A law firm that began as an E-2.
1 · Why E2Pathway exists
E2Pathway exists because its founding attorney needed an E-2 visa himself. Thomas Plan invested in this firm, applied at the US Consulate General in Frankfurt, and went through every step his clients now take: the bundle assembled, the thirty pages counted, the wait in the Nordend, the conversation through the glass. He came out of it with a visa and a conviction — that the procedure deserves a practice of its own, not a department. Our philosophy follows from that: one visa, done thoroughly.
2 · A firm that started as an E-2
Thomas Plan grew up in Berlin and came to the United States as a volunteer with the Yates County Public Defender’s Office, in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York — lakes, vineyards, small towns, a sandstone courthouse. He stayed, was admitted to the New York bar in 2024, and decided to build his firm here.
He built it the way an E-2 investor builds a business. He put his own capital into the firm and applied for his E-2 on it in Frankfurt. E2Pathway is itself a treaty investor enterprise: the consulate examined it on the same tests we now prepare you for — a substantial investment, capital at risk, and a business that will earn more than a living.
The office is at 215 Main Street in Penn Yan, a small town at the northern end of Keuka Lake. Germany, Austria and Switzerland are usually six hours ahead, so our day starts at 7:30 in the morning, which is 13:30 in Frankfurt, Vienna and Bern.
We believe the United States is a place that lets you build. You arrive with a plan and capital, open the doors, and the business earns its place — or it doesn’t, but it is allowed to try. E2Pathway is our own evidence of that, and helping others do the same is the work we chose.
3 · Why one visa, and where the firm is going
The E-2 is not a programme a ministry invented; it rests on treaties. With Switzerland, a convention of 1850 in force since 1855; with Austria, a treaty of 1928 in force since 1931; with Germany, the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation of 1954, in force since 1956. Treaties outlast administrations. What changes is fees, formats, wait times, and how a manual is read — and those are exactly what you can keep up with if you do nothing else.
That is why one visa. Doing one thing means knowing its edges: the three consulates and their three house rules, the case law on the word “substantial”, the difference between a loan on your house and a loan on the business. We do not handle green cards, H-1Bs or L-1s — where one of those is the better route, we say so and name someone who does it. We do not advise on tax, or on German, Austrian or Swiss law. We do not write your business plan; we review it. We promise no outcome, because the decision is made behind the glass, not by us. And we do not take on a case we would advise you against.
What comes next. E2Pathway will grow around the same procedure. The plan is to add German-speaking staff and, in time, further attorneys, all working only on E-2 cases. Two things will not change: the firm handles one visa, and one named attorney is responsible for your case from the first assessment to the decision.
4 · The person behind the firm
Thomas Plan was born in Kendal, on the edge of England’s Lake District, and grew up in Berlin, between two languages; German and English are both native to him. Before law he was a teacher, first at secondary schools in Britain and Berlin, then preparing students for the language examinations of German universities. He studied law at Swansea University in Wales and was admitted in New York in 2024 (Appellate Division, Third Department, registration no. 6141113). Today he handles every E2Pathway case himself. Outside the office he listens to classical music, buys from the farm stands of the Finger Lakes, and reads Cicero and Quintilian.
The negative statement, in full
Thomas Plan is Attorney at Law, admitted in the State of New York; supervising authority the Appellate Division, Third Department; professional rules the New York Rules of Professional Conduct (22 NYCRR Part 1200). No admission as Rechtsanwalt under the German Federal Lawyers’ Act (BRAO); no membership of a German, Austrian or Swiss bar association. We advise exclusively on US immigration law. “Rechtsanwalt” is a protected title; we do not use it.