Subtotal $0.00
American visa – E1 visa
Parto Hojjati and Steven Lawson
The E1 visa, also known as the Treaty Trader Visa, allows nationals of certain treaty countries to enter the U.S. to engage in substantial trade between their home country and the United States. This visa is ideal for business owners, executives, or employees involved in international trade of goods, services, or technology. The visa is renewable and can lead to long-term residency as long as the trade continues.
Parto Hojjati: [00:00:00] We have increasing demand for U. S. immigration and non immigration programs for Canadian and non Canadian, Canadian who want to move to U. S. And this is the reason for our today meeting with Stephen Lawson, a U. S. business consultant, to discuss about some programs that are available for Canadian and some of them for non Canadians.
So let’s start with Stephen and ask him to introduce himself.
Steven Lawson: Hi, my name is Steven Lawson, and I am the founder and CEO of Losorio Consulting, which specializes in U. S. immigration, business consulting.
Parto Hojjati: Perfect. Thank you, Steven, for being here today with us. I’m going to start with E 1 visa, and ask you to explain what is E 1 visa?
First of all, and then who could be eligible for E 1 and then we will continue more questions
Steven Lawson: Okay, [00:01:00] so the E 1 visa is a U. S non non immigrant visa, which means it does not lead directly to U. S citizenship and it’s called a treaty trader visa and it requires the Applicant to establish that they have ongoing trade with the united states that could be in the form of signed contracts Or, deals, contracts that, that would, require, execution in the future.
It doesn’t have to be actual trade going on at that particular moment. Letters of intent, that sort of a thing. And to qualify for an E 1 visa, you have to be a citizen of a country that has a qualifying trade treaty with the United States. Canada is one of those, countries that has a qualifying trade treaty.
There’s a list I have on my website that you can see, whether or not the country you’re a citizen of has, has a treaty that, that would support an E 1 visa. [00:02:00] So, if you are a citizen of the, of that country, then you have to show trade and a few other things and then you can get that visa.
Parto Hojjati: So when we say trade, does it mean, product or service or both of them?
Steven Lawson: It could be either one. It could be, services, goods or services.
Parto Hojjati: Okay.
Steven Lawson: So a typical E 1. applicant is somebody who either, I’ve worked with some that do a lot of public speaking or like personal coaching or business coaching and they have, you know, they’re being asked to go to the U. S. and present, speak, talks or give, training or those sorts of things, for pay.
So as long as you, you were leaving Canada and going to the United States physically. And you’re getting paid from a US source. You have to have some sort of visa. Okay. If you’re staying here in Canada and you’re shipping goods into the United States, you don’t need a visa. It’s all about where you’re located and how you’re getting paid.
So, among the things you need to show for E 1 [00:03:00] visa is that you’re at least 50 percent of your international trade is with the United States in volume and dollar amounts. So for example, I met with somebody who, was in Vancouver and they did business in Canada, but they were starting to get hired by companies in the U S and Mexico.
So that particular person, you know, would have to show that at least 50 percent of the trade. that they have outside of Canada is with the United States.
Parto Hojjati:So when we say that they have to show 50 percent how us will assess this 50 percent what kind of document they need to assess it?
Steven Lawson: typically one of the documents I asked them to get is from their accountant.
And I have the accountant, I have a letter I can send the accountant where, where they talk about, the, the, the, the invoices that they’ve had over the past two years and how much dollar amount of trade there was with the U. S. and these countries outside of their home country.and, and [00:04:00] I get copies of invoices from my clients and contracts from my clients.
And we use that documentation to go into the application to establish they have at least 50 percent of their trade international trade with the United States.
Parto Hojjati:So, technically what I get is that they don’t need, I mean, the applicant doesn’t need to have a job offer from U. S. employer. Am I right?
Steven Lawson:That’s correct. They wouldn’t be working for a U. S. employer. They’d be working for themselves. It would be required. They wouldn’t be allowed to work for a U. S. employer under that particular visa.
Parto Hojjati: Okay. It would have to
Steven Lawson: be for themselves or their own Canadian company.
Parto Hojjati:Okay. And
Steven Lawson:then they could open a company, a company in the United States too, as long as they continue that trade.
Parto Hojjati: So they could open a company in U. S. Or they can work without having a company in U. S., but working or offering their services to U. S. based companies. Am I right?
Steven Lawson: That’s correct. And it has to, the trade has to be between the company, the country that they’re a citizen of and the United States.
Parto Hojjati: Okay. So
Steven Lawson:for example, when I was working at the [00:05:00] consulate, I used to work at the U.
Consulate, for several years here in Toronto. And, my job was to analyze applications for E 1s and E 2s. And during, my, my tenure there, we had a gentleman who was a Canadian citizen living in a different country, not Canada.
