The immigration system exists for a lot of reasons. As much as it exists to prevent the wrong people from gaining access to the country, it also serves the major purpose of allowing foreigners that will make a positive impact on the economy into the U.S. As a result. It is not surprising that special preference is given to investors and entrepreneurs who wish to develop an enterprise in the U.S.
The option of the E2 visa is a powerful one that enables investors and entrepreneurs to live and work in the U.S. We’ll examine all the fees involved with the E-2 visa application from start to finish.
Visa Fees and Application cost for E-2 visas
The U.S. immigration department that you submit your case to will charge a fee to process your application. Listed below are the basic fees that you would encounter when pursuing an E-2 visa:
- The basic filing fee for all I-129 petitions is $460. This fee would be required every time that the petition is filed, including for extensions and amendments.
- You will be required to pay a $205 filing fee for your DS-160 visa application cost if you are outside the U.S. and need to use consular processing.
- There is a charge of $85 for biometric services.
- If you are going to be accompanied by your spouse or dependents, an I-129 petition will need to be filed for each visa issued along with the required filing fee.
- Additional costs, for example, the traveling costs to the embassy and the or premium processing fee.
Summarily, if you are in the country, your total application cost will be $460 for each E-2 visa you require. If you are outside the U.S., then each visa will have a total application cost of $750.
Premium Processing
The usual six-month processing time for the I-129 petition can be inflexible to work with at times. As a result, the USCIS has created the premium processing service. This enables you to have your petition processed within 15 days for an additional visa fee of $1,440.
This feature does not however alter your chances of getting approved. What it does is speed up the processing time for your petition.
Immigration Lawyer Fee
This is the amount your immigration lawyer will charge you to handle your E2 visa application. This amount will be dependent on a lot of factors, including the lawyer’s experience and expertise, the specific services they will be providing for you, and their particular billing practices.
Investment Funds
While this is not necessarily considered an E-2 visa fee, the amount you are investing is a cost that must be considered when preparing to petition for this visa.
The application process for an E2 visa requires that you make a “substantial” investment in a company. There is no minimum or a maximum amount specified by the regulations, but you should try to invest at least $100,000 or more in your business as a general rule of thumb. The USCIS does not attach a limit to this requirement because the amount invested depends heavily on the size of the proposed enterprise.
Also, the fund to be invested needs to be put at risk by being committed to running the business. In a situation where the funds are just sitting in the business bank account, they will not be sufficiently at-risk, as required by the E2 visa requirements.
How Much Does It Cost to Extend My E-2 Visa?
The fees involved in the application for an extension of an E-2 visa include:
- I-129 basic filing fee: $460
- I-539 Application to Extend or Change Nonimmigrant Status fee: $370
These forms and their E-2 visa fees also need to be submitted for your spouse and every dependent who needs an extension on their visa.
Also Read: What Is An E2 VISA?
How To Pay E-2 Visa Fees?
You’ll be required to make your fee payments in the form of either a cashier’s check or money order. Generally, a lot of experienced attorneys will advise you to make each payment separately rather than combining them into one large E-2 visa fee payment.
This helps avoid confusion and the mistakes that may arise, errors that can lead to unnecessary
delays in your E-2 visa processing. Work hand in hand with your immigration attorney, and you should be alright.