USALaunchPad

USALaunchPad We have assisted foreign entrepreneurs in launching their venture in the US since 2004 Empowering Your US Business Launch.

We provide comprehensive solutions for launching your business in the United States. We provide expert consulting services for international investors.

08/26/2026

A U.S. company can have customers, staff, and a lease and still need a careful EB-1C analysis of when it began “doing business.”

The regulation requires the prospective U.S. employer to have been doing business for at least one year when the I-140 is filed. “Doing business” means the regular, systematic, and continuous provision of goods or services. The mere presence of an agent or office is excluded from that definition.

Formation date and operating date can therefore be different dates. A certificate of incorporation may show when the company legally existed, while completed sales, service delivery, invoices, customer records, bank activity, payroll, tax filings, and operating contracts may help document when sustained operations actually began. Each item has limits: a signed contract may show an obligation, but not necessarily that services were performed continuously.

A forward-looking business plan can explain the company’s model and expected growth. It is less persuasive as proof of a completed one-year operating history because projections describe planned activity rather than activity already carried out.

Before choosing a filing date, build a month-by-month operating timeline and test it against third-party records. If revenue was intermittent, explain the commercial cycle and identify the repeated operational work behind it. This requirement is separate from the corporate relationship and from whether the offered U.S. role is managerial or executive.

08/26/2026

The new federal e-filing rule does not mean every Form I-140 became online-only on August 11.

DHS’s August 11, 2026 interim final rule gives USCIS authority to require electronic filing for a benefit request that has been available for e-filing for at least 180 days. For an eligible form, USCIS must publish a website notice and provide an additional 60-day grace period before the requirement begins. The rule also establishes an undue-hardship waiver process, but USCIS cannot mandate e-filing until the waiver request mechanism is approved and available for use.

That sequence changes the practical monitoring task. An NIW petitioner should distinguish three dates: the rule’s effective date, the date USCIS announces that a particular filing must be electronic, and the end of the stated grace period. Treating the first date as the filing deadline could lead someone to abandon a valid paper route prematurely; ignoring the later form-specific notice could eventually cause a paper submission to be rejected.

Digital filing also changes quality control. A 500-page paper binder has a physical order that is visible at a glance. An online record is reconstructed from filenames, upload categories, and individual PDFs. Before submission, export a complete file list, verify that every upload opens, keep exhibit numbers consistent with the petition letter, and preserve an exact local copy of what was transmitted plus the electronic confirmation.

The rule is procedural; it does not lower the NIW standard or make an online petition stronger. Canadian, British, French, and Norwegian applicants filing from abroad should monitor the USCIS page for the form-specific notice rather than relying on an old checklist or a courier’s assumptions.

If you are redesigning an NIW package for electronic filing, comment with a question or send a direct message.

Congratulations to our Canadian client on their E-2 Visa Approval! 🥳With an $89,965 investment, they have successfully l...
08/25/2026

Congratulations to our Canadian client on their E-2 Visa Approval! 🥳

With an $89,965 investment, they have successfully launched a Florida-based sales company offering Generac generators and solar panels to residential customers across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

Few markets in the US are as well suited for a business like this as South Florida. High storm frequency drives consistent generator demand, and the region's year-round sunshine makes solar a compelling proposition for homeowners. Positioning a business around that local reality is exactly the kind of market awareness that makes an E-2 application credible.

We helped our client translate that into a solid business case and see it through to approval. We are grateful for the trust they placed in us throughout the process. 🤝

If you are ready to explore what your E-2 path could look like, send us a message and let's talk.

State Department Makes Visitor-Visa Bonds Permanent and Raises the Maximum to $20,000The Department of State published a...
08/24/2026

State Department Makes Visitor-Visa Bonds Permanent and Raises the Maximum to $20,000

The Department of State published a final rule on August 3, 2026, making its Visa Bond Program permanent. It replaced a 12-month pilot that began in August 2025.

