Establish residency in Los Angeles, CA under E-2 visa status.

CORP BRIEF — MUST READ

Penthouse Advisors Inc. is a sophisticated, full-service restaurant and business brokerage operation, consulting and advising on restaurant deals for active restaurant owners, commercial property owners, and restaurant buyers throughout Los Angeles County. We provide brilliant business tips and strategies in line with our “do it now” approach to creating resolutions with quick, workable solutions to restaurant business dilemmas and expanding the restaurant’s growth — meaning the monthly net returns in the pocket before tax.

Making money by owning a restaurant business in Los Angeles County

The key factor in owning a restaurant business is to be motivated and committed with the intent of expanding the brand into 10 chain locations. Here is why: when your first restaurant’s monthly gross sales (meaning all the credit card and cash collected during the month) average out to approximately $60,000 per month, as an example, after all the expenses are subtracted — the monthly rent, gas, electric, payroll, food costs, insurance, delivery expenses, restocking the dry storage and breakables, and stealing of cash called shrinkage — there should be approximately $12,000 net returns remaining, meaning the monthly profit the owner of the restaurant pockets before tax.

The idea is to multiply the $12,000 monthly net return 10 times by simply opening 9 new additional brand locations, one at a time, with the assistance, business advice, and supervision from Penthouse Advisors Inc. The success of each brand location follows the next for financial expansion protection. Once all 10 locations are up and running, we are looking at monthly net returns of $120,000 (in the pocket before tax), times 12 months, $1,440,000 — one million four hundred forty thousand dollars — annual net profit (in the pocket before tax). That’s what we’re talking about.

Purchase a U.S. business under the E-2 visa

About the business purchased

The business must be open and operating for profit. The buyer must invest a substantial amount in the bona fide — meaning “in good faith” — enterprise in Los Angeles County. No set dollar figure can be said as a substantial amount for the E-2 visa investment. The restaurant business cannot be idle or an enterprise on paper.

Contact

Richard Stein & Roschard Paticchio Stein — Private Office, Santa Monica, CA. Office: (M) 310-663-3521

Applying through a U.S. consulate or embassy abroad

• 1Research eligible restaurant businesses that qualify for E-2 visa investments.
• 2May 2026 U.S. law: file the E-2 visa application with the U.S. consulate or embassy in your home country.
• 3If exploring inside the U.S., self-deport at once. In other words, DO NOT stay in the United States while applying for an E-2 visa or any visa status for that matter.
• 4Check out applying for an E-2 visa through a change of status at USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) at uscis.gov.
• 5Ensure you meet the investment amount requirement, typically around $100,000 or more.
• 6Prepare a comprehensive business plan outlining your investment and operational strategy.
• 7Gather necessary documentation, including proof of funds and personal background information.
• 8Attend the E-2 visa interview and present your business plan and investment details.

E-2 visa through a U.S. consulate or embassy abroad

Note that the E-2 visa is a non-immigrant visa: buyers are not eligible for permanent residency. Buyers must provide a written statement to the U.S. Embassy that they will leave the country once the E-2 status expires. The written statement is sufficient, although sometimes the embassy might request additional proof of ties abroad. Ties are the proof that binds buyers to their country of residence, such as their house, job, or family, etc.

When you apply for an E-2 visa at the U.S. consulate or embassy abroad, you must attend an E-2 visa interview at the consulate. If you are approved, you receive an E-2 visa stamp in your passport, which allows you to travel between the United States and other countries. The E-2 visa stamp is a physical stamp or sticker in your passport that serves as an entry document or authorization to travel to the United States. Once you arrive in the United States, you present the E-2 visa at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), where a CBP officer determines whether to admit you into the U.S. Upon entry into the United States, the E-2 visa stamp does not control your legal status; your legal status is controlled by the E-2 status as recorded on your I-94 record.

1. If you are not a citizen of one of the E-2 treaty countries, then you cannot pursue a change of status to E-2 in the U.S.
2. If you are a citizen of a treaty country, you may still not be able to change status in the United States.
3. U.S. applications will be processed at the U.S. consulate in the buyer’s country.

Traveling to and from the U.S.

The principal investor is allowed to travel abroad and is granted an automatic 2-year readmission period upon entering the U.S. If family members are traveling along with the primary investor at that time, they can request readmission to the U.S. However, if family members travel abroad and return to the U.S. alone, the new readmission period will not be applied to them.

The family members of the E-2 treaty investors are also eligible to apply for E-2 visas and can stay up to 2 years in the U.S. The dependents and spouses need not be from the same treaty country as the principal E-2 visa holder. Spouses can work; however, it is recommended to get a work authorization certificate. Children under the age of 21 cannot work under the E-2 visa, but they are allowed to study. Children after reaching the age of 21 under an E-2 visa need to explore other visa options to stay in the U.S.

