E-2 Visa Treaty Countries List (2026): Who Is Eligible and Who Is Not

The E-2 visa exists because of bilateral treaties. If your country of citizenship has a qualifying treaty of commerce and navigation, or a bilateral investment treaty that grants E-2 privileges, you can apply. If it does not, no amount of investment will make you eligible on your own passport.

Below is the current list, organized so you can check eligibility and get a sense of how long your visa will be valid. Validity periods come from the Department of State’s reciprocity schedule and can change, so confirm the figure for your country on travel.state.gov before planning around it.

The two ownership rules that involve nationality

Nationality matters twice in an E-2 case:

1. You, the investor, must be a citizen of a treaty country. Permanent residence in a treaty country does not count.
2. The business must be at least 50% owned by citizens of that same treaty country. If your U.S. company has partners from other countries, your treaty-country group must hold at least half of the equity.

Dual citizens may apply using either nationality, but the business ownership must match the nationality on which you apply.

E-2 treaty countries in 2026

Europe

Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom.

Note on the United Kingdom: the treaty covers British citizens who are residents of the UK or its territories. Note on Denmark: the treaty does not extend to Greenland.

Americas

Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Grenada, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago.

Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, Guatemala, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic are not E-2 countries.

Asia and Pacific

Australia, Bangladesh, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand.

Mainland China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Hong Kong are not E-2 countries.

Middle East and Africa

Bahrain, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Liberia, Morocco, Oman, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey.

The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Ghana are not E-2 countries. Iranian citizens are technically eligible but face sanctions-related restrictions that make cases rare.

Visa validity by country

The treaty gets you in the door; the reciprocity schedule decides how long the visa stamp is valid. Two things are worth understanding:

• Validity is the period during which you may travel to the U.S. on that visa. It ranges from three months to 60 months.
• Period of stay is different. Every admission on an E-2 visa gives you two years in the country, even if the visa itself expires the following week.

Validity	Examples
60 months, multiple entry	Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Turkey, Grenada, Argentina, Colombia, Poland, Ireland, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Belgium
48 months	Mexico
24 to 36 months	Several smaller treaty countries; check the schedule
Short validity, sometimes 3 months	Egypt, Bangladesh, Iran and a few others, based on how those countries treat U.S. investors

A short validity period does not shorten your two-year admission, but it means you must renew the visa stamp more often if you travel. Many investors from short-validity countries simply avoid international travel until the business is stable, then renew.

If your country is not on the list

You have three realistic options.

Obtain treaty-country citizenship. Grenada, Turkey and several other treaty countries run citizenship-by-investment programs. Since December 2022, applicants who acquired treaty nationality through a financial investment must have been domiciled in that country for a continuous period of at least three years before applying for the E-2. That rule reshaped the second-passport strategy; we cover the current mechanics in our guides for Indian citizens, the Grenada route and Russians and Belarusians.

Use a treaty-country spouse or partner. The business must be at least 50% owned by treaty nationals. If your spouse is a citizen of a treaty country, they can be the E-2 principal and you can be the dependent with full work authorization.

Choose a different visa. EB-5 has no nationality restriction and leads directly to a green card, at a much higher investment. L-1A works if you have run a company abroad for at least a year and can open a U.S. affiliate. O-1 and EB-2 NIW fit founders with a strong track record. We compare these in E-2 vs EB-5 and L-1 vs E-2.

Country notes from our practice

• Turkey is one of the most active E-2 nationalities, with five-year visas and a large diaspora of business owners in Texas, Florida and New Jersey. See E-2 visa for Turkish citizens.
• Canada has the simplest logistics: Canadians do not need a visa for most other purposes but do need the E-2 visa itself, issued by the consulates in Toronto, Vancouver or Ottawa. See E-2 visa for Canadians.
• Mexico receives a four-year visa and a large share of approvals goes to family-run businesses in Texas and California. See E-2 visa for Mexican citizens.
• Pakistan and Bangladesh are eligible but receive short-validity visas, which shapes travel planning.

Next step

Eligibility by nationality is the first gate, but it is the easy one. The hard part is choosing a business that a consular officer will accept as substantial and non-marginal for your budget. If you are a treaty-country citizen deciding what to buy or build, tell us your budget and background and we will suggest two or three real options with numbers.