E2 visa real estate investment
As you may imagine, owning real estate in the United States can be exciting and wonderful (expensive, but exciting nonetheless). Many times, clients will call my law firm to let me know that they are considering purchasing a house or a condo, and they want to know whether or not that real estate purchase will help with the E2 visa. The short answer, unfortunately, is no.
The E2 visa has specific requirements. The officers who are reviewing the application and handling the interviews go carefully through the requirements and review your application to make sure you meet all of the visa requirements. There aren’t any positive considerations taken outside of those requirements when reviewing the E2 visa application, like investing a substantial amount. (There are, of course, many negative considerations taken including your criminal history, any evidence of overstaying your visa, etc.) As a result, owning real estate in the United States neither hurts nor helps in your bid for the E2 visa.
On occasion, a potential client will call to mention that they are interested in using the real estate for some sort of business. With very, very few exceptions this won’t work either. You can’t use the house as an office (you should have an official office lease in a commercial space for that); and simply owning real estate and renting it out doesn’t work either. This is typically not considered a “business” as defined in the regulations regarding E2 visas. Consult your E2 lawyer about what qualifies as a business as it pertains to getting an E2 Visa.
That said, owning real estate is a great thing! There are many benefits to having a house, a condo or an apartment building. So, please don’t hesitate to buy property; but don’t do it in order to secure the E2 visa. It simply won’t help.
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Rupert Law. Angie Rupert is located in Los Angeles County.
