E-2 Visa With an Online Business: E-commerce, SaaS, Agencies and What Officers Expect

Online businesses are among the fastest-growing E-2 categories and among the most frequently refused. The reason is not the law. Nothing in the E-2 rules requires a storefront. The reason is evidence: a website and a laptop do not look like an enterprise, and a business that can be run from anywhere invites the question of why the owner needs to be in the United States. This guide explains how to build an online E-2 case that convinces.

The three tests online businesses struggle with

Real and active. The enterprise must exist and operate. For a physical business, the lease and equipment show this. For an online business, the evidence is different: a U.S. entity, U.S. bank account, U.S. address, hosted infrastructure, inventory in U.S. warehouses, active sales channels, contracts with U.S. vendors and customers, and people doing the work.

Substantial investment. Online businesses are cheap to start, which makes the proportionality test demand nearly full funding and often leaves the absolute number low. A $40,000 investment that is 100% of the start-up cost still leaves the officer wondering whether this is a serious enterprise. Most approved cases invest $100,000 or more in inventory, product development, marketing, software, equipment and initial payroll.

Non-marginal. This is the hurdle. A solo founder running an online store or agency, with revenue that supports one person, is the textbook marginal enterprise. The case must show a path to employment and income beyond the owner: hiring, contractors converting to employees, revenue scale.

Business models and how they fare

E-commerce and Amazon-based stores

Approvable when there is real inventory, U.S. fulfillment, a brand, and a team. Strengthen the case with U.S. warehouse or 3PL contracts, trademark registrations, wholesale or private label agreements, paid marketing spend, and a customer service or operations hire. Weak when the model is dropshipping with no inventory, or reselling without brand or scale.

SaaS and software companies

Approvable when there is a product, customers or a launch, and a U.S. team. Investment goes into development, cloud infrastructure, sales and marketing. Officers understand hiring plans for engineers and sales staff. The offshore development team is fine as long as the U.S. entity has real operations and U.S. hires in the plan.

Digital marketing and web development agencies

Approvable with U.S. clients, contracts, and staff. The danger is the one-person consultancy. Strengthen with employees or contractors on U.S. payroll, an office or coworking membership, and a client roster. See also our note on consulting businesses.

Content, media and influencer businesses

Harder. Revenue from ad networks and sponsorships without employees looks like personal income. Approvable when structured as a production company with staff, equipment and multiple revenue lines.

Online education and coaching

Approvable when it employs instructors, has a platform and a curriculum, and shows enrollment growth. A single coach selling courses is marginal.

Building the U.S. presence

Officers ask, implicitly, why this business needs to be in the United States and why you need to be here to run it. The answer is in the operations:

• A U.S. entity, EIN and bank account.
• A physical location: leased office, coworking membership, or warehouse space. A registered-agent address alone is thin.
• U.S. staff or contractors, with a plan to convert contractors to employees.
• U.S. vendors: fulfillment, payment processing, advertising, legal, accounting.
• Inventory or equipment physically in the U.S. where applicable.
• A reason for your presence: managing the team, meeting clients, overseeing fulfillment, building partnerships.

Documenting the investment

Online spending is easy to prove and easy to overlook. Keep and organize: platform and software subscriptions, development invoices, inventory purchase orders and freight, advertising account statements, equipment receipts, trademark filings, payroll and contractor payments, and prepaid services. The business plan’s investment schedule should reconcile to the business bank account.

The business plan for an online E-2

The plan must do more work than for a physical business because the model is less intuitive to officers. Include the customer acquisition model with real costs per acquisition, unit economics, platform dependence risks and mitigation, a hiring plan with roles and timing tied to revenue, and a clear explanation of why the U.S. is the base. Our business plan service has written plans for e-commerce, SaaS and agency E-2 cases; see what the format requires.

A case that worked

A founder from Spain with an established Shopify brand selling home goods in Europe invested $160,000 in a U.S. subsidiary: $70,000 in inventory shipped to a Texas 3PL, $30,000 in U.S. advertising, $20,000 in a U.S. version of the site and systems, a coworking office in Austin, and a part-time operations coordinator hired before the interview, with a plan to reach five employees by year three. Approved at the Madrid consulate on the first application.

A case that did not

A founder with a one-person dropshipping store, $45,000 in a business account, no inventory, no hires, and a plan projecting $90,000 in annual profit for the owner. Refused for marginality and uncommitted investment.

How we help

We build online E-2 businesses with the U.S. footprint officers expect: entity, banking, location, fulfillment and hiring, and we write plans that explain digital models in terms consular officers can evaluate. If you run an online business and want to move it to the U.S., tell us about it.