Read the general investor planning overview
A Chambly investor considering a U.S. online business should explain the activity behind its website. A polished storefront or a large audience is not itself proof of a qualifying E-2 investment. E-2 requires treaty nationality, a real operating enterprise, and capital that is substantially committed and exposed to risk rather than held for a later choice. Hypothetical example: an investor launches a subscription service for commercial beekeeping sensors and leaves most of the budget in a personal savings account. The first decision is which expenditures are actually bound to the enterprise and which remain only an intention.
Describe how the business operates
Explain the actual goods or services, customers, delivery arrangements, staffing and operating resources. Distinguish an active business from a proposed domain or a passive holding. Do not invent a rule that every online business qualifies or that none can qualify. Describe the operating chain from order to delivery, including the people and tools needed at every stage. A website can be a useful sales channel, but it does not replace evidence of fulfillment, customer support, suppliers, or a real commercial activity. The reader must decide whether the enterprise exists beyond its public-facing presentation.
Trace committed investment and authority
Assess treaty nationality, qualifying ownership, substantial lawful funds genuinely placed at risk and the principal’s ability to develop and direct the enterprise. Money set aside for possible future spending is not automatically committed investment. E-2 has no universal fixed dollar minimum. Trace funds from source to account, transfer, contract, and expenditure. Read any escrow, refund, or cancellation term carefully because its effect may determine whether money is genuinely at risk. The practical choice is to structure commitments that can be documented and managed, rather than moving money quickly without understanding whether it remains revocable.
Support the nonmarginality assessment
Use credible operational and financial evidence instead of treating visitor counts as revenue or every follower as a customer. Explain the enterprise’s capacity under the applicable standard. The marketing platform’s popularity does not decide the investor’s immigration eligibility. Use contracts, invoices, bank records, staffing assumptions, and a reasoned projection to test the plan. Explain how the enterprise will be directed and why it is expected to be more than marginal under the applicable standard. The concrete decision is whether the current evidence supports filing now or whether a missing operational commitment should be completed first.
What else is on your mind?
Is there one minimum investment that guarantees E-2 eligibility?Is holding money or owning an asset enough for E-2?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.