This page is your working checklist for a UK applicant preparing a US E-2 visa. It sets out both the documents you need to assemble and the core legal requirements you must meet. For a complete overview of the visa, investment and eligibility, visit our E-2 visa guide for UK applicants, or see the full E-2 application process for UK nationals.
Use this checklist to assemble your E-2 application package for the US Consulate in London (Nine Elms). Tick each item as you gather it:
Not sure where to start? Our UK E-2 visa team can prepare and review your entire package.
📖 Looking for the Ultimate E-2 Visa Guide?
Before you file, confirm your case meets each of the core requirements below. Every item is grounded in the Foreign Affairs Manual and federal regulations, and links through to a fuller guide.
To qualify for E-2 classification, the investor must hold the nationality of a country that maintains the required treaty relationship with the United States. The business must also have the nationality of the treaty country. You can review our E-2 treaty countries list to confirm whether your nationality qualifies. 9 FAM 402.9-4(A); 9 FAM 402.9-4(B); 8 CFR 214.2(e)(3)
An E-2 visa is available to a treaty investor who has invested, or is actively in the process of investing, a substantial amount of capital in a bona fide enterprise in the United States and who is seeking entry solely to develop and direct that enterprise. 9 FAM 402.9-6; 8 CFR 214.2(e)(2)
The investment must be in a bona fide enterprise. The enterprise must be a real, active, and operating commercial or entrepreneurial undertaking that produces services or goods for profit. In practice, the application should show that the business is already operating or is in a position to commence operations immediately. 9 FAM 402.9-6(C); 8 CFR 214.2(e)(13)
Each E-2 investor Visa application must be accompanied by a business plan explaining the current and anticipated operations of the business. The business will need access to premises of a size suitable to support the operations described in the business plan.
The enterprise cannot be marginal. A marginal enterprise is one that does not have the present or future capacity to generate more than enough income to provide a minimal living for the investor and the investor's family. A business may still qualify if it has a present or future capacity to make a significant economic contribution. 9 FAM 402.9-6(E); 8 CFR 214.2(e)(15)
📖 Learn More About the E-2 Visa Investment Amount
The E-2 investor must make his or her investment using their personal funds or business assets.
What constitutes personal and personal business assets can be complex. Our UK E-2 visa team can guide you through this process. Under certain circumstances the proceeds of a loan which is properly structured for E-2 purposes can qualify.
US law requires that your investment be irrevocably invested before your E-2 visa is filed.
If you are acquiring a US business the purchase funds are usually placed into an escrow account before the E-2 visa application is filed. If the E-2 visa application is refused your funds are returned to you.
D&A have pioneered the use of escrow accounts in the context of new business set-ups so that your investment can also be returned to you if your E-2 visa is refused. The US Consulate in London have approved every case we have filed involving the use of escrow accounts.
You are required to evidence that your funds were lawfully earned in the country in which they were earned. Our US immigration lawyers will work with our UK lawyers to guide you through this documentation process as part of your E-2 application.
The E-2 investor must own and control the operations of the US business. Generally, the investor must demonstrate that they have an ownership interest of 50% or more. See the full E-2 visa requirements.
Employees who hold the same nationality as the principal E-2 investor are eligible to obtain E-2 visas providing they meet the applicable E2 requirements.
In addition to meeting the statutory and regulatory requirements for E-2 classification, applicants must follow the specific procedures and evidentiary requirements set by the U.S. Embassy or Consulate where they apply. In London, this includes detailed formatting, document submission, and business plan expectations that must be followed carefully when preparing an E-2 application. 9 FAM 402.9-10; US Consulate in London E-2 Guidance.
While the core legal requirements are consistent across all consulates, each post may impose its own procedural rules regarding how applications are assembled and reviewed. For example, the U.S. Embassy in London requires electronic submission of a structured E visa application package, including a comprehensive business plan, source of funds documentation, and supporting corporate evidence. 9 FAM 402.9-10
📖 Read Our Guide: How Long Does the London E-2 Take?
Once your checklist is complete, the next question is timing. Our processing-time guide breaks down each stage at the London E-Visa Unit — registration review, interview scheduling and visa issuance — with current wait times.
We are recognized as a leading US law firm specializing in E-2 visa applications for UK Nationals.
Our resources across the US are available to help to assist you with the formation or acquisition of your US business.
Our team in London can assist you with every step of your E2 visa process.
Our firm has direct “on the ground” expertize both in the United Kingdom and the United States. We are familiar with the unique procedures in place at the US embassy in London .
Based in the United States with a team of US E2 visa attorneys in London , Davies & Associates is recognized as a leading US law firm specializing in E-2 visa applications for UK Nationals.
Our resources across the US, including a team of specialist E2 visa corporate lawyers and E2 visa tax lawyers, are available to help to assist you with the formation or acquisition of your US business and your application for an E2 visa.
Our team in London can assist you with every step of your E2 visa process.
In 2022, D&A plan to open an interview preparation suite opposite the US Consulate in London . Our E2 visa attorneys in London will receive clients at the suite before their interview and de-brief them in the suite after their interview.
Our interview preparation suite will potentially be located at: 3 Viaduct Gardens, London, SW11 7A, United Kingdom
E-2 treaty investor visa interviews in the United Kingdom are conducted at the US Consulate in London and at the US Consulate in Belfast. E2 visa lawyers The US Consulates in United Kingdom are located at:
Check out our most frequently asked questions about E2 Visa general FAQs
Select your country for more information
Managing Partner of Davies & Associates; focused on E visa strategy and complex consular filings.
Mark I. Davies, Esq., J.D., University of Pennsylvania Law School, licensed by the SRA (SRA ID: 384468) in the UK, and a member of The Law Society of England & Wales, MBA, Wharton School of Business. Named a Top 25 EB-5 Immigration Attorney by EB5 Investors Magazine.
Ranked Band 1 for E-2 visas in Singapore by Global Citizenship Services (2026). Admitted to practice in Georgia (USA). Georgia State Bar member. AILA member.
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We are known for our creative solutions that obtain "impossible" visas. We solve the most complex immigration problems for businesses, investors, individuals, and families.
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