about the E-2 thing you said, it's only true if you applied within the US. if you applied and got an E-2 outside of US, you can freely leave and enter on it anytime.
I talked with an immigration lawyer last year. She told me that the period of free re-entry was only within 6 months of the visa issuance. I did check and found a list of varying periods for different countries on some website (I can't find it now.)
However, I just found this paragraph on www.uscis.gov:
"An E-2 nonimmigrant who travels abroad may generally be granted an automatic two-year period of readmission when returning to the United States. It is generally not necessary to file a new Form I-129 with USCIS in this situation."
So I guess one may want to re-check to be very sure if one wants to get an E-2. I'm going to apply for the Entrepreneur Parole since it fits my situation much better.
I have an E-2 visa, valid for 5 years. The way it works is exactly as you read on www.uscis.gov: upon entry in the US there is a 2 year reentry permission: it is renewed each time the border is crossed. In practice it means that I need to go out of the US at least once every two years to keep the ability to travel freely. Conclusion: the E-2 visa is great if you intend to travel abroad often, otherwise another visa is probably better.
The durations may vary depending on the country the visa is issued from (due to the underlying treaty), and the status associated to it: in my case France as an essential employee (NOT as an investor).