Parto Hojjati: Okay.
Steven Lawson: He was a permanent resident in this other country in Europe, and he was doing trade between that country and the United States.
So he didn’t qualify for E 1 because since he’s a Canadian citizen, he would have had to have been doing trade between country of citizenship, Canada and the United States. So his application wasn’t successful. So, it’s really important to make sure that the trade is flowing between so oftentimes what happens is people buy goods from, let’s say, China and they ship them directly to the United States and they’re Canadians.
That doesn’t count. You got to bring it into Canada and then trade with the United States. Yeah,
Parto Hojjati: that’s a good point.
Steven Lawson: Yeah.
Parto Hojjati: So actually the, the nature of the trade should be in Canada and the U S
Steven Lawson: right. If you’re a [00:06:00] Canadian citizen, that’s correct. Yes. Basically between whatever country you’re with, you’re, you’re a citizen of, and the United States.
Parto Hojjati: Oh, okay. Perfectly. the other question is that how long is E 1 visa valid for?
Steven Lawson: Well, that depends on the, the citizenship of the person who’s applying. Most countries it’s five years. is the visa. Canada is five years. There are some countries where it’s shorter. It depends, on the trade treaty between the United States and whatever country it is.
But, for most countries it’s five years. five years. There are some that are shorter. And when you get the visa, you’re allowed to go to the United States and stay for typically two years at a time. So, there’s two different things. You got a visa and you got something called an I 94. The I 94 is the document that tells you how long you can stay when you enter the United States.
So typically when you go into the United States on an E 1 or E 2 visa, you’re given two years, which means. [00:07:00] Before two years, you have to leave and go back. You don’t have to go back to whatever country you’re from.
Parto Hojjati: Yeah.
Steven Lawson: But you have to leave the United States and then re enter.
Parto Hojjati: By leaving U. S. and re enter, you mean even for one day?
Steven Lawson: Yeah, even for one day.
Parto Hojjati:Oh, okay,
Steven Lawson:perfect.
Parto Hojjati:what about the procedure that, which takes for having the EV? First of all, is there any interview?
Steven Lawson: There is for the first one, typically when you renew it. So, the visas are good for five years. So you, in Canada, you can renew them as long as the trade continues.
so for the first one, there is an interview required. Typically for renewals, there’s no interview required. So the way the process works for the initial visa, that’s when the most amount of work needs to be done. I work with my clients to make sure that we have all of the documents that we need to show that they meet all of the elements, of the visa.
And then, we put that application together. It’s submitted by email. There’s an electronic application that the applicant has to [00:08:00] fill out, and they have to pay a 315 fee directly to the U. S. government. And then, once the, consulate receives, the, the actual application, They will email the client in about two weeks saying that they can make an appointment for an interview.
I help my clients, prepare for that interview. and then they go to the interview and that’s where they find out whether or not they get the visa. So there’s typically three things that happen in an interview. Either you get issued or they ask for more information. It’s called 221G or you get denied.
That’s called 214B. And if you get denied, they give you a piece of paper and they tell you exactly why. And if we fix those things, you can reapply anytime.
Parto Hojjati: And what about the family members? Are they allowed to travel with the applicant? And they will get also a work visa and visitor visa for the children or not?
Steven Lawson: Yes, that’s right. So, so once the initial, once the principal applicant gets approved,
Parto Hojjati: [00:09:00] yeah.
Steven Lawson: Okay. Then they can bring in their spouse. They just have to show that they’re lawfully married and the spouse will have an open work permit in the United States. They can also bring in children under the age of 21.
They just have to show the birth certificate with both parents names on it, or if they have, cut full custody from a legal proceeding, you know, they need to show some sort of documentation that they actually. Have full custody of that child or you know, if it’s the spouses or the parents make them they can do that and
Parto Hojjati: the spouse will get open work permit I mean the spouse of the main applicant would be allowed to work for any u.
Steven Lawson: that is correct. Yes For as long as the main applicant is Has the visa,
Parto Hojjati: okay. And for the children, is education free of charge or they have to pay?
Steven Lawson:Oh,
Parto Hojjati: good. In
Steven Lawson: the U. S.
Parto Hojjati: Just, just the school, not college or university.
Steven Lawson: Oh, college or universities, they would have to get a separate, [00:10:00], type of visa.
There’s, F 1 for, for universities and M 1 for like trade schools. Yeah, exactly.
Parto Hojjati: I got it, okay. Yeah. And, is it kind of visa which leads to permanent residency? I mean green card?
