This is known as the treaty investor visa and is issued to nationals of certain countries that have a treaty agreement with the USA. The United Kingdom is one of those countries, thus, British nationals living in the UK with sufficient credentials qualify for this visa.
The beneficiaries of E2 visas are required to invest or commit to investing a qualifying amount of capital into a business enterprise that they would be intent on developing and managing. The investment must not be marginal.
A marginal enterprise is defined as one that does not have the present or future capacity to generate more than enough income to provide a minimal living for the treaty investor and the investor’s family. Nevertheless, an enterprise that has the present or future capacity to make a significant economic contribution (such as provide a high rate of employment) is not a marginal one, despite the fact that it does not have the capacity to generate the requisite income.
There is no fixed minimum amount to satisfy the substantiality test. However, it is doubtful that any sum less than $100,000 will be accepted by the adjudicating authority. A satisfactory amount will be dependent on factors such as the nature and the size of the business. Taking this into consideration, on rare occasions, a sum of $50,000 has been considered sufficient to satisfy the substantiality test. There would be a presumption of substantiality with regards to an investment of $1,000,000 or more.
The investor must have control of the funds and the funds must be committed to the business enterprise. An idle or speculative investment will not qualify.
The enterprise must be active and not passive. It must be a real operating business. For example, an investment in property alone, without presenting this with other augmentative indicia of a property business venture is insufficient for the approval of an E-2 visa.