r/e2visa

Now that we’ve had our interview at the London US embassy and have had our visa approved, we wanted to share our timeline and other details of our case that may help future/current applicants!
We hoped for more cases & timelines on this page whilst we were in our application building & waiting phase, so hopefully this is helpful to those who need it.

Timeline:
Application sent: 12 Sept 2025
Received by reviewing team: 2 Oct 2025
Email invite to interview: 21 April 2026
Nearest interview available: 20 May 2026

Interview time slot was 7:30am - we were instructed by our lawyer to arrive 30 minutes before, however we arrived about 45 mins before and the queue was already building up but not too bad.
Waited outside for approx half an hour then the embassy team started filing people into various queues to check DS-160 & passports. Note: the 2x2inch photo of all applications is VITAL. People who didn’t have them were being turned away and told to come back with photos!
Got through security and up into the waiting room by about 8/8:15am and were back out the building with our application approved just before 9am!
So about 90 mins start to finish. I believe this would be longer if your appointment is later in the day.

Interview lasted approx 5 mins, questions were fairly basic, including:
What is your business?
Why did you choose this business?
What qualifies you to run this business?
What is your past experience?
Did you buy this business or start from scratch?
Have you ever had a visa before?

As most cases, we were instructed to invest about $100k, which we followed (give or take). This is SPENT money, not money being held in your US business bank account.

We are a service business, actively trading with W-2 employees on payroll at the time of application & up to today’s date.

We’d HIGHLY recommend using a specialised E-2 LAWYER (not ‘consultant’) to support your case, at least for the first application. Ours were pivotal to our success, in our opinion, and helped us create a strong case.

Happy to answer any questions!

Canadian citizen here planning to apply for an E-2 visa by opening a restaurant.

The landlord previously operated the restaurant for 4 years, but there was a fire 6 months ago and he no longer wants to run it. He is currently remodeling the space and is willing to lease me the fully equipped restaurant once renovations are completed in about 2–3 months.

I would be:

• creating a new LLC
• rebranding the restaurant
• launching a new concept/menu

Would this still be considered a good E-2 case even though the previous restaurant closed after the fire?

Also, is it better to apply for the E-2 now during construction, or wait until renovations are almost complete?

Any advice from people who’ve done E-2 restaurant cases would help a lot.

Hi All, looking for some thoughts (UK Citizen)

I already own 25% of a franchise in the US. Funded my portion $306,250 utilizing conventional debt financing and seller financing.

I’m now looking to invest 300k cash into the purchase of an additional 25%. I would then also receive executive control. We have 25+ W2 employees and my 50% will make around 150k net per year.

So to summarise I would invest 306,250 cash, personally guarantee 300,000 seller finance note and 300,000 conventional loan.

Total business price is worth 1.225M.

Would this qualify for the E2 initial checklist?

Could anyone share a law firm that they had a great experience with going from Canada to USA and what their rate was?

Hi! I'm Fernanda Hipskind, an Immigration Attorney at Manifest Law with over 8 years of experience helping entrepreneurs, founders, investors, and professionals navigate U.S. immigration pathways.

A lot of E-2 applicants right now are trying to understand what qualifies as a substantial investment, how to structure a business properly, how marginality is evaluated, and what long-term options may exist beyond the E-2 itself. Happy to answer questions around both the visa process and broader immigration planning considerations.

I've worked on close to 1,000 immigration cases across employment-based immigration, family-based petitions, humanitarian relief, and more, including matters involving founders, business owners, and individuals pursuing long-term immigration options through investment and entrepreneurship.

Happy to answer questions about:
• E-2 visa eligibility and investment structure
• Franchises, startups, and existing businesses
• Business plans and marginality concerns
• Consular processing and interview preparation
• E-2 renewals and dependent visas
• Long-term pathways like EB-1C, EB-2 NIW, EB-5, and more

I'll be answering questions live today from 9 AM to 1 PM EST.

(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.)

I have stared at this excel sheet for so long the numbers are literally blurring together. buying an existing small landscaping business and the current financials are solid, but trying to project exactly how many W2s i'm gonna hire in year 4 feels ridiculous. like how am I supposed to know?