Certain B-1/B-2 applicants from designated countries may now be required to post a refundable bond of $10,000, $15,000 or $20,000 as a condition of visa issuance. The pilot used tiers of $5,000, $10,000 and $15,000.

Countries may be designated using factors including visa-overstay rates, identity-verification concerns, information-sharing deficiencies, and weaknesses in travel-document or screening systems. The operative list is maintained separately and may change, so applicants should not rely on an older announcement.

A bond does not make an otherwise ineligible applicant eligible for a visitor visa. The consular officer first evaluates whether the person qualifies, then determines whether the bond applies. Applicants should wait for official instructions rather than trying to post a bond independently.

The rule does not impose a bond on an E-1 treaty trader or E-2 treaty investor simply because that person is pursuing one of those classifications. Its relevance is indirect but practical. Prospective investors may use B-1 status for permissible preliminary activities such as meeting advisers, negotiating contracts, reviewing possible premises or investigating investment opportunities.

Those activities must remain within business-visitor limits. A B-1 visitor cannot enter the United States and begin operating or working for the U.S. business.

An entrepreneur from a covered country may therefore need to budget for a substantial temporary deposit, along with travel costs, before making an exploratory trip. The bond supports compliance with the authorized admission period and departure requirements. It is not an E-2 investment and cannot be counted as capital committed to the enterprise.

Before planning travel, applicants should verify the current country list, confirm the relevant consular post’s instructions and keep the visitor trip clearly separate from work or day-to-day operation of the proposed business.

08/24/2026

The government fee for an E-2 case depends on the route, and several figures are often mixed together.

For a consular E visa application, the Department of State currently charges a $315 nonimmigrant visa application fee for each applicant. A spouse and each child applying for an E visa have their own application and fee. The DS-160 is the application form. The $315 is the E-category visa application fee, rather than a separate charge for completing the DS-160. A visa issuance or reciprocity fee may also apply after approval, depending on the applicant’s nationality.

For an E-2 change or extension inside the United States, the principal request uses Form I-129. The current filing fee for an E classification is $1,015. A qualifying small employer, defined for this fee rule as having 25 or fewer full-time-equivalent employees, or a qualifying nonprofit, pays the reduced $510 filing fee.

Form I-129 filings also carry the Asylum Program Fee. It is $600 for a regular petitioner, $300 for a qualifying small employer, and $0 for a qualifying nonprofit. A small E-2 company would therefore generally pay $810 for the principal Form I-129 filing before any optional premium service or separate dependent filings.

Premium processing is optional. The current Form I-907 fee for an eligible E-2 Form I-129 request is $2,965, paid in addition to the underlying filing fees. USCIS then has 15 business days to take adjudicative action, which can include an RFE or denial as well as an approval.

These are alternative filing routes, so a consular applicant does not normally add the I-129 fee to the $315 visa application fee for the initial case. Family composition, reciprocity fees, and separate USCIS filings for dependents can change the total.

Government fees change periodically through new rules and scheduled adjustments. The figures above reflect current amounts, but applicants should confirm the fee in effect at the time of filing on the USCIS and Department of State fee schedules before submitting payment.

Which route are you pricing: consular processing or a change of status inside the United States?

08/21/2026

Community Question of the Week: Can seller financing count toward my E-2 investment if the business I am buying secures the note?

Sometimes borrowed funds can count, but debt secured by the assets of the E-2 enterprise is treated differently from debt secured by the investor's personal assets. The loan documents, not the label “seller financing,” decide which risk the structure creates.

Follow the collateral
E-2 capital must be at risk in the commercial sense. Department of State guidance recognizes that loan proceeds may form part of an investment when the investor is personally exposed, such as through personal collateral or an unsecured personal obligation.

Debt secured by the assets of the enterprise does not count toward the qualifying investment. The concern is that the lender, rather than the investor, is relying on the very business assets being presented as invested capital.

This distinction matters in an acquisition. A seller note may be commercially sensible and still contribute little or nothing to the E-2 investment calculation if inventory, equipment, receivables, company equity, or other enterprise assets secure repayment.