Renewing the E-2 visa

After a two-year term, renewing the E-2 visa will require proof of achieving the projections mentioned at the time of application. The plan should mention the financial projections and details on how the business will gain sufficient funds to provide for the buyer and the buyer’s family. The business should also create new jobs.

Timing

The E-2 visa will allow the buyer to own a restaurant business and live in Los Angeles County for 2 years. All individuals covered by the E-2 visa are allowed to travel in and out of the U.S.A. After 2 years, buyers can extend the E-2 visa for another 2 years with unlimited extension on the stay.

Immigration interview

The buyer must have a business immigration plan on how the investment affects the U.S. economy at the time of the interview. The buyer must verify a synergy between the buyer’s skills and the business being acquired. The U.S. Embassy will want a “Corp Brief” about the buyer’s business activities in the U.S. The nature of the business the buyer is investing in must be relevant to the buyer’s professional experience, qualifications, or skills.

Documents required

The LOI purchase agreement, copy of the assignment or new lease, business licenses, S-Corp, C-Corp, LLC, federal tax employer’s identification number, BOE (Board of Equalization), EDD (Employment Development Department), seller’s permit, health department certificate, and escrow instructions are delivered to the buyer’s immigration attorney for processing.

Personal documentation

• Credit report
• Three (3) consecutive, strong bank statements showing liquidity
• Date of birth
• Place of birth
• Residential address
• Driver’s license
• SSN or ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number)
• Business plan
• Menu
• Restaurant experience
• Resume

LOI purchase agreement

Penthouse Advisors Inc. will draft a “LOI” letter of intent purchase agreement at the agreed purchase price to be signed by and between the buyer and seller. The agreement is subject to the property owner reviewing the strength of the guarantor’s following documentation:

• Credit report
• Three (3) consecutive, strong bank statements showing liquidity
• Date of birth
• Place of birth
• Residential address
• Driver’s license
• SSN or ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number)
• Business plan
• Menu
• Restaurant experience
• Resume

Lease contingence

Our work includes complex property owner (landlord) negotiations establishing a contingence that a copy of an assignment of lease or a new lease will be drafted and given to the buyer/E-2 visa applicant prior to escrow closing, and is subject to E-2 visa approval at the U.S. consulate or embassy abroad.

Investment

The restaurant business investment must have a considerable impact on the U.S. economy and not provide a “living only” situation for the buyer and the buyer’s family. The investment must be a significant economic contribution to the U.S. economy and not a marginal enterprise — meaning it must have the capacity to generate excess funds beyond supporting minimal living conditions.

Predicted future earnings

Earnings must be met within 5 years from the date of acquiring the business activity. Just the intent to invest, or having uncommitted funds in a bank account, will not be considered an investment. The substantial investment intends to make sure that the buyer’s business is not a speculative or idle investment, but will become a successful enterprise in the future.

Funds

The funds should be put irrevocably at risk, meaning they should be used for business-related expenses that cannot be recovered in the event the restaurant business goes into default.

Guarantor to the lease

Only one (1) guarantor to the lease. This can be a partner or family member that holds the strongest bank account and will be held responsible for all lease payments, lease terms, and conditions. Investors must own at least 50% of the business, giving them operational control, including the principal investor/buyer, who can apply for E-2 as qualifying employees who are usually of the same nationality as the buyers (same treaty country). The registration takes a few months depending upon the jurisdiction. The E-2 employee visa can be obtained within two weeks. The E-2 visa can be extended to other personnel if they meet the following conditions:

• Hold a managerial position
• Handle an entire business or a key part of the business
• Skilled workers or specialists
• Highly specialized skill capacity in some areas related to the business that is difficult to find in the U.S.
• The employee is necessary to run a principal trade for the investor’s business in the U.S.

Escrow opened

Upon property owner approval of the said guarantor to the lease, escrow will be opened. Drafting a new lease or assignment to the existing lease will be signed by the property owner and delivered to escrow, followed by escrow delivering via email to the buyer a wire-instructions link, whereby 100% of the total consideration, the “purchase money,” must be wired into the escrow trust account.

Alcohol licensing & health department permitting

Upon receiving the E-2 visa non-immigrant status and purchasing a restaurant, Roschard Paticchio Stein and Richard Stein, specialists in restaurant alcohol licensing transfers and sales (Type 41 beer and wine, Type 47 hard alcohol) and health department site evaluations to approve for health department permitting and licensing, are available to be retained.