Steven Lawson: That’s a really good question, Pardo. That’s, that’s one of the things that E 1 doesn’t provide is a direct path to U. S.
citizenship. It doesn’t mean that you can’t become a U. S. citizen. It just means that from that visa alone, there’s no direct path. Okay. There are other ways. that’s something that, I work with as well, depending on your situation. I do have a client right now that, that I helped get an E 2 visa and, a colleague of mine and I are working on getting them a green card.
Parto Hojjati: From
Steven Lawson:a different type of process.
Parto Hojjati: So in fact, when they apply for E1, if they want to get a green card, somehow they need to change the pathway to have the green card. With E1, it’s not [00:11:00] possible directly to have the green card.
Steven Lawson: Yeah, with, right, so with E, same thing with E2. there’s no direct path. But, it doesn’t mean, so if you qualify under a different program, then you can always apply under that different program.
So there are, there are other types of programs, There are a couple that are self petitioning. Yeah. EB one and EB two NIW it allows you to, to, enter the United States based on certain criteria without having to have a job offer or a labor certification. Mm-Hmm. . but the E one and E two Visa alone, you can’t just, you know, like apply directly and say, well, I’m on E one.
You know, I want to apply for a permanent residency.
Parto Hojjati: Okay, perfect. And the last, I think it’s going to be the last question, about any criteria for the African education and language skills. Is there any requirement for these two?
Steven Lawson: Well, there’s no specific requirement for any education. You [00:12:00] don’t have to have an advanced degree of any type.
you know, there’s a lot of people that go on E1s that just have this particular skill. Sometimes it may be something like, social media. You know, we were seeing more and more applications for E1 from people, very young people even, that didn’t have, you know, didn’t have college degrees, but they had, a very particular, large number of followers on various social media platforms that, you know, and then they had companies in the United States that wanted to have them go to the United States, and they would hire them for various types of things that would qualify for E1.
Language skills, you know, going to the United States, there is no official language in the United States, although English is, is what most, official documents are in. You know, it would be a little bit more difficult if you couldn’t speak English, and if you couldn’t, you, you could bring an interpreter with you to the interview.
And, you know, you may, let’s say you may be someone who speaks a [00:13:00] particular language and you’re going to the U. S. to provide service to people who speak that particular language. Like, I lived in South Florida for a long time and there are parts of, of, in that area where there are communities where, you know, basically nobody speaks English.
Everybody speaks Spanish. So, if you’re, if you’re a Spanish speaking person and you go into a place like that and you, and you want to, you know, provide services to people that don’t speak English, then That, that certainly is, there’s nothing wrong with that.
Parto Hojjati: Perfect. Thank you so much, Steve.
Steven Lawson:Yeah.
Parto Hojjati: That’s the end of the podcast for E 1, visa.
If you have any question, you can be in touch with our offices and you, we will have more podcasts about different kind of visa, such as E 2, L 1, and the other ones. You can follow us on our plat, social platform, social media, and, or just be in touch with us. We would be happy to help you.
The E1 visa, also known as the Treaty Trader visa, allows individuals from treaty countries to enter the United States for the purpose of conducting substantial trade between their country and the U.S. This trade can include goods, services, technology, and more...
Nationals of countries that have a commerce treaty with the United States are eligible. The applicant must be involved in substantial trade between the U.S. and their home country and must be employed in a supervisory, executive, or essential skills role.
Substantial trade refers to a continuous flow of trade items between the U.S. and the treaty country, which involves a significant volume of trade. It must be more than occasional or irregular shipments.
Yes, spouses and unmarried children under 21 years old of the E1 visa holder can accompany them to the U.S. They can also apply for E1 dependent visas and are allowed to live in the U.S. during the validity of the primary visa holder's stay.
Yes, spouses of E1 visa holders are allowed to apply for work authorization. Once approved, they can work in any field without restrictions
The E1 visa is generally issued for up to 2 years, but it can be renewed indefinitely as long as the visa holder continues to meet the eligibility requirements and remains engaged in the qualifying trade.
The E1 visa is for treaty traders involved in substantial trade between the U.S. and their home country. The E2 visa, on the other hand, is for treaty investors who make a significant investment in a U.S. business.
The E1 visa is a non-immigrant visa, meaning it does not directly lead to a green card or permanent residency. However, some E1 visa holders may later qualify for permanent residency through other immigration channels such as family sponsorship or employment-based visas.
Some of the challenges include proving substantial trade, maintaining a continuous flow of trade between the U.S. and the treaty country, and demonstrating that the applicant’s role is essential to the business.
While it is not mandatory, consulting with an immigration lawyer can help ensure that the application process goes smoothly and that all the required documents and information are correctly submitted. This can increase the chances of a successful application.