E-1 treaty trader visa: substantial trade between the US and your treaty country

Who is the E-1 for, and who is it not for?

It fits a trader whose business already buys from or sells to the United States on a continuing basis: an importer or exporter of goods, or a business selling services or technology across the border. The trader can be an individual or a company. Employees of a treaty trader can also hold E-1 status if they fill an executive or supervisory role or have special qualifications essential to the business.

It does not fit someone coming to look for trading partners, a business whose US activity is purely domestic, or a trade relationship built on one large contract. A national of a country with only E-2 treaty rights cannot use the E-1.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.2(e)(1), with (e)(4)-(7), (e)(10) and (e)(19)-(21); 9 FAM 402.9-5(C), with 402.9-4(C)

Which countries have E-1 rights?

A treaty country is one with a qualifying treaty of friendship, commerce and navigation, or its equivalent, with the United States, or one given E visa privileges by legislation. The State Department’s Treaty Countries table on travel.state.gov, mirrored in 9 FAM 402.9-10 of the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM), lists E-1 and E-2 rights as separate rows. Some countries appear for only one: Greece has an E-1 row and no E-2 row, and Grenada the reverse. Read each country’s footnotes as well, since some carry territorial or date conditions.

Sources: Treaty Countries table; 8 CFR 214.2(e)(1), with (e)(4)-(7), (e)(10) and (e)(19)-(21)

What counts as trade?

Trade means the existing international exchange of items of trade for consideration between the United States and the treaty country. The FAM breaks this into three elements: it must be an exchange, it must be international, and it must involve qualifying items.

The regulation’s list of items is broad and not exhaustive. Goods are tangible commodities or merchandise with extrinsic value; services are legitimate economic activities that provide something other than tangible goods. A service counts when providing it is the purpose of the business and the service itself is what the business sells.

• The exchange must be traceable and identifiable, and title to the item must pass from one treaty party to the other.
• Existing trade includes successfully negotiated contracts, binding on both parties, that call for the immediate exchange of items of trade.
• Domestic trade, or developing a US market without international exchange, is not trade for E-1 purposes.
• Placing proceeds of US services in a treaty-country bank account does not by itself show a meaningful exchange if the money supports no business activity there.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.2(e)(9); 8 CFR 214.2(e)(1), with (e)(4)-(7), (e)(10) and (e)(19)-(21)

How much trade is “substantial”?

Substantial describes a continuous flow of trade, not a dollar threshold. The regulation says there is no minimum value or volume for each transaction, and that a single transaction cannot establish treaty trader status however long or valuable it is. Officers focus primarily on the volume of trade, may also consider its monetary value, and give greater weight to more numerous exchanges of larger value.

Smaller businesses are not excluded. Numerous transactions of relatively small value can show a continuing course of trade, and income from that trade sufficient to support the trader and family is treated as a favorable factor.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.9-5(C), with 402.9-4(C); 8 CFR 214.2(e)(1), with (e)(4)-(7), (e)(10) and (e)(19)-(21)

What does “principally” between the US and the treaty country mean?

Over 50 percent of the treaty trader’s total international trade must be between the United States and the treaty country of the trader’s nationality. The rest can be trade with other countries or domestic trade.

Whose trade is measured matters. It is the trade of the legal person that is the treaty trader: an individual, partnership, joint venture or corporation. A US subsidiary is a separate legal person, so its own trade is measured. A branch is not, so the trade of the whole foreign entity it belongs to is measured. If the trader meets the rule, an employee’s own duties do not have to be split the same way.

In a change of status with USCIS, the Form I-129 E-1/E-2 supplement asks for the US company’s total annual gross trade and the percentage of it between the United States and the treaty country.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.2(e)(11); 9 FAM 402.9-5(D)(b), with 402.9-4(B); Form I-129 (edition 09/09/26), E-1/E-2 Classification Supplement, Section 3

Treaty nationality: the trader and the business

An individual trader’s nationality is decided by the authorities of the country concerned. A trading company must also have the treaty country’s nationality, which depends on who owns it, not where it is incorporated: ownership is traced as far as practicable to the individuals who ultimately own it, and at least 50 percent must be held by nationals of the treaty country. Shares owned by US lawful permanent residents are not counted. A business with dual-national owners can use only one E nationality, unless it is owned 50/50 by nationals of two treaty countries.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.2(e)(1), with (e)(4)-(7), (e)(10) and (e)(19)-(21); 9 FAM 402.9-5(D)(b), with 402.9-4(B)

Your role and intent to depart

The regulation says the trader must be in the United States “solely” to carry on trade. The FAM reads “solely” as principally: the predominant reason for travel must be substantial trade, and an ancillary purpose does not rule the applicant out. An employee must have the same nationality as the treaty employer and fill an executive or supervisory position, or bring special qualifications essential to the business.

