nonimmigrant visa was created in 2025. Collection has been uneven by post. Budget for it, and confirm with the scheduling portal or the post whether Frankfurt is collecting it on the day your visa is printed.
3. We assemble the E-2 package in Frankfurt’s format
Frankfurt wants a structured packet.
Outside the page cap (typically):
photo, DS-160 confirmation, MRV fee receipt, passport bio page, Form DS-156E, Form G-28, cover letter, résumé/CV, organizational chart, and essentiality evidence for employee cases.
4. E-visa unit review, please only then book an interview slot
Frankfurt’s E-visa team reviews the file for completeness and plausibility and runs standard security checks. In ordinary 2026 volume, that pre-interview review is commonly six to eight weeks.
Only after the unit is satisfied do you schedule the interview through the official visa services portal. E-visa appointment inventory is not the same as the B-1/B-2 calendar. Published “work visa” wait times for Frankfurt are a rough proxy only; they are not the E-unit queue. Check travel.state.gov and the portal the week you are cleared to book.
5. Interview day at Gießener Straße 30
The consulate is in Frankfurt-Nordend, in the former U.S. military hospital. The time on the appointment letter is your arrival time, not the start of the interview. Admission is typically no earlier than 15 minutes before that time.
At the gate, have in hand:
- appointment confirmation,
- DS-160 confirmation page,
- passport.
Inside, expect document check-in, fingerprints and a photo, then a wait. Several applicants are booked in the same window, so one to two hours in the waiting room is normal. The interview itself is often only 10 to 15 minutes but can also run longer.
The officer is testing consistency, not your ability to recite a 40-page plan. Typical questions:
- What does the company actually do, and who are the customers?
- How much have you spent, on what, and where did the money come from?
- Who owns the company, and who makes decisions?
- How many people work there now, and who will you hire?
- What is your role day to day?
- What happens to the business if the visa is refused?
- Where will your family live, and what are your ties to Germany?
Bring the originals behind the copies: bank statements, wire confirmations, lease, purchase agreement, Gesellschaftsvertrag or share purchase documents, German tax assessments if they are part of the source-of-funds story. Leave electronics, large bags, and unsolicited extra binders at home unless the post asked for them.
6. Decision, 221(g), and passport return
Some cases are approved the same day. Others are held for administrative processing or a 221(g) request for more evidence. After approval, passport return is commonly about five to seven business days if you use the post’s return method. Do not buy one-way tickets or ship household goods until the visa foil is in the passport.
At the U.S. port of entry, CBP typically admits E-2 holders for up to two years on the I-94, even when the visa foil is valid for five years. Status is not the same as the sticker in the passport. Keep a copy of every I-94.
Documents that actually win (and lose) Frankfurt cases
Think in legal elements, not in “more paper.”
Treaty nationality and ownership. German passport. Cap table showing at least 50 percent ownership by German nationals. Watch GmbH holding chains, Treuhand arrangements, and silent partners. A U.S. green-card holder as the 51 percent owner breaks the treaty analysis.
Real, operating enterprise. Articles or certificate of organization, EIN, operating agreement, lease with dates and square footage, photos of the premises, licenses, insurance, vendor contracts, first invoices, website, payroll registrations. A company that exists only on paper will not survive the interview.
Investment at risk. Wires into the company’s account are the beginning of the story, not the end. Frankfurt wants to see money leaving that account for rent, equipment, inventory, build-out, professional fees, and payroll. Escrow that releases only if the visa is issued can work if the commitment is otherwise irrevocable. Loans secured by the investment itself are a problem.
Source of funds. Officers want a clean line from salary, company profits, sale of real property, inheritance, or savings to the U.S. account. Typical evidence: German tax assessments (Steuerbescheide), employment contracts, notarial sale contracts, Erbschein and inheritance paperwork, bank statements covering the seasoning period, and certified translations. Large cash deposits with no paper trail are a red flag.
Substantial and not marginal. A five-page plan that shows revenue, costs, hiring, and why this market needs this company is more useful in Frankfurt than a 50-page consulting deck. For an existing business, tax returns, P&L, W-2s or payroll reports, and a short forward projection usually beat a speculative plan.
Develop and direct. Résumé, organizational chart, and a cover letter that maps the applicant’s experience onto the U.S. role. An essential-employee case needs proof the skills are truly essential and not readily available in the U.S. labor market.
Intent to depart. German residence, family, property, or a parent company that will still exist when the project ends. E-2 is not dual-intent in the H-1B/L-1 sense. Do not tell the officer you are moving to the United States permanently “no matter what.”
Translations: anything not in English should be accompanied by a complete English translation. German notarial form is familiar to Frankfurt officers; unexplained Treuhand or cash-intensive GmbH histories are not.
From a complete first-time package to a visa in hand, many German investor cases land in a three- to six-month band. Add time if source of funds is messy, the business is pre-revenue, a dependent has a complicated travel history, or the officer issues a 221(g). Do not schedule a school start date or a store opening on the optimistic end of that range.
Renewals of a company Frankfurt has already registered are usually thinner files: updated tax returns, payroll, proof the enterprise is still operating, and any ownership changes. They still go through the E-unit. They are not walk-up appointments.
Fees and other costs to budget
Plan for more than the MRV fee:
- $315 MRV fee per applicant;
- possible $250 Visa Integrity Fee per issued visa, if and when Frankfurt collects it;
- entity formation, registered agent, accounting, and a U.S. bank account;
- lease deposits, insurance, and the actual investment;
- certified translations and, where useful, a German notary;
- travel to Frankfurt for the whole family;
- legal fees if you want the package built to the FAM elements rather than assembled from a template.
There is still no official minimum investment. In practice, thinly capitalized lifestyle businesses have a harder time in 2026 than they did when officers had more time and thicker files. The right number is the number that makes this business go, documented end to end.
After approval
Enter with the visa and the supporting package in your carry-on. Download the I-94 after arrival. The spouse who wants to work files Form I-765 with USCIS after admission. Children may study. The principal works only for the E-2 enterprise (or in the role described in an essential-employee case).
Keep the company real: U.S. tax returns, payroll, a genuine office, and minutes if you have a board. The renewal file is easier when the first two years produced ordinary business records instead of a second theoretical plan.
If the long-term goal is a green card, start that conversation early.
Working with German American Legal
Our team helps craft compelling letters aligned with USCIS. お問い合わせ for support or info@germanamericanlegal.com
Written By: Alexander Thorlton, Esq. Immigration Attorney at German American Legal.
Updated: September 6, 2026.