No. The investor’s nationality, qualifying capital, control and the specific enterprise must meet E-2 requirements. A recognized brand or a franchise marketed to visa applicants does not establish eligibility.
Review the individual franchise operation
Examine the executed agreement, the actual opening budget and the investor’s authority over the enterprise. The operating plan needs evidence relevant to this location rather than only system-wide claims. Show how royalties, staffing and premises affect commercial viability.
A franchise can supply structure and training, but the applicant must still demonstrate a substantial at-risk commitment and a business that is more than marginal. The franchisor's record establishes the system's viability and nothing about this applicant or this location. Assess the individual operation on its own terms.
That means the specific territory granted and its exclusivity, the site secured and its lease, the local competitive position, the capital committed to this unit and the evidence of that commitment, and the operator's own role in running it. The investor's requirements are unchanged by the presence of a brand: treaty nationality, an investment irrevocably committed and at risk, an enterprise that is more than marginal, and the ability to develop and direct it. Where a franchisor offers to place a manager and the operator's involvement would be largely financial, the last of those requires particular attention, since a passive interest in a franchised unit is a different proposition from operating one.