Consular application charges apply to an E visa application, and where a change of status is filed inside the United States the USCIS fee schedule, Form G-1055, sets the amount. Beyond government fees, budget for the business plan, accounting work, corporate formation, and legal review of the lease and any purchase documents.
Treat professional costs as part of the start-up
Investors frequently budget for the kitchen and forget the file. A credible application needs a business plan written from real numbers, financial statements or projections prepared by someone who will stand behind them, corporate documents for the US entity, and a source-of-funds package. Those costs belong in the start-up budget alongside the equipment.
Note also that professional and formation costs are not themselves the investment; they are expenses of getting there, and the enterprise still has to show the committed capital the category requires. Check current government amounts at the time of filing rather than relying on a figure heard from another applicant, and confirm which route applies, since the consular process and a change of status filed from inside the United States are different procedures with different charges. Hypothetical example: a mobile dog-grooming operator budgets for a van and equipment but overlooks insurance, local licences, deposits, and the cash needed to operate before revenue arrives.
The investment analysis is not a shopping list; it compares committed funds with the actual cost of launching the proposed business. Make a source-backed start-up budget and flag every item that remains refundable. A first review should separate business expenditure from personal relocation costs.
Cases weaken when the stated investment figure includes money that is still under the applicant's control or cannot be traced.