Im doing the business plan myself to save money because the quotes I got from those professional plan writers were absolutely insane. but honestly after reading a breakdown from chary law about the marginality requirement, Im starting to panic that my payroll growth is way too flat. if the business already makes enough to support my family right now, forcing a chart to show massive expansion just feels unnatural for this specific local industry.

i just want to run the crew without needing a degree in corporate finance. anyone else just completely guessing their year 4 and 5 overhead costs? the stress of one wrong spreadsheet cell tanking the whole visa is just exhausting at this point.

Hello,
Is there anyone who applied the E2 Visa for Toronto Consulate in late April or in May got the interview scheduling invite?
How long it usually takes for Toronto Consulate to send you the invitation?

TIA.

Hello, we have left our home in USA on feb 8 to attend interview at embassy to renew our visa. Our case has been under administrative process (refused) since feb10. No update since then. I have a kid , he left school in middle of the school year. Now we are stuck in Sweden and don’t know how should we go back home. It becomes so difficult both emotionally and financially. I thought our visa will be issued after 3 months. But nothing has happened yet. I left everything unattended in USA. I only planned for one week being away from home, now it is 3 months.. what should I do??? I need to get back to my work, to my home… I need help..

Ben was recommended in a lot of reddit posts. Had calls with both Ben and Manifest. Ben seems great but wanted to hear from others that have worked with Ben and what your experience has been like. Also had a call with Manifest and I did not like the lawyer on the call but it seemed like Manifest has a lot of insight that a big firm is likely to have.

Did you all include your tax returns as part of E2 visa application?

Looking for recommendations on immigration lawyers people have personally used. Also recommendations for ones to stay away from??

Moving from Ontario to Florida

Hi guys, My E2 visa application was rejected back in February in Japan under 214b for a reason that my investment amount needed to be larger and I am currently working on it. With that being said, I got hands on two World Cup tickets that I would like to go see in Texas. As my ESTA would most likely be rejected for my previous E2 application, would that be a wise idea to apply for a B2 visa for tourism? Did anyone experience similar situation?

Thanks in advance 😊

My wife is a Moroccan national living in Italy and is considering applying for an E-2 visa. I live in the U.S. as a green card holder, and we are married.

We have never filed an immigrant petition for her.

She also had a tourist visa denial about 6 months ago.

Would our marriage, her nationality/residence, and recent B-2 denial create a serious nonimmigrant-intent issue for E-2? Or is E-2 still realistically worth trying?

Looking for practical experiences or attorney insight.

Hey, I applied in November and it’s May now. I’m British, invested $100k.
Has anyone been in this situation and got their visa after such a long wait?
Is London just massively backlogged?

Hi. I’m curious as to whether all applications are viewed in order of submission in London. AI seems to suggest that applications submitted by immigrations lawyers, and for franchise businesses, are reviewed sooner. Usually because there is more confidence that the business plan is comprehensive and more likely to be correct. Is there any truth to this?

I’m on an E2 visa in the US with my wife and young kids for 12 days now. No DL yet.

For daily life, do you usually carry your original passport with you all the time, or just keep digital copies/photos of the passport, visa, and I-94 on your phone?

My concern is mainly about possible immigration checks or ICE interactions, especially because my kids obviously don’t have a driver license or local ID yet.

What do most families in legal status actually do in practice?

I’m currently on an H-1B but planning to leave my employer within the next 3 months to pursue a business I’ve been building. I’m considering applying for an E-2 visa.

The business is a personal care brand focused on pregnancy-safe and postpartum products. Our first product is a shampoo designed for pregnant and postpartum women, formulated with clean ingredients that are safe during pregnancy and breastfeeding and intended to help with hair loss.

I plan to invest about $100K into the business and expect to have already spent around $40K by the time I apply for the E-2.

Questions:

1. Is it a problem if I have no revenue at the time of applying to E2?
2. Since this is a DTC e-comm brand, will this be okay? How is this viewed?
3. Is it okay for me to spend $40K on overseas manufacturer (not US manufacturer)?

Would love some feedback/advice. Thank you.

Hi! How much time does it take to receive a final decision after an RFE and all the additional information is submitted? We are applying for a change of status within the U.S. with premium processing. Thank you!

Which do you recommend and why? Currently on valid H1B and looking to transfer to E-2 while still in the US.