Grenada E-2 with F-2 children is the topic clients ask about most in my LA home as of May 2026. Mr. H first came to my LA home in November 2025. The drive down from northern California took him three hours in traffic. He runs a southern China manufacturing business, high-net-worth family, and his son had just been accepted to Texas A&M on an F-1 student visa for fall 2026. He did not come down to sign for Grenada. He came down to figure out what happens to his son's immigration status if the family does Grenada. His agent had explained it, badly, and he wanted the answer face to face.
We spent about three hours on it. I drew the chain on an A4 sheet: Grenada passport then US E-2 then F-2 dependent status for the child. Grenada is one of the few CBI countries recognized as a US E-2 treaty country. A Grenada passport holder, whether born there or naturalized, can apply for an E-2 investor visa if they set up or buy a real, operating US business that makes a substantive economic contribution. E-2 is not a shortcut. Real business, real employees, real operations. Mr. H has the operating chops from running a manufacturing plant, so this path was viable for him. The E-2 holder's spouse can apply for an EAD work permit and work freely in the US. Unmarried children under 21 automatically get F-2 dependent status, which lets them live in the US and attend public K-12 schools. The whole stack still works as of May 2026 only through Grenada and Turkey in the CBI universe.
Mr. H's son was looking at the classic Chinese HNW family dilemma. F-1 to study in the US, then H-1B lottery after graduation, lottery loss means going home. If the father gets E-2, the son shifts from F-1 to F-2 derivative status under the father's E-2 and that status holds as long as the father keeps renewing E-2. The catch is that F-2 holders cannot work for pay. If the son wants a US job after graduation, he is back in the H-1B or F-1 OPT line. I made sure Mr. H heard this clearly: getting E-2 buys you and your wife a long-term US presence option, it does not hand your son a green card. He nodded. That was the part his prior agent had skipped.
Second thing I ran with him was the money. Grenada NTF route from $235,000, family of four with government fees, due diligence fees, legal, and application fees totals around $300,000. Real processing time 6 to 12 months as of May 2026; anyone quoting 4 months is selling old data. The E-2 visa application requires a US entity with at least $100,000 in substantive investment (restaurant, franchise, trading company, consultancy all qualify, must actually operate), legal fees $15,000 to $30,000, consulate processing 3 to 6 months. End to end, from signing the Grenada contract to landing on E-2, this family was looking at 14 to 18 months and total spend of $500,000 to $550,000. A $500K-tier long-term family plan, not a passport-and-visa fast move.
Mr. H did not commit on the spot. He went home, spent five weeks talking it through with his wife, and pinged me on WeChat in January 2026 to sign. He picked the NTF route. The day we signed he wrote: 'Ken, the year my son starts in Texas, my wife and I will be in America too.' My one-line reply: the passport is not the point. Eleven years of CBI work tells me HNW family planning has to look ten years out, parent status backstops the child's status, not the other way around. Most agents will not say this because most agents are selling one passport, not a ten-year family configuration.
Not the most expensive, not the cheapest, only the right fit. Grenada NTF at $235,000 is neither the cheapest nor the most expensive of the eight active passports, but it is one of the only ones that runs the E-2 dependent F-2 chain cleanly. Mr. H's family went this route, on the condition the father actually runs a US business and does not build a shell. If you are also weighing US college planning for the child alongside parent status, WhatsApp +15595666666 with 'Grenada E-2'. I have compiled an 18-page operational checklist from the past four years of Grenada E-2 cases and child status transitions. Eleven years California licensed, long-term family configuration is our specialty. We do not replace immigration counsel on the visa filing, but we help you figure out whether the whole stack is worth starting.