Adding a personal guarantee does not make every mixed-collateral arrangement straightforward. Recourse terms, lien priority, pledged property, and who remains liable all need to be read together.

Separate price from qualifying capital.

The total purchase price and the amount that qualifies as the investor's at-risk capital may therefore be different. That difference can affect the proportionality analysis, working-capital plan, and whether the investor has shown a meaningful financial commitment. It does not automatically make the business or the financing improper. It changes the immigration evidence and may change whether the proposed investment is sufficient for that enterprise.

Before signing, map each funding stream from source to closing: personal cash, gifted funds, bank debt, seller financing, and any rollover equity. Preserve the note, security agreement, guarantee, collateral schedule, wire records, and closing statement. The documents should tell one consistent story about who bears the loss if the venture fails.

An immigration attorney should review the E-2 treatment before the deal is locked. Transaction counsel should address enforceability and liens, while a CPA, licensed broker, or valuation professional can assess accounting, price, and commercial risk.

Those are related analyses, but none substitutes for the others.

If you have evaluated a seller-financed E-2 purchase, which part of the collateral structure was hardest to understand? Please omit names, account numbers, and deal-sensitive details.

08/20/2026

In some E-2 files, a large amount of money has moved into a U.S. account, yet an important question remains unresolved: how much of that capital is actually committed to the business?

For E-2 purposes, transferring money from a personal account into a company account does not automatically establish that the investment is complete. The investor’s capital must be placed at risk in the commercial sense, meaning it is subject to partial or total loss if the enterprise fails. An investor may also be actively in the process of investing, but the commitment must be real and irrevocable rather than simply an intention to invest later.

This distinction matters when applicants are deciding how to handle a business purchase.

Suppose someone intends to buy an operating business for $250,000 but is uncomfortable transferring the full purchase price directly to the seller before the E-2 visa is approved. A properly structured escrow arrangement can sometimes address that concern. Department of State guidance allows funds to be placed in escrow pending visa issuance when the investor is otherwise irrevocably committed to the transaction and the only significant condition preventing release is visa issuance. The exact structure should be reviewed by the immigration attorney because the wording of the purchase and escrow agreements matters.

Money sitting untouched in the investor’s personal bank account does not necessarily demonstrate the same level of commitment.

The same issue appears with startups. An applicant may have $150,000 available but have spent only a small portion on incorporation, a website, and initial professional fees. The unused balance may show financial capacity, but available capital and invested capital are not automatically the same thing.

It is helpful to separate three numbers: how much capital the investor possesses, how much has been transferred toward the enterprise, and how much has actually been spent or irrevocably committed.

Refundable expenses deserve attention too. If a deposit can be canceled tomorrow and returned without meaningful consequence, the attorney may need to consider whether it demonstrates the required level of commitment. Money already spent on legitimate business expenses or committed under binding arrangements presents a different factual situation.

These categories should also be reflected clearly in the supporting records, because a large headline investment figure can hide the fact that only a portion has actually become exposed to business risk.

The useful question is not simply how much money has moved. It is what happened to it, what obligations have already been created, and what financial loss the investor could face if the business did not succeed.

If you have a question about preparing an E-2 investment, leave it in the comments or send a message.

08/19/2026

An EB-2 NIW filing should no longer be planned around the assumption that an RFE will provide a second chance to complete the record.

USCIS Policy Alert PA-2026-05 applies to requests pending or filed on or after August 5, 2026. It states that officers may deny a benefit request without first issuing a Request for Evidence or Notice of Intent to Deny when required initial evidence is missing. USCIS may still issue an RFE or NOID when the applicable rules and the record support doing so, but applicants should not assume that a notice will cure an incomplete initial filing.

For NIW petitioners, a useful pre-filing review now has two separate gates. Gate one asks whether the package contains the correct form edition, signatures, fees, translations, and evidence required for the claimed EB-2 route. Gate two asks whether the evidence, taken as filed, can support each contested conclusion: the specific proposed endeavor, its prospective national importance, the applicant’s positioning, and the reason a job offer and labor certification should be waived.

