E-1 status is a nonimmigrant status here in the U.S. that qualifying treaty traders can be granted. However, treaty traders are not the only ones who can qualify for E-1 classification. So too can certain employees of such traders.
Now, in order for a person employed by a treaty trader to be eligible for this nonimmigrant status, they must meet certain requirements. For one, they must fall under the relevant law’s definition of an “employee.” As this shows, definitional issues can sometimes be impactful ones in immigration cases.
Another requirement for E-1 eligibility for employees of treaty traders is that the employee and the treaty trader (or qualifying organization) employing them must share the same nationality. As a note, to be an E-1 treaty trader, a trader has to be of the nationality of a country the U.S. has a qualifying treaty with. This underscores that what country a person who is seeking entry into the U.S. in relation to their work is from can impact what sorts of immigration options and immigration issues can come up for them.
Additionally, a treaty trader’s employee has to fit into one of the following two categories to be able to be eligible for E-1 status:
- They are an employee who engages in supervisory or executive duties.
- They are an employee with special qualifications. A variety of different factors can contribute to whether an employee is deemed to have such qualifications.
As can be seen from this, what specifically a foreign worker does in their job and their individual characteristics as an employee can have big impacts on what their situation is when it comes to immigration issues.
So, a wide range of things can impact whether a worker would be able to obtain E-1 status. So, eligibility issues are one of the significant legal issues that can come up in relation to E-1 status. Experienced immigration lawyers can assist employers and employees who are dealing with immigration issues related to E-1 status with getting the right information on the matter and navigating the issues.
Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, “E-1 Treaty Traders,” Accessed May 25, 2016