Assess the full enterprise under the applicable requirements rather than deciding from the seasonal label alone. The investment, operations, development and direction, and nonmarginality still need support. A peak season can be relevant, but the plan should also explain the rest of the operating year.
Show how the business sustains its obligations
Identify recurring expenses, staffing and resources during low-revenue periods. Use credible evidence for the forecast instead of multiplying the best month by twelve. The applicant should not assume that a seasonal pattern excuses a missing requirement or automatically makes the business marginal.
E-2 requires treaty nationality and a real operating enterprise. The capital must be irrevocably committed and exposed to commercial risk, must be substantial in context, and the enterprise cannot be marginal. The investor must be able to develop and direct the enterprise; a plan for passive ownership is not enough. Start with nationality, ownership, control, source and path of funds, the actual commitment of capital, and the operating plan. The review should test whether the enterprise will genuinely trade or provide services rather than exist only as a holding arrangement. Bank statements alone rarely settle the point. Lease obligations, purchase contracts, invoices, payroll planning, licences, and a credible forecast show how money moved from personal control into the commercial venture and what risk it now bears. Hypothetical example: A bespoke orthotics maker commits funds to a US workshop lease, production equipment, and materials, while retaining a personal emergency reserve. She traces every transfer, explains the reserve, and tests whether the committed spending supports a real nonmarginal operation.