Denial?

The steps you need to take depend on whether your denial was for a visa application at the American Embassy or change of status (COS) or extension of status (EOS) application with the USCIS.

If your E-2/E-1 visa application was denied, you should find out from your attorney or the consular officer the specific ground for denial, and then see if you can comply with the requested items. You might have to try to contact the supervisory consular officer and/or go through the time-consuming and expensive Advisory Opinion Process, which is basically requesting the reviewing office located in Washington, D.C. to issue an opinion. But the Advisory Opinon is available only where there is a legal question, not factual question.

If your E-2/E-1 COS or EOS application was denied by the USCIS, then you might wish to submit a Motion To Reopen to USCIS. [It should be noted that the USCIS does not allow appeals of an I-129 petition denying an E-2 extension of stay even though all other petition extensions are appealable to the AAO.] If this does not work, your option is to file a federal court complaint. Another option might be to apply for E-2/E-1 visa at the American Embassy, rather than apply for a "status".

If you are not confident of EOS approval, it might be a wise decision to consider doing TCN processing. Information on TCN processing can be found at: www.e-2california.com/tcn_processing.