Sign, pay and purchase before the interview so commitment is visible; schedule the first hire for after the visa issues but within the plan’s first year, with the recruitment already started.
Spend before the interview, employ after admission
Because the application is judged on funds already committed, the lease, equipment purchases, insurance and client agreements should be executed and paid before the interview date. Hiring is different: the founder cannot direct U.S. employees day to day until he is admitted, so the plan should place the first hire in the months after arrival, while showing that recruitment has begun.
The interview date depends on consular availability, so the lease should have a start date that tolerates a wait of a few months. If the visa is refused, committed funds are at risk, which is precisely why the regulation treats them as invested; the founder should accept that exposure knowingly. Once admitted, E-2 status is renewable while the enterprise continues to meet the conditions, and each renewal will look again at whether the hiring schedule was met.
Hypothetical example: a fermentation-equipment supplier signs a purchase order that remains cancellable until a visa decision. The schedule looks ambitious, but the order may not put the investor’s capital at risk. Before requesting an interview, the owner should decide whether to make the obligation binding, document the consequence of cancellation, and preserve the dated payment trail.
Waiting for a complete commitment record is often safer than explaining why the major expenditure can still be withdrawn.