Treaty Traders & Investors

Basic Requirements: Treaty Trader (E-1) Visa for Costa Rican Citizens or Legal Permanent Residents.

• The visa applicant must be: a Costa Rican citizen, or a legal permanent resident of Costa Rica and a citizen of a country that had a pertinent treaty with the United States.
• The trading firm must have Costa Rican nationality (i.e., be majority-owned by Costa Rican citizens or legal permanent residents).
• The international trade must be “substantial” in the sense that there is a sizeable and continuing volume of trade.
• The trade must be principally between the U.S. and Costa Rica, which is defined to mean that more than 50 percent of the international trade involved must be between the U.S. and Costa Rica.
• Trade means an international exchange of goods, services, or technology. Title of the trade items must pass from one party to the other.
• The applicant must be employed in a supervisory or executive capacity or possess highly specialized skills essential to the efficient operation of the firm. Ordinary skilled or unskilled workers do not qualify.
• The applicant intends to depart the U.S. when the E-1 status ends.

Basic Requirements: Treaty Investor (E-2) Visa for Costa Rican Citizens or Legal Permanent Residents

• The investor, either a real or corporate person, must be either a Costa Rican citizen or legal permanent resident of Costa Rica and a citizen of a country that has a pertinent treaty with the United States.
• The applicant must have invested or be in the process of investing.
• The investor must have prior control of the funds being invested and the investment must be at risk in the commercial sense. Loans secured with assets of the investment enterprise are not considered “at risk”.
• The investment must be a real and operating enterprise. Speculative or idle investment does not qualify. Uncommitted funds in a bank account of similar security are not considered an investment.
• The investment must be substantial.  It must be sufficient to ensure the successful operation of the enterprise. The percentage of investment for a low-cost business enterprise must be higher than the percentage of investment in a high-cost enterprise.
• The investment must be more than marginal. It must generate significantly more income than just to provide a living to the investor and his/her family or must have a direct significant economic impact in the United States.
• The applicant must be in a position to “develop and direct” the enterprise.
• If the applicant is not the principal investor, he/she must be employed in a supervisory, executive, of highly specialized skill capacity. Ordinary skilled and unskilled workers do not qualify.
• The applicant intends to depart the United States when the E-2 status ends.

Spouses and Children

Spouses and dependent children (unmarried children under 21 years of age), regardless of nationality, may receive derivative E visas to accompany the principal alien. Dependents are not authorized to work in the U.S. They are permitted to study.