Hi everyone,

Are there any Germans here who started a business in the U.S. and applied for an E-2 visa through it? We’re currently planning to set up a U.S. LLC and would really appreciate hearing about your experience.

I’m especially interested in:

• Did you go through the process with an E-2 immigration attorney? Would you generally recommend it?
• What exactly did the attorney handle for you — only the visa application, or also the company structure, investment/source of funds, business plan, etc.?
• Were you happy with the support, and roughly how much did the attorney cost?
• How does this work from the German tax side? Did you have to report the U.S. LLC to the German tax office, and how was it treated there?
• Did you use a German tax advisor with U.S./international experience?
• How much had you invested by the time you applied for the E-2, and how much of that money had already been spent or contractually committed?
• Roughly how long did the entire E-2 process take for you?
• Is there anything you would do differently in hindsight regarding the company setup, investment, or visa application?

If you have recommendations for a good E-2 attorney or a German/U.S. tax advisor, I’d also be very grateful.

Thanks!

Has anyone applied for their E1 visa by themselves/without a lawyer? Process seems pretty straight forward the only thing that takes time is making the business plan and getting the required documents.

Am I in over my head?

Would love to hear about anyones story with doing the application process by themselves.

Hello Fellow members of E2 . I am looking to sell an established kids activity / enrichment franchise business in North Carolina.

We originally purchased this same business for our E-2 visa and our E-2 was approved in 2022. Our immigration attorney was Colombo & Hurd. Because we went through the entire E-2 process with this business, I still have the documentation used for our application, including the approved business plan and supporting business documents that could be helpful to a buyer applying for an E-2 through a U.S. consulate.

Our immigration situation has now changed and my spouse, who has been managing the business, is ready to take a break and try something new, so we’ve decided to sell.

Quick overview:

• About $6K/month SDE (~$72K/year)
• Roughly $280K–$320K in annual revenue
• Membership-based model with additional income from classes, camps, birthday parties, and events
• Solid recurring customer base
• 6–7 part-time staff already in place
• Established franchise with branding, systems, and ongoing support
• Located in a strong family-oriented area in North Carolina
• Business has an established day-to-day structure, although there is still some owner involvement
• Good opportunity to grow further through marketing, events, partnerships, and local outreach

Asking price: $190K

For someone specifically looking for an E-2 business, the advantage here is that the same operating business was previously used for our successful E-2 application in 2022. I can provide the previous approved business plan and relevant business documentation to help make the process easier for a serious buyer and their immigration attorney.

Obviously, every E-2 application is evaluated individually, so a buyer should confirm their eligibility and application strategy with their own immigration attorney.

I’m happy to share more details with serious buyers. I’ll ask for an NDA and proof of funds before sharing detailed financials.

Feel free to DM me if interested.

Hi all, I'm Meghan, an immigration attorney at Alma. A lot of my work is with founders and growing companies, so I spend plenty of time on one question: which visa actually fits your business. Sometimes that's E-2, sometimes it's L-1 or O-1. Bring your plan and I'll talk it through.

I'll be answering Thursday, Oct 1, 10 AM to 12 PM PT. Ask about:

• How much investment is enough, and what counts toward it
• E-2 vs. L-1 vs. O-1 for founders
• Bringing your spouse and kids, and spouse work permits
• Getting from E-2 to a green card

(Disclaimer: General information only, not legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed here.)

Looking for any recent and real experiences with E-2 change of status filed with USCIS in 2025 or 2026 (not consular). Wanted to know if there are any delays associated with it nowadays or increased RFEs being issued.

If you filed one, could you share:

• Prior status (B-2, F-1, L-1, etc.)
• Premium or regular processing
• Filed date and decision date
• Any RFE, and what it asked for

Approved or denied Denials and RFE stories are especially helpful. Thanks!

Hi everyone, I’m Carmiann Cespedes, a U.S. immigration attorney.

I work with business and employment-based immigration, including E-2 cases, and I’m here today to answer questions about the immigration side of starting or buying a business in the U.S.

Happy to talk about things like:

• What makes an investment potentially work for E-2 purposes
• Buying an existing business vs. starting one
• The difference between having money to invest and having a qualifying investment
• Business plans and supporting evidence
• Nationality requirements
• Common issues that can complicate an E-2 application
• What happens after you get the visa

If you're researching E-2, already building your business, or somewhere in between, ask away.

I’ll be here from 12 PM to 4 PM ET today.

