Read the general investor planning overview
A founder may attribute substantial value to software developed before forming the U.S. business. For E-2 planning, separate an estimated value from the legal rights and capital actually contributed. A valuation report does not by itself establish what qualifying investment the applicant has made. Ask who is asserting each number and what standing they have to assert it. A valuer states an opinion of worth, a developer states what was built, a former employer may hold a claim nobody has yet tested, and only the investor can say what has actually been transferred to the enterprise. The last of those is the one the analysis turns on.
Describe the asset and the rights involved
Hypothetical example: a founder lists personally developed software as the largest item in the investment budget, but a previous employer may own part of the code. Identify development history, ownership agreements, licences, restrictions and any proposed transfer. Have the rights reviewed before representing the software as an asset the investor controls and can contribute. Ownership disputes of this kind are settled by documents signed at the time, not by the developer's present account of them. Retrieve the employment agreement, any contractor terms, any assignment of rights, and the policies in force while the work was done, and have counsel read them before the software appears anywhere in a budget. Where a former employer's position is unknown, that is itself the finding to record, because an untested claim is a fact about the asset.
Keep historical cost, valuation and commitment distinct
List documented development expenses, any independent valuation and the actual transaction proposed for the U.S. enterprise. Do not substitute one number for another without explanation. Ask the reviewer what evidence bears on the investment analysis and how the asset’s actual terms matter. A business forecast using the software is useful context, but projected revenue is not proof of capital already placed at risk. Give each figure its own owner and its own label. Historical cost is what the developer or the company actually spent and can evidence with records; a valuation is an opinion produced by whoever prepared it, on stated assumptions; the committed investment is what the enterprise received and can no longer freely recover. Hypothetical example: the founder of an irrigation-scheduling platform carries all three numbers on one line of a budget, and separating them shows that only the smallest is supported by a transaction.
Connect the asset to a viable enterprise
Show how the U.S. business will use the software, what other resources are secured and which commitments remain conditional. E-2 also requires qualifying treaty nationality, substantial committed at-risk investment, a real operating non-marginal enterprise and the ability to develop and direct it. There is no universal minimum investment. Review the whole operation rather than treating a high valuation as a substitute for its remaining requirements. The enterprise, not the asset, is what has to operate, and someone must be responsible for making it do so. E-2 requires an investor who will develop and direct, which means naming who takes the commercial decisions, who is hired to build the customer base, and what is contracted rather than intended. A valuation says nothing about any of that. Set out what remains conditional, and on whose action each conditional item depends.
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.