Professional costs incurred to acquire and start the business can generally be shown as part of the investment; immigration filing and visa fees cannot, because they buy status rather than the enterprise.
Separate what buys the business from what buys the visa
Money spent on the acquisition and on getting the company running is investment: the purchase price, the equipment appraisal, the commercial lawyer's work on the purchase agreement, the accountant's due diligence, insurance binders, licensing, initial inventory and the first months of payroll where they are part of the operating plan. Money spent on the visa is not: the immigration lawyer's fee for the application, the consular fee and the courier. Keep the two in separate ledgers from the beginning, because mixing them makes the investment schedule look padded and invites scrutiny of every line. Take the amounts for government charges from current official fee sources at the time of filing. Budget separately for the possibility of a second attempt, since a refused application does not return the money already committed to the business.
Hypothetical example: a bicycle-repair retailer includes its E-2 legal bill in the equipment budget to make the investment schedule look larger. The first review should reconcile every scheduled cost to an invoice, payment record and the operating plan. Purchase contracts and business invoices settle what supports the enterprise; an immigration invoice settles only the application expense. Remove the latter from the investment total before submission and retain it in a separate file. A transparent schedule is more persuasive than a larger number that cannot be tied to the business.