Low Profit Concerns in E-2 Extension

Citizenship: United Kingdom
Total Investment: $56,000 (approx.)
Total Cash Reserve: $22,000 (approx.)

When applying for an E-2 Status Extension or Visa Renewal, U.S. immigration authorities often focus on three key indicators:

1. Business profitability
2. Owner’s income or salary
3. Creation of American jobs

Our client, with only two years into their business and still considered as early-stage business development, faced challenges in all three indicators for their E-2 Extension application that requires extension every 2 years.

For more details about E-2 Extension or Renewals click here.

The Challenge

It is common for new businesses to require several years of development progress to achieve good profits and growth in employee payroll. For many start-up consultancies, it often takes time to nurture and acquire clients.

However, this presents a challenge when applying for an E-2 extension, as E-2 status is normally granted for only 2 years at a time.

This means the company must prove that it is not marginal, meaning that it is earning sufficient income to support the E-2 investor as well as create jobs for the U.S. market, after only 2 years since inception.

Our Strategy

In our client’s case, rather than solely submitting the company’s tax returns for the past 2 years, we provided month-to-month Profit & Loss statements that better showcased the company’s steady growth in revenue and profits. We also emphasized that, under E-2 law, businesses are given up to five years to prove they are not marginal. Since the company had been in operation for less than 2 years under the E-2 investor, we argued our client deserved at least another 2 year extension to establish the business’s viability. We supported our argument with the current year financial statements showing growth and evidence of extensive marketing efforts aimed at further boosting sales and company development.

An experienced E-2 law firm knows that standard checklist documents don’t always capture the full picture.

For our client, simply submitting tax returns would not have revealed the client’s true financial progress on a micro level that deserved acknowledgement. That’s why we went the extra mile to review and provide monthly financial performance data.

Real E-2 expertise goes beyond form-filling and following standard checklists.

Carefully evaluating how each document could best tell the client’s story and support the application.

The Results

The USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE), accepted our arguments and evidence, thus acknowledging that the company was still in its early stages. However, because the USCIS took 6 months to process the E-2 extension, much time had passed and updated proof of business activities and financial documents were required.

Our office provided a detailed response with the necessary documents to address the RFE. Within a few weeks of submission, our client was granted the maximum two-year extension of her E-2 status.

**Did you know? Our firm provides Guaranteed Support for Request for Evidence (RFE) responses, no matter how complex or lengthy the RFE issued by USCIS. There are no additional attorney’s fees for our E-2 clients who receive RFEs. Click here for details.

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To protect our clients' privacy, names of individuals and businesses have been omitted. In some cases, we may also alter or generalize certain details to further safeguard their confidentiality.