A document inventory is not enough. Build a one-page deficiency log that identifies the weakest proposition, the best exhibit supporting it, and what an officer could reasonably say is still missing. If the answer requires evidence that does not yet exist, customer adoption, project authorization, grant support, implementation data, or independent validation, filing early may be more expensive than waiting.

The alert also says officers may set an RFE response period that is shorter than the regulatory maximum when appropriate. Applicants outside the United States should route every notice for prompt review and use the deadline printed on the notice, rather than assuming that every RFE carries the maximum response period.

If you are deciding whether your NIW is complete enough to file under the August policy, comment with a general question or send a direct message.

Certain Large L-1 Employers Will Pay an Additional $4,500 on Extension PetitionsA final Department of Homeland Security ...
08/17/2026

Certain Large L-1 Employers Will Pay an Additional $4,500 on Extension Petitions

A final Department of Homeland Security rule expands when certain employers must pay the 9-11 Response and Biometric Entry-Exit Fee on L-1 extension-of-status petitions. The rule is scheduled to take effect September 9, 2026.

This is not a universal L-1 fee increase. The additional $4,500 applies only to a “covered employer” that:

• Employs at least 50 people in the United States; and
• Has more than 50 percent of its U.S. employees in H-1B or L-1 status.

Covered employers already pay the charge in certain initial L-1 situations. Under the new rule, they must also pay it when requesting an extension for an L-1 employee, including someone continuing with the same employer. DHS describes the change as a correction of its interpretation of the statute, which expressly refers to extensions of status.

The financial effect can be substantial. A covered organization filing ten qualifying L-1 extensions could incur $45,000 in supplemental charges. That amount would be separate from ordinary Form I-129 filing fees, the Asylum Program Fee and any optional premium-processing fee.

Many smaller international companies, including many new-office L-1 petitioners, will fall outside the rule because they do not employ at least 50 people in the United States. A larger employer also falls outside the definition if no more than half of its U.S. workforce holds H-1B or L-1 status.

The employer, not the transferred employee, is responsible for the filing charge. Before budgeting for an extension, multinational companies should calculate both their U.S. headcount and the percentage of U.S. employees in the two covered classifications as of the filing date.

The final rule changes filing cost, not eligibility. It does not alter the requirements involving a qualifying corporate relationship, prior employment abroad, or the managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge nature of the U.S. position. L-1 employers should therefore separate two questions: whether the petition meets the immigration requirements and whether the company meets the statutory workforce test that triggers the additional fee.

08/17/2026

Current E-2 timing data needs to be read by filing route, not as one universal wait.

The current USCIS processing-time tool does not give every E-2 investor one general timeline. To retrieve an estimate, the user must select the form, the relevant category, and the office processing the case. USCIS also notes that certain service-center processing times are now listed under Service Center Operations, or SCOPS, even though correspondence may still identify a particular service center. A number copied from an article or search result may therefore describe a different selection from the one that applies to a specific filing.

USCIS estimates can change as newer cases are completed, so they are useful for planning rather than a promised decision date. The receipt notice and the selections in the official tool should be the starting point for a pending Form I-129 case.

Premium processing remains available for eligible Form I-129 E-2 requests. USCIS must take adjudicative action within 15 business days after receiving a properly filed Form I-907. An action may be an approval, denial, request for evidence, or notice of intent to deny. The service shortens the time to an initial action. It does not change the legal standard or improve the odds of approval.

These USCIS timelines do not measure a consular E-2 application. Consular processing follows the instructions, appointment system, and case review of the embassy or consulate handling the application. General Department of State wait-time tables do not provide a reliable worldwide E-visa timeline, so applicants should check the chosen post directly and allow for document review, the interview, any further processing, and passport return.

For an investor coordinating a lease, opening date, staffing, children’s school calendar, or the end of another immigration status, the practical step is to identify the route first and then use the timing source that actually governs that route.

Are you planning around a specific opening date, status expiration, or family deadline? Share the timing issue that is shaping your decision.

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