E1 visa symbol meaning.

What E1 means in 22 CFR 41.12

Section 41.12 of Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations is titled “Classification symbols”. It opens: “A nonimmigrant visa issued to an applicant within one of the classes described in this section shall bear an appropriate visa symbol to show its classification. The symbol shall be inserted in the space provided on the visa.” Table 1 to that section then lists each symbol with its class and the section of law. The row for E1 is:

The statute behind the symbol

The “section of law” column points to the Immigration and Nationality Act as codified at 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15), the definition of “immigrant”, which lists the classes of nonimmigrant aliens by letter. The definition begins: “The term “immigrant” means every alien except an alien who is within one of the following classes of nonimmigrant aliens”. E1 is in the group below.

The opening words of subparagraph (E), which apply to all three of its clauses, read:

“an alien entitled to enter the United States under and in pursuance of the provisions of a treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and the foreign state of which the alien is a national (or, in the case of an alien who acquired the relevant nationality through a financial investment and who has not previously been granted status under this subparagraph, the foreign state of which the alien is a national and in which the alien has been domiciled for a continuous period of not less than 3 years at any point before applying for a nonimmigrant visa under this subparagraph), and the spouse and children of any such alien if accompanying or following to join such alien;”

Source: 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15), INA 101(a)(15)(E)

Clause (i), the one the E1 row cites, continues:

“solely to carry on substantial trade, including trade in services or trade in technology, principally between the United States and the foreign state of which the alien is a national;”

Source: 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15), INA 101(a)(15)(E)(i)

Reading the E1 row against its neighbours

The E1 row is the first of six E-type rows in Table 1. It cites INA 101(a)(15)(E)(i). The E2 row cites clause (ii), the E3, E3D and E3R rows cite clause (iii), and E2C cites a Public Law about the Northern Mariana Islands instead of the INA.

Clause (i) is about trade: “solely to carry on substantial trade, including trade in services or trade in technology, principally between the United States and the foreign state of which the alien is a national”. It depends on the opening text of (E), which refers to “a treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and the foreign state of which the alien is a national”. The table itself does not list which countries have such a treaty, and neither does the statute text.

As with the other E rows, the class name says “Spouse or Child” because the statute extends subparagraph (E) to the spouse and children of the principal alien if accompanying or following to join. No separate E1 family symbol is listed in the table.

What this page does not tell you

A visa symbol is a label. Table 1 says what each class is called and where the classification comes from in law. It says nothing about who qualifies, what evidence is needed, how long anyone may stay, whether work is allowed or what an application costs. Those answers sit in other regulations and in agency guidance and they change, so use the lookup above to read the label and then take the question to the State Department’s visa pages (travel.state.gov, which blocked automated reading on November 2, 2026, so we have not cited its contents) or a licensed immigration attorney.

For other codes seen on immigration paperwork, see the EAD category code lookup, which covers a different code set, and the I-94 number format checker.

Sources

Sources opened and read November 2, 2026.

• eCFR: 22 CFR 41.12 Classification symbols, Table 1 (current text; last amended 2023-09-12 per the eCFR version history) (read November 2, 2026)
• eCFR renderer API, the same section as machine-readable text (read November 2, 2026)
• Cornell Legal Information Institute: 8 U.S.C. 1101, definitions, subsection (a)(15) (read November 2, 2026)