Every E-1 applicant must intend to depart when E-1 status expires or ends. You do not need to keep a residence abroad, and an E application may not be denied solely because of an approved labor certification or a filed or approved immigrant petition.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.9-5(C), with 402.9-4(C); 8 CFR 214.2(e)(1), with (e)(4)-(7), (e)(10) and (e)(19)-(21)

How does the process work?

Abroad, at a US embassy or consulate: each applicant completes Form DS-160 online and pays the application fee. Under 9 FAM 402.9-5(A), every E-1 principal applicant must also submit Form DS-156E, the treaty trader and investor application. The applicant submits trade records following that embassy or consulate’s own E visa instructions; a consular officer reviews the case, usually with an interview, and decides. If the visa is issued, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) decides on admission at the port of entry and records it on Form I-94. A treaty trader may be admitted for not more than 2 years at first, and extensions may be granted in increments of up to 2 years.

In the United States: someone already in another valid nonimmigrant status can ask US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for a change of status on Form I-129 with the E-1/E-2 supplement. That runs as petition filed, receipt notice, possibly a request for evidence (RFE), then a decision. A change of status is not a visa.

Evidence of trade commonly includes purchase orders, bills of lading, customs declarations, sales contracts, letters of credit, insurance papers for imported goods, accounts receivable and payable ledgers and client lists. The FAM’s checklist is a guide, not a required list.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.9-5(A)(b), with 402.9-9 and 402.9-11; Form I-129 (edition 09/09/26), E-1/E-2 Classification Supplement, Section 3; 8 CFR 214.2(e)(1), with (e)(4)-(7), (e)(10) and (e)(19)-(21)

Forms and government fees

These are government fees only, and they change; check each official page on the day you pay. Lawyer fees, translations and travel are separate.

• Visa application fee: 22 CFR 22.1 lists $315 per person for an E visa application (eCFR issue of 21 October 2026, checked 26 October 2026). A reciprocity issuance fee is added for some nationalities.
• Form I-129 in the United States: as of the USCIS fee schedule (Form G-1055, edition 10/16/26, checked 19 October 2026), $1,015 on paper or $965 online per E petition, or $510 for a small employer or nonprofit, plus additional fees such as the Asylum Program Fee ($600 for most petitioners, $300 for a small employer, $0 for a nonprofit).
• Form I-539 for family members in the United States: check the current USCIS fee schedule.

Sources: 22 CFR 22.1, item 21 (nonimmigrant visa application fees); Form G-1055, Fee Schedule (edition 10/16/26), Appendix A: I-129

How long does it take?

No official source sets a fixed E-1 timeline. Appointment waits and E visa review times vary by embassy or consulate, and USCIS publishes current Form I-129 processing times on its processing-times page.

Family members

A spouse and children accompanying or following the trader can receive E-1 status, and their nationality does not matter. Each completes their own DS-160, but derivatives do not file a DS-156E. Family members changing status in the United States file alongside the trader’s application. Under 9 FAM 402.9-9, USCIS and CBP give spouses the I-94 code E-1S, which marks them as able to seek employment, and children the code E-1Y, which does not.

Sources: 9 FAM 402.9-5(A)(b), with 402.9-9 and 402.9-11; 8 CFR 214.2(e)(1), with (e)(4)-(7), (e)(10) and (e)(19)-(21)

Common problems

• Trade that is planned but not yet happening. The trade must already be in progress.
• Counting all trade instead of international trade, or measuring a branch instead of the whole company it belongs to.
• One large contract presented as substantial trade.
• A country with E-2 rights only.

Sources: 8 CFR 214.2(e)(1), with (e)(4)-(7), (e)(10) and (e)(19)-(21); 9 FAM 402.9-5(D)(b), with 402.9-4(B); Treaty Countries table

How Visa Trouble can help

Free route discovery at Visa Trouble covers the E-1 treaty trader route, including the treaty-country check. We don’t offer application preparation for E-1 yet. Visa Trouble is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.

You can begin free route discovery at visatrouble.com.