[proberts]

In the end, it's up to the school and they all view this differently but I see the focus as supervision (not ownership) so you need someone, an advisor or board member, who is well educated and experienced in the field who would act as the STEM OPT supervisor/mentor.

[probablynish]

Hi Peter - a followup question if I may. Do you think that this kind of "solo entrepreneur" business model would be a good fit for the E2 visa? In particular, where the individual does not envision employing any other people, nor getting large amounts of VC funding (think more like bootstrapped growth). Or does the E2 visa require more 'scale'?

[proberts]

The E-2 visa really is the entrepreneur visa in the U.S. since the applicant can own the entire business and run it but it does require a "substantial" investment and a good business plan showing that the company will grow and hire U.S. workers over time. "Substantial" is a relative term (depending on the minimum cost to establish and run a particular business) but in practice, the investment must be at least $100k even if the cost to establish and run the business is in fact less.

[probablynish]

Thank you!