[proberts]

There are multiple options to working for your own company in the U.S. The most common paths are the O-1, the L-1, and the E-2 and E-1 visa. Creating a company in Germany first might open up a path to an L-1 visa but that's the only relative advantage to opening a company in Germany first. The E-1 and the E-2 require that the U.S. company be at last 50% German owned and that there be a substantial investment of German money into the U.S. company or substantial trade between the U.S. and Germany via the U.S. company. The O-1 is based your own personal achievements. If you can have German invested into the U.S. company (whether from you or others or both), which generally means at last $100k, then the E-2 is a very good and easy option and relative to the O-1, allows spouses to work.

[wg0]

Does this mean that if a German citizen registers a company in US and owns 100% of it and also invests $100k into it, he can get an E-2?

[proberts]

There are other requirements, such as evidence of not only the investment but the expenditure of the funds by the U.S. company on business expenses and a good business plan, but these are not onerous requirements. The challenge sometimes is the expenditure of the funds because a substantial amount needs to have been spent before applying for the E-2 visa and sometimes it can be hard to spend that money.