An NIW business plan that says something specific.
Two weeks. $1,500, fixed, and it comes off the price if you go on to build. The plan describes your proposed endeavor as a business an officer can evaluate: what it does, for whom, how it grows and what it changes. Written to your attorney’s brief; the legal argument stays theirs.
Business consultancy, not a law firm. Your attorney owns the case.
What the officer weighs
Three questions, and one that comes first.
National interest waiver petitions are decided under the Dhanasar framework. Since USCIS updated its guidance in January 2025, broad claims that a business will help the economy or create jobs don’t carry a petition on their own. Specifics do.
First: EB-2 itself. An advanced degree or exceptional ability, and an intended occupation that counts as a profession. That threshold is your attorney's to judge, and it comes before everything else.
Merit and national importance. What the endeavor is and why its impact reaches beyond one company or one town. The plan states the endeavor concretely enough to be judged.
Well positioned to advance it. Your record, your progress so far and a credible plan for what comes next. This is where a business plan does most of its work.
The balance. Whether waiving the job offer and labor certification benefits the United States on balance. That argument belongs to your attorney; the plan supplies the facts it rests on.
Plain-language summary of the standard, not legal advice. Your attorney decides whether an NIW fits and what the petition needs.
What's in the plan
Twenty to thirty-five pages, in the order the petition needs them.
01
Executive summary: the endeavor, the person behind it and the plan, on one page.
02
The proposed endeavor: what it is, stated specifically enough to evaluate.
03
The problem and who has it: the market, the customers and why it matters beyond a single company.
04
Product or service: what it is and how it works.
05
Your record: what you have built, published, funded or shipped that makes you the one to do this.
06
Progress to date: customers, pilots, grants, partners and revenue, where they exist.
07
Operations and the US footprint: where, with whom, in what order.
08
Hiring: roles, timing, locations and wages, as a plan with numbers rather than a slogan.
09
Five-year projections: P&L and cash flow, with the assumptions written out.
10
Impact, measured: the metrics the endeavor moves and how you will show them.
Appendix: the evidence list, organized the way the attorney wants it.
How it works
01
Intake.
A short form, then a ninety-minute working session with you (and your attorney’s brief, if there is one). Day one to three.
02
Draft.
The full plan goes to you and your attorney by day ten.
03
Revisions.
Your attorney’s notes, your changes, my rewrite. Two rounds are included, and anything the attorney’s review requires on top of that.
04
File.
Final version formatted for the petition, with the evidence appendix. First draft by day ten, final by day fourteen. Time the plan spends with your attorney for review doesn’t count.
Price
$1,500, and it comes off the 90-day build.
Includes the working session, the full plan, two rounds of revisions plus whatever your attorney’s notes require, and the formatted final. No hourly meter.
Well positioned is easier to show than to claim. The 90-day build ($18,000, paid in three parts, with the $1,500 credited in full) turns the endeavor into something an officer can look at: site, product or prototype, first users or customers, and the record organized as it grows.
Who this fits
Founders and professionals whose proposed endeavor is a business, including those from countries without an E-2 treaty. Researchers and academics usually need a different kind of document; if that is you, book a call and I’ll tell you honestly whether a business plan helps.
Questions
Is a business plan required for an NIW?
Not formally. For entrepreneurs it is often the document the rest of the petition leans on, and USCIS guidance names business plans among the evidence it weighs.
Will the plan argue national importance?
It lays out the facts the argument needs: the endeavor, the market, the impact, the numbers. The argument itself is your attorney's.
I don't have revenue yet. Is that a problem?
Not necessarily. What counts is credible evidence of progress and a believable path. The plan shows what exists today and what comes next, without inflating either.
Do I need an attorney?
NIW is a self-petition, but I write to an attorney's brief and strongly recommend one. If you don't have one yet, book a call first.
Can the plan be in German?
The petition needs English. The working session, the drafts we discuss and the notes can be German.
Do you guarantee approval?
No one honest does. I guarantee a plan that describes an endeavor which exists and holds up.
How fast can you go?
First draft by day ten and the final by day fourteen is the normal pace. A week is possible when the attorney's deadline requires it and you can keep up.