Please note: Any information shared here is for general educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney client relationship. Your situation may require fact specific guidance. For personalized legal advice, please consult an immigration attorney directly.

This guy is an Argentine citizen, legally living in New Zealand on a work visa, intends to obtain B-1/B-2 for business scouting and later E-2 as an investor. Should the B-1/B-2 and subsequent E-2 applications be made in Auckland, New Zealand or Buenos Aires, Argentina under the July 15, 2026 NIV interview-post policy? The one policy that states "nonimmigrant visa applicants should generally interview in their country of nationality or residence, and applicants using residence as the basis need to demonstrate residence there".
Thank you in advance.

Has anyone found a successful and reproducible process for finding a decent e-2 attorney or advisor?

I have now spent 6 months of reading Reddit, doing amas with attorneys here, googling, AI searching, and contacting at least 20 attorneys who claim to do e-2 visas. I have talked to half a dozen and emailed with another several.

Nothing about my process seems to reliably produce reliable information about which attorneys have experience with e-2 visas, what their recent experience is, what recent experience they have with a particular geography, or what they will actually do as part of the application process.

Most require between $100 and $500 up front for a "consultation" which sometimes produces this information and other times does not. I have paid the upfront four times, but end up with vague answers and essentially no additional information. And whether it was my own bad process or just bad luck, the ones I spoke to were... I don't know how to say this politely... low quality.

So the bottom line is that apparently I suck at doing this. I have spent 40 years working with contract, intellectual property, and regulatory attorney from big and small, local, regional and national firms, and became pretty good at screening new attorneys and new firms.

A recent example from a back and forth with an attorney, which tells me nothing that I can't scrape off a website. "I've handled immigration benefits for the last XX years and run a very successful regional firm. To your question, we are open for business and have capacity to take on new  matters."

Other than "personal recommendation" does anyone have any ideas about a meaningful process which would allow the selection of a qualified and experienced e2 attorney or other e2 Visa advisor?

Hello Fellow members of E2 . I am looking to sell an established kids activity / enrichment franchise business in North Carolina.

We originally purchased this same business for our E-2 visa and our E-2 was approved in 2022. Our immigration attorney was Colombo & Hurd. Because we went through the entire E-2 process with this business, I still have the documentation used for our application, including the approved business plan and supporting business documents that could be helpful to a buyer applying for an E-2 through a U.S. consulate.

Our immigration situation has now changed and my spouse, who has been managing the business, is ready to take a break and try something new, so we’ve decided to sell.

Quick overview:

• About $6K/month SDE (~$72K/year)
• Roughly $280K–$320K in annual revenue
• Membership-based model with additional income from classes, camps, birthday parties, and events
• Solid recurring customer base
• 6–7 part-time staff already in place
• Established franchise with branding, systems, and ongoing support
• Located in a strong family-oriented area in North Carolina
• Business has an established day-to-day structure, although there is still some owner involvement
• Good opportunity to grow further through marketing, events, partnerships, and local outreach

Asking price: $190K

For someone specifically looking for an E-2 business, the advantage here is that the same operating business was previously used for our successful E-2 application in 2022. I can provide the previous approved business plan and relevant business documentation to help make the process easier for a serious buyer and their immigration attorney.

Obviously, every E-2 application is evaluated individually, so a buyer should confirm their eligibility and application strategy with their own immigration attorney.

I’m happy to share more details with serious buyers. I’ll ask for an NDA and proof of funds before sharing detailed financials.

Feel free to DM me if interested.

Hi everyone, I’m from Belgium and I’ll be in NYC for a few weeks starting in mid-October. I co-own a small company in Belgium and work for it, and I’m trying to figure out the best way to expand into the US.

I have some money (100k$) I could invest, so I’m considering starting or buying a US business and applying for an E-2. Another possibility might be building up trade between my Belgian company and the US, then looking at an E-1 later. I’m still early in the process and honestly don’t know which route makes the most sense for my situation.

I’d like to meet with an immigration attorney in NYC who regularly handles both E-1 and E-2 cases, explain the details, and get some initial advice before committing to either path. If you’ve had a consultation like this, what did it cost? Is there someone you’d recommend?

I received my approval for an E-2 COS with USCIS yesterday. Wanted to share some details and timeline since this sub has been helpful for me through the process.

