Illustrative sample: your plan is built from your own certified figures
What an GetVisaPlan plan actually contains
Below is a real excerpt from a sample E-2 plan for a hypothetical applicant (a UK national investing $180,000 in an Austin coffee shop). It shows the depth USCIS officers look for: substantiality, capital at risk, a traced source of funds, a marginality rebuttal, and credible financials, not a fill-in-the-blank template.
Investment at risk: use of funds
| Use of funds | Amount | At-risk status |
|---|---|---|
| Leasehold improvements / buildout | $72,000 | Signed GC contract, 50% paid |
| Equipment (espresso, refrigeration, POS, furniture) | $48,000 | POs issued, deposits paid |
| Opening inventory | $9,000 | — |
| Pre-opening (permits, deposits, legal, branding) | $12,000 | Spent |
| Launch marketing | $9,000 | Committed |
| Working-capital reserve (≈6 mo) | $30,000 | In business account |
| Total | $180,000 | 83% spent/committed at filing |
5-year financial projections
| ($) | Y1 | Y2 | Y3 | Y4 | Y5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 420k | 560k | 640k | 700k | 740k |
| Gross profit | 294k | 392k | 448k | 490k | 518k |
| Operating profit | 54.6k | 96.7k | 115k | 129k | 145k |
| U.S. employees | 4 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
Built on stated assumptions (AOV, transactions/day, COGS %, labor %). Every figure ties to the next, the way an officer expects.
USCIS eligibility: mapped, not assumed
- • Substantial investment: $180k ≈ 100% of total establishment cost (low-cost-business proportionality).
- • At risk: 83% spent or irrevocably committed at filing; funds traced and lawful.
- • Not marginal: net profit above a living wage by Year 2; 10 U.S. jobs by Year 5.
- • Develop & direct: 100% owner, sole managing member.
- • Named competitors: specific local analysis (per Matter of Ho), not generic claims.
Excerpt: the marginality rebuttal, written out
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), the business generates operating profit of $54,600 in Year 1, rising to $145,000 by Year 5, well above the income needed to support the investor and family.
Independently, the enterprise makes a significant economic contribution through U.S. job creation: 4 employees at opening, scaling to 10 by Year 5 (staffing table, Exhibit D), with roles, wages, and hire dates specified. 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…
The same plan, built for a different business
A coffee shop is capital-heavy, so the plan documents buildout and equipment. A capital-light business is the opposite problem, and the plan leans on entirely different arguments. That’s the part a fill-in-the-blank template gets wrong.
- • Substantiality via itemized buildout, equipment, committed funds
- • Marginality via covers, average check, and a service staffing table
- • Officer focus: viability given hospitality failure rates
- • Substantiality via the proportionality test: a high share of a low total (office, licensing, prepaid payroll)
- • Marginality via signed client contracts + a developer/consultant hiring plan, not equipment
- • Officer focus: rebutting the “one-person operation” concern
Your plan is generated from your business model, numbers, and treaty country, which is why it reads like your business, not a sample.
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