Can I bring my parents to US on E2 visa?

The E2 visa permits a principal applicant (the treaty investor) to bring their spouse and children under the age of 21 to the United States. However, bringing parents to US on E2 visa is another different case.

There are ways to legally bring parents to the US on E2 visa, and that is if the parent also has 50% ownership in the bona fide US enterprise the principal applicant is establishing or has established. Note that this method requires the parent to have their own separate source of funds. In other words, the treaty investor or principal applicant cannot just give money to their parent to invest in the business. It must be the parent’s own money.

In the case of wanting to bring parents to US on E2 visa or other family members, such as the other parent or children who aged out (21+ years old), a viable option is to have those family members start their own US enterprise on a separate E2 visa. This is because the minimum ownership is 50-50; thus, only two treaty investor applicants can qualify for one E2 visa.

Alternatively, the principal applicant can file a petition for E2 employees and hire those family members, provided they qualify.

Here are the general qualifications of a treaty investor’s employee:

1. The employee must have the same nationality as the principal applicant

2. The employee must meet the definition of an “employee” under the relevant law

3. The employee must be engaged in supervisory or executive duties or have special qualifications or aptitude that makes them essential to the business. For instance, having expertise not readily available in the US. In other words, they possess exceptional or specialized skills or knowledge that are difficult to find in US workers, making it necessary to bring them to the US.

If you want to learn more and find ways to bring your parents to US on E2 visa, please do not hesitate to reach out and consult for free.