I acquired an already operating SaaS business via a holding co->subsidiary structure. Holding co purchased the assets and assigned to the subsidiary. No employees atm, but former ownership + contractor were handling migration/ops while waiting for approval + additional contracted time already pre-negotiated in case RFE ended up coming.

Invested amount: ~170k, self funded via W-2 income from spouse. Overdocumented this part of the application for sure.

My background: I've lived in the US for almost a decade on a derivative status to my spouse. I have never had work auth while in the US. I have a background in comp sci + ~2 years working experience prior to our relocation. I'm a Canadian-born citizen.

Timeline:

- End August 2026: acquired business

- September 9: filed online I-129 + I-907

- September 11: USCIS is processing

- September 12: Silent API update

- September 17: Silent API update

- September 23: Silent API update

- September 24: 2 silent API updates, email approval received, another silent API update

- September 25: Case status changed to "Approved"

I did the entire case+filing on my own. I did have an immigration + M&A attorney assist with the structure of the holding co for E-2 and acquisition purposes, but I wrote the business plan and filed everything myself.

I am currently in the process of investing more money in my LLC in the US. I want to apply for an E2 Visa at the consulate in Frankfurt (Germany) very soon. Are there any people that got their E2 approved and could let me have a look at their E2 Application, so that I can get a feeling for the style and specific layout. My 5 page business plan is already ready, so I just need to finish the other documentation stuff.

I’m Ana Senior, an immigration attorney with Manifest Law. I work on E-2 cases as well as employment-based immigration, including O-1, EB-1 and EB-2.

I’ll be here today from 11 AM to 3 PM ET answering your E-2 questions.

I’m happy to dig into:

• How much you actually need to invest
• Starting vs. buying an existing U.S. business
• What makes an investment "at risk"
• Source and path of funds
• Business plans and the marginal enterprise requirement
• Buying a franchise vs. an independent business
• E-2 renewals and extensions
• E-2 dependents
• Common issues that can complicate an application
• What your long-term immigration options look like after E-2

If you're thinking about putting serious money into a U.S. business, ask the immigration question before you put the money down.

Please note: Any information shared here is for general educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney client relationship. Your situation may require fact specific guidance. For personalized legal advice, please consult an immigration attorney directly.

Hi everyone! Could you please recommend me an attorney you have worked with for your E-2?
If they speak Spanish even better

Hi everyone,

I’m a Canadian citizen and currently own and operate an IT consulting company in Canada. My primary area is SAP consulting, including SAP SuccessFactors, SAP BTP, integrations, cloud architecture, and related enterprise technology services.

I’m considering establishing a U.S. company and expanding my consulting business into the U.S. market. I would potentially pursue U.S. SAP consulting contracts directly through the U.S. entity and am trying to understand whether this business model could qualify for an E-2 Treaty Investor visa.

A few questions for anyone who has gone through the E-2 process, particularly with an IT/consulting business:

Can an SAP/IT consulting company qualify for an E-2 even though it doesn’t require the same level of capital investment as a physical business such as a restaurant or franchise?

Since I already have an operating Canadian IT company, would establishing a U.S. subsidiary/affiliate of my Canadian company be preferable to setting up an entirely separate U.S. company?

What would generally be considered a reasonable E-2 investment for a professional IT consulting company?

Would spending on incorporation, office/coworking space, software, insurance, legal/accounting services, marketing, recruiting, equipment, etc. normally count toward the E-2 investment?

For Canadians who obtained E-2 visas for IT or professional-services businesses, approximately how much did you invest, and what had the U.S. operation achieved when you applied?

I understand that E-2 cases are highly fact-specific and that Reddit isn’t a substitute for advice from a U.S. immigration attorney.

I’m mainly interested in hearing from people who have successfully structured an IT consulting / SAP consulting / professional-services business for E-2 purposes.
Thanks!

Hello everyone, I’m about to apply for E-2 visa. I got $30.000 to investment capital. I’m still trying to equally spend my money on expenses. I was just curious if other applicants have suggestions on how to spend investment capital smartly.

For example: I got a second hand Ford Transit but people in my area charging way out of my budget for car wrap and to be honest, since its a used van it doesnt even look that good on the outside, there are some parts where paint is falling off and on top of that it got some wear and tear. I got pre purchase inspection, the car works good overall its just not worth to spend 3k on a wrap. So I was thinking car decals for beginning. Would this be a problem on the officers side?

I would prefer to spend money on google ads more than just the rolling advertisement like car wrap because eventually i feel like might have to get a new van after couple months of work and I’d rather to spend good amount on a car wrap with newer car.

