A practical, attorney-tested checklist of the 14 elements USCIS adjudicators look for in any employment-based visa business plan — L-1, E-2, EB-1C, EB-2 NIW, EB-5, and O-1.
USCIS Business Plan Checklist: The 14 Elements Every Adjudicator Looks For
Across L-1, E-2, EB-1C, EB-2 NIW, EB-5, and O-1 petitions, USCIS adjudicators look for the same core building blocks in a business plan — even when the underlying legal standard differs. The visa category determines emphasis; it doesn't change the structure.
This is the working checklist we use at BizPlanner AI to validate that a plan is RFE-resistant before it ships. Use it as a final pass before filing.
The first page should signal — without ambiguity — which visa category the plan supports and which legal standard it satisfies. An L-1A plan leads with managerial capacity. An E-2 plan leads with substantiality of investment and non-marginality. An EB-2 NIW plan leads with the three Dhanasar prongs.
A generic "About the Company" opener wastes the most valuable real estate in the entire document.