Treaty Country List: Recent Additions and What They Mean

Eligibility for E-2 begins and ends with nationality: you must hold the nationality of a country that maintains a qualifying treaty of commerce and navigation with the United States. No amount of capital substitutes for that requirement.

The list changes

The roster is not fixed. Treaties are concluded, and occasionally lapse. Israel became E-2 eligible in 2019 after decades of negotiation, and New Zealand nationals gained access under a separate statutory provision. Each addition opens the category to a population that previously had no direct route.

Nationality, not residence

A common and expensive misunderstanding: permanent residence in a treaty country does not confer eligibility. A Chinese national living in Portugal on a golden visa is not a Portuguese national and cannot file E-2 on that basis. What counts is the passport.

For corporate applicants, at least 50% of the ownership must be held by nationals of the treaty country — and those owners must either be maintaining E-2 status themselves or be resident abroad and otherwise E-2 classifiable.

The naturalisation route

Because nationality is the gate, some applicants from non-treaty countries acquire a second nationality first — Grenada and Turkey are the routes most commonly used, both of which have E-2 treaties and citizenship-by-investment programmes.

This is a legitimate path, but it adds a step with its own cost, timeline and scrutiny. Consular officers are aware of it, and applicants who naturalised recently should expect questions about their connection to the treaty country.

See our complete treaty country list for the current roster and country-specific notes.