E visa Treaty Country List

An E-1 or E-2 visa is only available to a citizen of a country that has the right kind of agreement with the United States. Roughly 80 countries qualify, but the two categories do not travel together: some countries support only E-1 treaty trader status, others only E-2 treaty investor status, and most support both. The first question in any E case is therefore simply whether the applicant's nationality appears below, and in which column.

How to read the table

A date in a column means that classification is available to nationals of that country, and shows when the agreement took effect. A dash means it is not available. The date matters less often than the fact of eligibility, but it can be decisive for countries whose treaties have lapsed, where eligibility depends on when an investment was made.

Recent changes worth knowing

• Portugal joined the list on March 15, 2024 for both E-1 and E-2.
• New Zealand gained E-1 and E-2 on June 10, 2019, and Israel gained E-2 on May 1, 2019.
• Bolivia's E-2 route has closed: the grandfathering period for investments in place by June 10, 2012 ran out on June 10, 2022.
• Ecuador's E-2 route is closing: only investments established before May 18, 2018 still qualify, and that ends on May 18, 2028.
• Iran, which appeared on earlier versions of this list, is no longer included.

Treaty countries for E-1 and E-2

Countries that are not on the list

Nationals of several of the world's largest economies cannot use the E categories at all, and this surprises people regularly. India, mainland China, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and South Africa do not appear. For those investors the usual alternatives are the L-1 for an intracompany transfer, the O-1, the EB-5 immigrant investor route, or acquiring a second nationality that does qualify. Note that a second nationality has to be genuine, and where citizenship was obtained through a financial investment programme, additional residence requirements may apply.

Before you rely on this page

The list changes as treaties are signed, lapse or are superseded, and this page will not always catch a change immediately. The authoritative version is the Department of State's Treaty Countries table, which should be checked before any filing. This page was verified against that table on July 31, 2026.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Country names follow the Department of State's usage, which does not always match current official names.