The two main U.S. investor visas are the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa and the E-2 Treaty Investor Visa, both used for different purposes and conditions. The EB-5 program provides lawful permanent residence to foreign investors who invest in a qualified investment in a U.S. business and create employment. In order to qualify for an EB-5 visa, the investor is required to invest an amount of capital into a new U.S. commercial enterprise that will create at least 10 full-time U.S. workers. Successful EB-5 recipients (and spouse and unmarried minor children under 21) are granted two-year conditional permanent residence, and may apply to have conditions removed in order to become full permanent residents. The EB-5 is an immigrant visa, or provides a pathway to a green card and ultimately the U.S. citizenship option. It has no connection to a particular treaty or nationality – any country can apply for it if the investor is qualified by creating employment and investing. 

The E-2 is an immigrant visa permitting a foreign businessman or businesswoman to reside in the U.S. to create and run a business into which they have invested a substantial sum of capital​. In contrast to EB-5, the E-2 visa itself does not result in a green card but temporary residence (typically 2 to 5-year periods, renewable indefinitely) as long as the enterprise remains profitable and continues to qualify under E-2. The E-2 is restricted solely to nationals of those countries having a qualifying treaty of commerce and navigation with the United States, so it is eligible based on investor nationality. The investor has to start a new venture or acquire an existing one in the U.S., and the investment should be substantial in relation to the enterprise’s cost overall, but no dollar amount, it has to be high enough to enable the enterprise to be operated profitably. The E-2 enterprise has to be an active operating business enterprise generating services or goods; passive or speculative ones are not acceptable. Because the E-2 is a nonimmigrant visa, the investor must still possess an intent at the end of their E-2 status​ to depart from the U.S., although as a matter of practice E-2 status is renewable indefinitely if the business remains viable and if the treaty is still in place.