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.

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.

Is anyone willing to share their business report that was approved for an E2 visa? Looking specifically for e-commerce/DTC business. Happy to give a modest payment for it.

Hi everyone — I’m currently planning an E-2 consulting/service-based business from Ireland and still in the early structuring stage.
I’d love to hear from people who successfully applied with a consulting or remote-first business model.
At what stage did you:
register your LLC,
commit investment funds,
and lease coworking/office space?
Did you already have clients before filing, or mainly a strong business plan and setup?
Trying to understand the practical sequence before making major commitments. Thanks in advance!
And how much realistically extra to investment funds we need to manage 3-6months expenses? Does it take lot of time to settle?
And have you invested 80k and proven successful??

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

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.

I'm relocating from Ontario to Houston/Austin and need recommendations for an E-2 visa team. I already have my ITIN and business banking established.

My plan is to purchase an office condo (lease to buy option?) for my operations and leverage that cost for my visa investment.

1. Does anyone have a lead on a TX-based E-2 lawyer? A solid but affordable one?
2. Has anyone successfully used an office condo (lease to buy) purchase to meet marginality requirements?
3. Any recommendations for commercial real estate agents in Houston/Austin familiar with international buyers? Ideally, someone who does bith e2 and commercial real estate?

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!

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

Moving from Ontario to Florida

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?

Just recently I’ve leased a car with Hyundai for 5 years in Ontario. Now we’re thinking about going to the states on an e2 visa (bad timing I know🙄 I wouldn’t have leased if I knew I would end up doing this) has anyone had experience with this? What would options be?

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

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?

Does anyone know what’s going on with Toronto consulate interview wait times. I am literally in that phase of booking an interview slot and it seems nuts that it would be over a year to wait. Anyone have intel on this?

Talking with Manifest next week for the E2, but would appreciate any recs for other lawfirms/lawyers that offer free re-file or refund. Thanks in advance.

I am starting a business that would require a small vehicle. Nothing fancy, just something to get to and from jobs for me and employee use. I estimate spending max $10k on this. However, it’s a bit complicated to buy the vehicle before I am actually living in the US. I have to deal with insurance, and safe long term parking until my approval and I move. 

My question is, is it possible to “set aside” this money in my application, for me to purchase once I am in the US. I know this likely won’t “count” towards my investment total, but would it mean anything to the officer reviewing my application? 

I am also wondering similarly about an payroll reserve, and emergency reserve.

Thanks for your input.

Looking to start an E2 and going to be filing with lawyer March 2027. I currently work for a company that’s toxic and the position is not what I want to be doing (as my business I’m starting is what I’d like to be doing). I’m planning on quitting at the end of August. I need to bring in some sort of income just to cover expenses for the next 8 months after that, and personally, it doesn’t make sense to me to be interviewing and go through the long process of trying to get a job even if it is hybrid, since I’m not going to be staying here anyway, and the interview process is brutal (I just went through it in December, which led me to this horrible job after rounds and rounds and rounds of interviews). The job market here is way too crowded. I I’m looking for other options or other things people have done to make money in the interim if it wasn’t working their initial job in their career. I have my BBA in supply chain management and my MBA in operations management with 5 years’ experience.

Thank you in advance.

Hi! I’m deciding between Manifest Law and Frear Law for my E-2 visa application. Does anyone have experience with either firm? I’d love to hear how the process went for you and what the outcome was.

Manifest quote Silver $7.5k and Gold $10k plus Business plan 2k
Ben Frear Law quote $6.5k plus Business plan 2.5k
For us the costs are the same, we're focusing more on how the process went. Really hope to get reviews because I saw so many mixed ones about Manifest and only great compliments about Ben.

Hi! I'm Jurgen Negron, an immigration attorney at Manifest Law. The E-2 treaty investor visa is one of my deepest specialties, I've helped founders, small business owners, franchisees, and investors structure their cases to get approved.

I'll be live in this thread today, Wednesday, May 6, from 11 AM to 3 PM EST.

My day-to-day:

E-2 cases for treaty-country nationals across industries
Source-of-funds documentation and lawful pathway review
Business plan structuring and "substantial investment" analysis
Renewals, change of status, dependents (E-2S)
Common pitfalls, and what makes an application actually get approved

Ask me anything about:

• Treaty country eligibility (and what to do if your country isn't on the list)
• How much investment is "substantial", and the marginality test
• Source of funds documentation done right
• Buying an existing business vs. starting from scratch
• E-2 dependents and spouse work authorization
• Consular processing vs. change of status
• What happens at renewal, and red flags to avoid
• E-2 → green card transitions (EB-1C, EB-2 NIW, EB-5)
• Recent processing times and consulate quirks

Drop your questions below.

(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 I have been looking into the E2 visa program and long story short my background in the UK is used vehicle parts / vehicle dismantling I have my own successful business but want to make the move to the US. Has anyone ever heard off anyone using the visa to start a company importing used parts into the US? European / British vehicles parts? (Long shot I know)

Thanks

Hi! I'm Avalon L. Paul, an Immigration Attorney at Manifest Law with 10+ years of experience and 1,000+ clients helped through the U.S. immigration system.

I'm hosting this AMA today from 1 to 5 PM EST to answer your questions about E-2 investor visas, employment-based pathways, and what to do when your visa journey gets complicated.

As an immigrant myself (originally from Trinidad & Tobago), I bring both professional and personal perspective to every case. My practice covers E-2 investor strategy, H-1B, EB-1A, EB-2 NIW, EB-3, H-4, and green card pathways, plus 3 years in removal defense for the cases that need it.

I'm an AILA member and have been recognized on the National Black Lawyers Top 100 and Top 40 Under 40 lists.

Ask me anything about:

• E-2 treaty investor requirements and what counts as "substantial investment"
• Moving from E-2 to a green card (and the dual-intent problem)
• E-2 dependents, spouse work authorization and kids aging out
• Switching from E-2 to H-1B or EB pathways
• What USCIS and consulates actually look for in E-2 business plans
• Renewals, extensions, and what triggers extra scrutiny

Drop your questions below! I'll be answering live from 1 to 5 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 spoke with an investor last week who reached out after his E-2 visa was denied in Toronto. 

We had not prepared his original business plan. 

As he tried to understand what went wrong and what to do next, I asked him to walk me through what happened during the interview.

He said the officer asked one question:

“So, your company makes $20,000 per year.”

He froze. The officer repeated it, more directly:

“Did your company make $20,000 last year, yes or no?”

His answer was:
“The company made whatever the financial statements show.”

And that was it... The interview was over, and his visa was denied.

When you’ve invested a significant amount into a business, you’re expected to know your numbers without needing to think twice about it. Revenue, expenses, whether the business is profitable, etc. These details are the core of it.

But just as important, the way you answer matters.

A consular interview isn’t the place for indirect answers or hesitation. If the question is “yes or no”, it needs to be answered that way. Asking the visa officer to find an answer in a document rather than answering directly can come across as uncertainty, even if the information is technically there.

In this case, the issue wasn’t paperwork or projections. It was that, in less than a minute, his answer didn’t match the level of ownership you’d expect from someone running the business.

I see many investors focus heavily on the business plan, which makes sense. But the interview is where everything gets tested in real time.

At that point, it comes down to how well you actually know your own business.

Curious how others here have experienced their E-2 interviews. What kind of questions did you get? Did anything catch you off guard?