E-2 Investor Visa Eligibility for Israeli Nationals Almost a Reality
September 29th, 2014 by SRW Lawyers
It has been more than two years since President Obama signed legislation that would add Israel to the list of E-2 investor eligible counties. The actual implementation of adding Israel to that list, and in turn Israeli nationals being able to apply for E-2 visas, has been delayed until a reciprocity agreement was finalized and a similar investor visa category for U.S. investors investing in Israel was created.
Israeli nationals hoping to pursue an E-2 visa may now be one step closer as Israel’s Parliament recently approved the creation of a new special visa category (B-5) for U.S. citizen investors. The B-5 visa is intended to specifically comply with the requirements for a similar arrangement for E-2 type visas for Israeli investors in the United States. The creation of the B-5 visa for U.S. citizen investors is one of the final steps toward the implementation of reciprocal investor visa programs between Israel and the United States, and therefore one step closer to E-2 visas for Israeli nationals finally becoming a reality.
This will benefit not only Israeli national investors, but also Israeli national managers/executives and essential employees of Israeli owned companies operating in the U.S.
It is expected that both the U.S. and Israel will move quickly to finalize procedures for both the B-5 and E-2. It is hoped that the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv will begin to accept E-2 visa applications from Israeli nationals soon.
