E-2 Low Cost Enterprise
E-2 Visa for a Service or Consulting Business
How consulting firms, agencies, professional services, and other lower cost enterprises satisfy substantiality, real operations, marginality, and develop and direct requirements.
Direct answer
What the governing framework requires
A service business can qualify for E-2 even when its startup cost is lower than that of a restaurant, factory, or retail store. The current FAM expressly recognizes that a service business such as a consulting firm may have a relatively low cost and states that business cost by itself is not independently determinative when the other E-2 requirements are satisfied.
01 · Substantiality
The FAM expressly recognizes lower cost service businesses
9 FAM 402.9-6(D) states that the cost of establishing a service business such as a consulting firm may be relatively low.
If the other E-2 requirements are met, the low cost of the business is not independently determinative.
The proportionality test generally responds by requiring a high percentage of the actual enterprise cost to be committed.
02 · Operations
A service business still must be commercially real
A low infrastructure business cannot rely on incorporation alone.
Contracts, customers, invoices, websites, marketing, professional systems, vendor relationships, payment records, and other evidence can establish that the service enterprise is genuine.
03 · Location
Traditional office space is not universally required
The current FAM states that physical office space is not necessarily required for an E visa.
A remote consulting, digital agency, or professional service model may therefore operate differently from a location dependent business.
The operating arrangement must nevertheless be credible for the actual services offered.
04 · Economic Capacity
Low overhead does not eliminate the marginality requirement
A service company can be inexpensive to create and still need to show economic capacity beyond minimal support for the investor.
Customer pipeline, recurring contracts, pricing, employees, subcontractors, revenue growth, and expansion plans may all support the analysis.
05 · Control
The owner can personally deliver services while still directing the business
E-2 does not impose the L-1A managerial capacity test.
A principal investor in a smaller service enterprise may personally perform professional or client work while also controlling strategy, finances, hiring, pricing, sales, and expansion.
The overall role should still establish development and direction of the enterprise.
06 · Evidence
Service businesses need evidence appropriate to their business model
- Client contracts
- Invoices
- Payment records
- Website
- Marketing
- Software and technology
- Professional licenses where applicable
- Business bank records
- Business plan
- Hiring or subcontractor plan
Questions and answers
Frequently asked questions
Can a consulting business qualify for E-2?
Yes, potentially. The FAM expressly recognizes that a service business such as a consulting firm may have a relatively low cost.
Is $100,000 required for a service business?
No fixed dollar minimum exists. Substantiality depends on the actual cost of the particular enterprise.
Does a consulting company need an office?
Not universally. The current FAM states that physical office space is not necessarily required for E classification.
Can the investor personally provide services?
Potentially. A principal investor may perform operational work while still developing and directing the enterprise.
How does a service business prove marginality?
Revenue, contracts, pricing, hiring, future growth, and other evidence can demonstrate present or future economic capacity.
What proves a real consulting business?
Customers, contracts, invoices, payments, marketing, technology, business records, and other objective operating evidence can be important.
Case-specific review
Match the E-2 evidence to the service business model
A review can identify how substantiality, operations, marginality, location, and the investor role should be documented.
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