The E-2 visa explained

The E-2 treaty investor visa allows a national of a country with a commerce treaty with the United States to move there and direct a business in which they have invested a substantial amount. France is one of those countries. Here is what a restaurateur should know before starting.

France is indeed a treaty country

French nationals are eligible for the E-2 visa, as are nationals of most Western European countries. What counts is nationality, not country of residence: a French citizen living elsewhere in Europe remains eligible.

How much must you invest?

The law sets no figure. It requires a “substantial” investment, judged against the total cost of the business: the smaller the venture, the higher the proportion you must invest. In practice, successful small-business cases most often fall between $100,000 and $500,000, and a project under $100,000 generally means funding almost all of it yourself.

For a restaurant, that range covers very different realities depending on whether you are taking over a venue with a liquor license already in place or building from scratch. That is exactly what the feasibility study is for.

What “funds at risk” means

The money must be genuinely committed and lost if the venture fails. Funds merely sitting in an American bank account are not enough: there must be actual spending or irrevocable commitments — the business purchased, the lease signed, equipment ordered, build-out paid for. The source of the funds must also be traceable and lawful.

A real business, not just a living

Two requirements stack up. The business must be active and commercial: no passive holding of securities, no property bought purely for rental yield. And it must not be “marginal” — it has to generate more than a bare living for its owner, or show that it will do so in the near term by creating jobs. A restaurant that hires staff naturally meets this test well.

Ownership and control

You must own at least 50% of the business, or hold a senior role with effective control. Passive investors fall outside the E-2 framework.

Duration, renewal, and what comes next

For French nationals the visa is issued for four years; for most other Western European countries it is five. But the validity of the visa is not the length of your stay: on each entry you are admitted for two years. You therefore have to leave and re-enter every two years, even within the four-year validity of the visa. The whole thing renews indefinitely as long as the business continues to qualify. That is both its strength and its limit: it opens no automatic path to a green card, but it can be extended without any ceiling for as long as the business runs.

Spouse and children

The spouse gains the right to work in the United States by virtue of their status, with no separate work permit to apply for, and for any employer. Children under 21 attend public or private school without a student visa; they may not work, and their dependent status ends at 21.

A typical timeline

Expect several months between the first call and the visa: scoping the project, finding the restaurant, committing the funds, building the case with the attorney, then the consular interview. Timelines vary by consulate and case complexity.

What makes a case fail

• An investment judged insufficient against the real cost of the project
• Funds deposited but not committed, and therefore not genuinely at risk
• A poorly documented source of funds
• A business that appears marginal, with no prospect of creating jobs
• A generic business plan with no grounding in the local market

Where we come in

We structure the investment, prepare the business plan and the financial file, then coordinate everything with the specialist attorney. In parallel we run the restaurant search and prepare your family relocation, so the visa and the project advance at the same pace.