If you are in the U.S. already on some other type of a non-immigrant visa, you could change your current status to an E-1 status. You can generally change status from one visa category to another, as long as you have been maintaining your status, have not violated your status, and your change of status petition is receive by USCIS before your I-94 expires.

Also, USCIS approval does not grant you a visa. The USCIS approval will grant you an E-1 status for 2 years, but if you leave the U.S., you will need to apply for an E-1 visa at a U.S. Consulate.

Also, you do not need to invest money for an E-1 visa. While a substantial investment is required for an E-2 visa, you do not need to invest money in the U.S. business for an E-1 visa.

This means that as long as you meet all the E-1 visa requirements, you do not need to make any upfront investment in the U.S. before your E-1 visa is approved. This is a big advantage of an E-1 visa, and many applicants who qualify for both E-1 or E-2 visa prefer E-1 visa, as they do not need to make that significant upfront investment. For an E-2 visa, you should generally invest around $100,000.