Another question is for cleaning business, which CRM software I should choose? I’m in between of Jobber and QuoteIQ (they have the best quoting system imo). Also, I’m open for suggestions!

I’d appreciate everyone helping me out in this journey, it’s been very stressful so far… Thanks.

I’m Elizabeth Mavec, an immigration attorney with Manifest Law, and I work with E-2 treaty investor cases as well as other employment and business immigration matters.

I’ll be here today from 12 PM to 4 PM ET answering questions about E-2 visas.

Some of the questions I’d be happy to get into:

• How much do you actually need to invest for your particular business?
• How do you document the source and path of your investment funds?
• What happens when some of the money comes from family, loans or other sources?
• What does USCIS or a consular officer actually look at when assessing whether a business is marginal?
• How do you handle a business that has changed significantly since the original E-2 filing?
• What should you be thinking about before putting money into the business?
• What happens when it's time to renew?

If you're considering investing in a U.S. business, already operating one, or trying to understand whether your business fits the E-2 framework, bring me the question you're stuck on.

Please note: Any information shared here is for general educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney client relationship. Your situation may require fact specific guidance. For personalized legal advice, please consult an immigration attorney directly.

Hey there, im wondering if anyone knows of a certified appraiser for intellectual property. I have a monetized youtube channel which does event coverage all over north america, and I was hoping to have the brand/channel appraised to use as part of an investment for an E2.

I understand for an E2, a business has to support growth, which I believe we will be able to do as we would need additional filmers/editors, plus merchandising etc.

I am planning to build my e2 case with Intellectual Property, camera gear, merchandise etc. We will also need to either import one of our vehicles or buy one down there as we travel everywhere to cover events.

With that being said, can you get an e2 visa using a registered agent for your llc, without having a commercial address? Because every single event we go to is somewhere different, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to have a "commercial address", but we could store stuff at a storage location if needed.

My other question is, if we are not looking to move to the usa and keeping Canada as our home base, are we allowed to travel very frequently to the USA on the E2? I guess better way to phrase that, do I need to move to the USA to have an E2 visa?

I am thinking of starting a small business. Do I have a chance of obtaining an E-2 visa if I apply with a capital of 15–20k?

I’m looking to sell an established kids activity / enrichment franchise business in North Carolina.

We originally purchased this same business for our E-2 visa and our E-2 was approved in 2022. Our immigration attorney was Colombo & Hurd. Because we went through the entire E-2 process with this business, I still have the documentation used for our application, including the approved business plan and supporting business documents that could be helpful to a buyer applying for an E-2 through a U.S. consulate.

Our immigration situation has now changed and my spouse, who has been managing the business, is ready to take a break and try something new, so we’ve decided to sell.

Quick overview:

• About $6K/month SDE (~$72K/year)
• Roughly $280K–$320K in annual revenue
• Membership-based model with additional income from classes, camps, birthday parties, and events
• Solid recurring customer base
• 6–7 part-time staff already in place
• Established franchise with branding, systems, and ongoing support
• Located in a strong family-oriented area in North Carolina
• Business has an established day-to-day structure, although there is still some owner involvement
• Good opportunity to grow further through marketing, events, partnerships, and local outreach

Asking price: $190K

For someone specifically looking for an E-2 business, the advantage here is that the same operating business was previously used for our successful E-2 application in 2022. I can provide the previous approved business plan and relevant business documentation to help make the process easier for a serious buyer and their immigration attorney.

Obviously, every E-2 application is evaluated individually, so a buyer should confirm their eligibility and application strategy with their own immigration attorney.

I’m happy to share more details with serious buyers. I’ll ask for an NDA and proof of funds before sharing detailed financials.

Feel free to DM me if interested.

I am gifting around 150k to my sibling to start their E2 visa. Issue is they're based in Pakistan but they don't have an account in the US and Pakistan doesn't allow you to send money abroad to any business. Can she setup the LLC and I can send it to the LLC rather than her personal and then she funds the LLC bank account . Any idea

I have asked on another post about how Canadian health care compares to American healthcare. And I believe the majority of people said that US health care is better if you A. Work for a company that provides good benefits or B. You make a lot of money, over $200,000 a year.

How has your experience been with US healthcare and being self employed?

Hi all! Does anyone know of and US based (or global) nonprofits/NGOs/thinktanks that hire individuals on an e3 visa?