HOW TO APPLY FOR A GRENADA PASSPORT TO OBTAIN AN E-2 VISA
Foreigners who invest in a United States business may want to enter the United States to better manage the investment and the business.
The E-2 visa allows certain foreign nationals to obtain a visa to be admitted to the United States based on their investment in the United States business.
However, it is not always easy to qualify to obtain an E-2 visa.
One method that can help certain foreign nationals obtain an E-2 visa is to apply for a Grenada passport.
This article examines how to apply for a Grenada passport to obtain an E-2 visa.
There are three key requirements that a foreign national must meet to obtain an E-2 visa:
1. The foreigner must be a national of a country (a) with which the United States maintains a treaty of commerce and navigation or an otherwise qualifying international agreement, or (b) which has been designated as an otherwise qualifying country by legislation (collectively “E-2 Countries”);
2. The foreigner has invested, or is actively in the process of investing, a “substantial amount of capital” in a bona fide United States enterprise. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the phrase, “a substantial amount of capital”, is:
• “Substantial in relationship to the total cost of either purchasing an established enterprise or establishing a new one”
• “Sufficient to ensure the treaty investor’s financial commitment to the successful operation of the enterprise”
• “Of a magnitude to support the likelihood that the treaty investor will successfully develop and direct the enterprise. The lower the cost of the enterprise, the higher, proportionately, the investment must be to be considered substantial”; and
3. The foreigner is seeking to enter the United States solely to develop and direct the United States enterprise. Thisrequirement is established by showing at least 50% ownership,or possession of operationalcontrol, of the United States enterprise.
E-2 visa investors will be allowed a maximum initial stay in the United States of two years. Requests for extension of stay in the United Statesfor E-2 visa investors may be granted in increments of up to two years each. There is no limit to the number of extensions an E-2 visa investor may be granted.
Spouses, and unmarried children who are under 21 years old, of a qualified E-2 visa investor may be able to obtain E-2 visa status. Such spouses may apply for work authorization in the United States, and such children may attend school in the United States.
Employees of a qualified E-2 visa investor may also be able to obtain E-2 visa status.
It is important to remember that the E-2 visa is a nonimmigrant visa, and not a green card.
Currently, Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa), Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Grenada, Honduras, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Yugoslavia, are listed as E-2 Countries.
If you are a foreign national from any of the above 81 countries, you are potentially eligible to obtain an E-2 visa.
However, many countries are not included within this list of E-2 Countries. This would include suchcountries as Brazil, China, Greece, India, Portugal, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa.
If you are s foreign national from a country that is not an E-2 Country, you will need to obtain a passport (citizenship) from an E-2 Country to potentially be eligible to obtain an E-2 visa.
One such E-2 Country is Grenada.
With a passport from Grenada, you will be treated as a citizen of Grenada and thereby can potentially qualify for an E-2 visa as a foreign national from an E-2 Country.
There are two principal paths to obtain a Grenada passport:
1. You can contribute(treated as a non-refundable donation) $150,000 to Grenada’s National Transformation Fund (the “contribution” path). The National Transformation Fund is a government fund responsible for financing projects that will benefit Grenada’s economy and help its diversification. The $150,000contribution amount covers a single applicant. If the application is for a principal applicant and a spouse, or for a family of four family members, the amount of the contribution is $200,000 (plus an extra contribution of $25,000 required for each additional dependent).
2. You can invest $350,000 to a pre-approved project (the “investment” path). Currently, the vast majorityofthese investment projects are in real estate developments in Grenada, including luxury hotels, resorts, and villas.Investments in real estate must be maintained for at least five years after the Grenada passport is issued. The$350,000 investment amount covers each situation of a single applicant, a principal applicant and a spouse,anda family of four or more family members. In addition, the investment path requires that a government fee of $50,000 also be paid. This government fee of $50,000 coverseach situation of a single applicant, a principal applicant and a spouse, and a family of four family members (plus an extra government fee of $25,000 required for each additional dependent).
Under both the contribution path and the investment path, you also must pay an application fee of $1,500 per person, a due diligence fee of $5,000 per person (except for a dependent child under 17 years old), and a processing fee of $1,500 per person (except $500 for a person under 18 years old).
The principal applicant for a Grenada passport must be at least 18 years old and in good health.
In addition, the Grenada government will deny the application of any applicant who provides false information on his or her application form, has at any time previously been convicted in any country of an offense for which the maximum custodial penalty for the same or similar offense in Grenada is in excess of six months imprisonment (unless he or she received a free pardon), is the subject of a criminal investigation, is considered to be a potential national security risk to Grenada or to any other country, is involved in any activity likely to cause disrepute to Grenada, or has been denied a visa to a country with which Grenada has visa-free traveland who has not subsequently obtained a visa to the country that issued the denial.
While there are many possible E2 Countries, there are certain advantages in Grenada:
• There is no interview required to obtain a Grenada passport.
• Neither a certain level of education nor business management experience is required to obtain a Grenada passport.
• You are not required to reside in Grenada either before or after you obtain your Grenada passport.
• You are allowed to hold dual citizenship.
• Grenada has no tax on worldwide income.
• With a Grenada passport, you can travel without visa restrictions to more than 115 countries, including European Union countries and China.
To obtain a Grenada passport, it is necessary to complete six “Citizenship Application Forms” – “Form 1 – Personal Information “, “Form 2 – Fingerprints”, “Form 3 –Particulars for the Office of Home Affairs”, “Form 4 – Medical”, “Form 5 – Employment Status”, and “Form 6 – Investment Confirmation”.
It has been estimated that it takes approximately four months of processing time to obtain a Grenada passport.
A Grenada passport is valid for five years after date of issuance.