Updated October 30, 2026

E-2 visa interview questions: what officers check for treaty investors

An E-2 visa interview checks that you're a national of a treaty country, that a substantial amount of capital is at risk in a real US business, and that you're coming to develop and direct it, or to work in it as an executive, supervisor or essential employee. Expect questions about the business, where the money came from, your role, your staff and whether you'll leave when your status ends.

What does an E-2 visa require?

The E-2 is for nationals of countries that have a treaty of commerce and navigation with the US, or that count as treaty countries by law. The State Department keeps the list. The Foreign Affairs Manual (9 FAM 402.9), the rulebook consular officers follow, lists what the officer must decide in every E-2 case:

1. A treaty and your nationality. You must hold the treaty country's nationality. A business takes the nationality of its owners, and at least 50 percent must be owned by treaty nationals. Where the company is incorporated doesn't matter.
2. An investment, made or underway. The funds must be at risk and irrevocably committed. Money sitting in a bank account, or a plan to invest, isn't enough.
3. A real and operating business. It must produce a service or product for profit. A paper company, land held for its value or a nonprofit doesn't qualify.
4. A substantial amount. There is no minimum dollar figure. The officer weighs what you invested against what the business costs.
5. More than marginal. The business must be able to earn more than a minimal living for you and your family, now or in the future, or to make a significant economic contribution. The manual says that capacity should generally be realizable within five years.
6. Develop and direct, or a qualifying job. An investor must control the business, normally through at least 50 percent ownership or operational control. An employee must be an executive, a supervisor or have skills essential to the US business, and share the employer's nationality.
7. Intent to depart. You must intend to leave the US when your E-2 status ends.

You don't need a home abroad you won't give up. The manual says E applicants can sell their home and move their household to the US, and a clear statement that you'll leave when E status ends is normally enough. If someone has filed an immigrant visa petition for you, the officer needs more convincing that you'll leave. The burden of proof is on you, and the officer can ask for any document needed to settle a doubt.

How does an E-2 visa interview work?

The State Department says the steps, and their order, vary by embassy or consulate, so follow the instructions of the post where you'll apply. Everyone completes the DS-160. Executives, managers and essential employees also complete Form DS-156E. The manual says investors and family members don't need it, though some posts ask investors for it too: Madrid wants it from every applicant except family members.

Some posts review your E-2 package before you're interviewed. Two examples from embassy websites, checked October 30, 2026:

• US Consulate General in Amsterdam (Netherlands): if your company doesn't hold a Certificate of Enrollment, the full application goes in by email as PDF files sorted into tabs. The E Visa Unit reviews it, then emails an invitation to schedule the interview. Applicants 14 and older must attend in person. The page listed an average processing time of twelve weeks or more from a complete package.
• US Embassy in Madrid (Spain): you email the DS-156E and the full package. Only after the E-visa Unit has received and reviewed it can you schedule the interview. The embassy says it reviews cases against 9 FAM 402.9, listed a review time of about six to eight weeks, and asks every applicant to bring a printed copy of the package to the interview.

So the officer may already know your file well when you sit down. The questions check that you understand your own business and that your answers match the paperwork. Some posts also keep a register of E companies they've already approved. Amsterdam calls it a Certificate of Enrollment, and the manual tells officers to still weigh each applicant's own case.

At the interview, the officer decides whether you qualify and for which category. Fingerprints are usually taken then. Some cases need administrative processing afterward, which our 221(g) guide explains.

What will the officer ask about your business?

Neither the State Department nor these embassies publish an E-2 question list. The questions below follow from what the manual tells officers to check, each with one line on what the officer is looking for. There are no model answers here: yours have to come from your own business and match your package.

• "What does your business do, and who are your customers?" Whether it's a real, active business that produces a service or product for profit.
• "Is it open yet? If not, when will it be?" For a new business, whether you're close to starting operations, not still scouting locations or signing contracts.
• "Did you buy an existing business or start a new one?" How the cost is measured: the purchase price for an existing business, or the cost to make a new one operational.
• "Who owns the company, and what nationality are the owners?" That at least 50 percent is owned by nationals of your treaty country.
• "Where does the business operate?" Whether the operation is real. The manual says a physical office isn't required, though it can be relevant.
• "What is your revenue so far, or what do you expect?" Whether the business can earn more than a minimal living. The manual says unaudited statements based only on your own figures normally aren't enough to show the state of the business.

What will the officer ask about your investment?

