E1 Treaty Trader Visa
The E-1 nonimmigrant classification allows a national of a treaty country (a country with which the United States maintains a treaty of commerce and navigation, or which the United States maintains a qualifying international agreement, or which has been deemed a qualifying country by legislation) to be admitted to the United States solely to engage in international trade on his or her own behalf.
A complete list of the countries on the list can be found by clicking here.
The trade must also be substantial, regular, and continuous (i.e., cannot be based on one or non-regular trade transactions). Furthermore, the US company must take title to the imported or exported goods or services (i.e., shipping from abroad to a US customer, where the US entity only coordinates logistics and does not take title to the merchandise, does not qualify as trade). There must also be a meaningful exchange of money with a foreign entity in the treaty country.
If the US entity is a newly established company, it must have already begun trading with the treaty country or must have binding contracts that call for the immediate exchange of goods or services in order to qualify for a visa (in other words, the US government will not grant a visa to prospective traders looking for trading relationships).
If all these conditions are met, the treaty investor can obtain an E-1 visa if s/he directs the trade.
The US company can also hire any treaty national (ie, who is not the investor himself) who will assume an executive, supervisory or essential skills position at the company.