Representative E-2 matters showing how investment size, business type and applicant background interact in practice.
The cases below are composites drawn from typical matters, with identifying details changed. They are included to show how the requirements apply to concrete situations, not as predictions of outcome — every case turns on its own facts.
Taiwanese national, prior restaurant management experience
Acquired an established café with existing staff. The existing payroll addressed marginality immediately, and the seller's financial records supplied the revenue history an adjudicator wants. Prior sector experience made the "develop and direct" element straightforward.
UK national, corporate management background rather than sector experience
Franchise structure supplied the operational plan and training that offset the absence of direct sector experience. Franchise fees and fit-out formed most of the qualifying investment, and hiring commitments in the first year addressed marginality.
Grenadian national by investment, originally from a non-treaty country
A lower-capital case that succeeded on proportionality: the business genuinely did not cost more to establish. The harder element was marginality, addressed through contracted client work and a hiring plan starting in year one.
German national, existing business expanding to the U.S.
Corporate E-2 case with the parent company as investor. More than 50% German ownership was traced through to ultimate beneficial owners, and the U.S. subsidiary hired eight staff in the first eighteen months.
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