Assess the material difference before filing. A documented reconciliation may explain a legitimate book-to-tax adjustment, while an actual error may call for correction or amendment. Identify the record needed to support the investment and non-marginality showing, and do not assume that an incomplete application will receive an opportunity to add it later.
Set milestones, not a promised date
Fix dates for the entry list, the supporting documents, the signed memo, any amended filing, and counsel's review of the final set. Treat each as a checkpoint that can move the others. No processing time can be guaranteed, and an approval does not create permanent residence: E-2 is a nonimmigrant category with an intention to depart when status ends. Remember that a visa's expiry date and the authorized stay recorded on the I-94 are different things.
Identify who can adjust closing and release conditions, then confirm the applicable consular or status process for the specific applicant. Update the actual operating plan and assess the continuing commitments and immigration readiness. If the retiring founder is the licence holder and the buyer has no plan for succession, the application presents an enterprise that will lose its ability to trade on the closing date, which undermines both the real-and-operating condition and the non-marginality condition.