E-2 visa business plan for a gas station / convenience store
A gas station with attached convenience store is a high-total-cost acquisition (often real estate, fuel infrastructure, inventory, and goodwill) with diversified, recession-resilient revenue, which helps on viability and marginality. The dominant E-2 challenges are proving substantial investment relative to a large purchase price, demonstrating the investor will actively direct (not act as an absentee owner), and meticulous source-of-funds tracing given the large sums.
What an E-2 gas station / convenience store plan has to prove
E-2 adjudication turns on a handful of tests. Here is how each one plays out for a gas station / convenience store specifically, not generic boilerplate.
Substantial investment
Because acquisition cost is high and concrete, proportionality is satisfied by showing qualifying funds committed against the documented purchase price, or, where real estate is involved, against the operating-business portion, since passive real-estate value should not be over-counted. Show funds irrevocably committed via a signed purchase agreement and escrow conditioned only on visa issuance. No minimum applies; practitioners note convenience/fuel acquisitions often run into the mid-six figures and above, deal-specific, not a rule.
Job creation
Convenience-store operations support a clear non-marginal staffing table: multiple cashiers across shifts (extended/24-hour hours drive headcount), a store manager, stocking/maintenance staff, and any food-service or car-wash add-ons. Present a shift-coverage staffing chart with wages and a hiring timeline; emphasize the investor directs operations, fuel-supply contracts, and finances rather than manning the register.
Marginality rebuttal
Multiple revenue streams (fuel margin, in-store merchandise, lottery, food service, car wash) make the non-marginal story straightforward: show combined revenue and post-expense income well above minimal living, plus the staffing the operation requires. Future-capacity arguments (added pumps, remodel, food-service expansion) can supplement opening-year figures.
What officers scrutinize
Officers focus on source and traceability of the large funds, whether the role is genuine active management versus passive ownership, the realism of fuel-volume and in-store projections, and whether real-estate value is being used to manufacture a 'substantial' investment. Environmental/fuel-infrastructure liabilities and branded-fuel agreements may also draw questions.
What your gas station / convenience store plan should emphasize
Build your gas station / convenience store plan outline
See the full USCIS-format section list and what your specific business model needs to emphasize in each. Add your treaty country for nationality-specific context.
Your E-2 plan outline
- 01Executive summary
The enterprise, the treaty-investor, the amount invested, and the headline case at a glance.
- 02Company & service/product
What the business does, its structure, and its stage of development.
- 03Substantial investment & capital at risk
An itemized use-of-funds showing the investment is proportional to the business and irrevocably committed: the E-2 substantiality test.
- 04Source-of-funds narrative
How the invested capital was lawfully acquired and traced into the enterprise.
- 05Market analysis
Industry sizing and named competitors with real comparisons, specific to the business model and location.
- 06Marketing & operations plan
How the business reaches customers and runs day to day.
- 07Organization & management (develop-and-direct)
Ownership stake and the investor's operational-control role, framed to the E-2 develop-and-direct standard.
- 08U.S. job-creation staffing table
A year-by-year staffing chart with roles, headcount, and wages: the core marginality rebuttal.
- 095-year financial projections
P&L, cash-flow, and break-even built from your numbers, with the assumptions behind every figure stated.
- 10Marginality rebuttal
Evidence the enterprise generates more than a minimal living, via job creation and future capacity generally realizable within ~5 years.
What a gas station / convenience store plan must emphasize
- Clean, fully traceable source-of-funds file matched to the large purchase price
- Use-of-funds that separates operating-business investment from passive real estate so proportionality reflects the active enterprise
- Shift-coverage staffing chart (multi-shift cashiers, manager, stockers) showing the investor directs, not mans the counter
- Itemized multi-stream revenue projections (fuel, merchandise, lottery, food, car wash) clearing minimal living with margin
- Signed purchase agreement, lease/branded-fuel supply agreements, and escrow terms evidencing committed funds
This builds the structure of a USCIS-format business-plan document for your business model. It is general information, not legal or immigration advice, and does not assess your eligibility. E-2 has no fixed minimum investment; confirm your strategy with a licensed immigration attorney.
See what you actually get
A gas station / convenience store plan makes these arguments in writing, in USCIS format, not as a fill-in-the-blank template. A page from a plan:
6. The Enterprise Is Not Marginal
The enterprise does not exist solely to provide a minimal living for the investor. As shown in the five-year projections (Exhibit C), it generates operating profit above the income needed to support the investor and family.
Independently, the enterprise makes a significant economic contribution through U.S. job creation, with roles, wages, and hire dates specified in the staffing table (Exhibit D). Either basis is sufficient; both are satisfied here.
Under 9 FAM 402.9, an enterprise is not marginal where it has the present or future capacity, generally within five years, to generate more than a minimal living or to make a significant economic contribution…
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E-2 gas station / convenience store plan FAQ
E-2 plans for other businesses
Sources
- travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/fees/treaty.html
- www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/e-2-treaty-investors
- travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/employment/treaty-trader-investor-visa-e.html
E-2 guidance last reviewed 2026-06-30. General information about structuring a business-plan document, not legal or immigration advice; E-2 has no fixed minimum investment, and eligibility depends on your facts as assessed by a consular officer or USCIS. Confirm with a licensed immigration attorney.
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