• "How much have you invested so far?" Whether the amount is substantial next to the cost of the business. The manual calls this the proportionality test: the cheaper the business, the higher the share you need to have put in.
• "Where did the money come from?" The source of the funds. Savings, gifts, inheritance and loans secured by your own personal assets can count. Money from illicit activity can't.
• "Whose account is the money in?" That you possess and control the capital you invested.
• "Did you borrow any of it, and what secures the loan?" Whether the funds are at risk. A loan secured by the business's own assets doesn't count. A loan secured by your personal assets, like a second mortgage on your home, can.
• "What happens to your money if the business fails?" Whether the funds could be partly or totally lost, which the manual says is what makes them an investment.
• "Is the purchase final, or does it depend on the visa?" Whether the funds are irrevocably committed. The manual says a purchase conditioned on the visa can still count if the money is held in escrow for release.
• "What did you spend it on?" Equipment, inventory and other business assets can count toward the total. Items for personal use don't.

What will the officer ask about your role?

If you're the investor:

• "What percentage of the company do you own?" Whether you control it, normally through at least 50 percent ownership. The manual says a 50/50 split between two partners can count, but an equal split among more than two doesn't give control by ownership.
• "Who makes the decisions day to day?" Whether you'll develop and direct the business. The manual says a management title alone isn't enough if you don't control the enterprise.

If you're an employee:

• "What will your title and duties be, and who will report to you?" For an executive or supervisor, the manual looks at your duties, your place in the company, how much control you'll have, the number and skill of the people you'll supervise, and your pay.
• "How much of your time is managing, and how much is hands-on work?" Whether supervision is the main part of the job, not a side task.
• "What skills do you bring that the US business needs?" For an essential employee, how specialized the skills are, how long they took to learn, whether US workers have them, and the salary they command.
• "How long will the business need you?" The manual says you must show how long your skills will be needed. Start-up and training roles may only be needed for a year or two.
• "What nationality is your employer?" That you share the treaty nationality of the company's owners.

A title isn't the job. The manual says a title like vice president means little in a two-person office. What counts is what you'll actually do.

What will the officer ask about your staff and growth?

Questions about hiring tie to the marginality check. The manual calls a business marginal if it can't earn more than a minimal living for you and your family, unless it can make a significant economic contribution, generally within five years of starting normal operations.

• "How many people work for the business now?" Whether the business already does more than support your household.
• "How many people will you hire, and when?" Whether your plan points to income or economic contribution beyond a minimal living.
• "Where will the business be in five years?" Whether that capacity is realizable within the five years the manual describes.

What will the officer ask about your plans and family?

• "Do you plan to live in the US permanently?" Whether you intend to leave when your E-2 status ends. The manual says a clear statement of that intent is normally sufficient.
• "Has anyone filed an immigrant petition for you?" If so, whether you'll still leave at the end of your stay instead of staying on to adjust status.
• "Who is coming with you?" Your spouse and unmarried children under 21 can get E-2 visas as dependents, and the officer checks the relationship. USCIS says their nationality doesn't need to match yours.
• "Will your spouse work?" USCIS says spouses in E-2 status are authorized to work incident to status. The manual says dependent children aren't.

USCIS says E-2 investors and employees get an initial stay of up to two years, with extensions of up to two years at a time and no limit on how many, as long as they keep intending to leave when status ends. How long the visa itself is valid depends on your nationality. The Netherlands page, for example, says a Dutch E-2 visa can be issued for up to five years, at the officer's judgment.

How should you prepare for an E-2 interview?

Read your package again before the interview. The officer's questions follow those documents, so be ready to explain every number in them in plain words: the total cost, what you've spent, where the money came from and how many people you employ.

Bring what your post asks for. The State Department lists a passport valid six months beyond your stay unless your country is exempt, the DS-160 confirmation page, the fee receipt if you paid before the interview, and the DS-156E for executives, managers and essential employees. Madrid also asks every applicant for a printed copy of the package and a photo. The rest depends on your post's instructions.

Whether your case qualifies, how to structure the investment and which documents to file are questions for your immigration attorney. For the day itself, see our US visa interview tips. Other work visa interviews follow a similar pattern: see the L-1, O-1 and H-1B question guides.

Visaful is an AI mock interview app for US visa interviews: an AI officer asks your visa's questions out loud and shows what to fix.

Visaful practices B1/B2, F-1 and H-1B interviews, plus US arrival, Global Entry and NEXUS. E-2 practice is coming soon.

This is interview practice, not legal advice. For questions about your own case, talk to an immigration attorney. Visaful is not affiliated with the U.S. government or the Department of State.