IN THIS GUIDE · Handling inspection-driven repairs, seller obligations, and revised costs before an E-2 enterprise opens
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Separate the seller's obligations from your own costs
An inspection report lists conditions; it does not decide who pays. Read the purchase or lease documents to see which items the seller or landlord agreed to correct, which were accepted as-is, and which trigger a price adjustment or a right to withdraw. Conflicting obligations between an offer, an escrow instruction and a repair addendum are fact-specific and need legal review rather than a general rule about signed and unsigned terms. Work backwards from the signature. Every obligation in a dispute of this kind was created by someone signing something, so identify the signatory and the instrument behind each item before arguing about fairness. Where a duty was assumed in conversation with an agent rather than assigned in a document, treat it as unassigned until counsel advises otherwise.
Rebuild the investment figure around the real total
Substantiality is measured against the actual cost of establishing the specific enterprise, so a larger repair bill changes both sides of that comparison. Rebuild the schedule: purchase price, construction and remediation, permits, equipment, opening inventory, and working capital. Keep business expenditures separate from the cost of preparing an immigration application, and ask counsel to review how each item is actually treated rather than assuming a category is automatically excluded. Give one person the schedule and let nobody else amend it. Contractors, suppliers and the investor's own household all propose changes, and a figure edited by several hands stops matching any document. The investor is the party who must later explain the total, so the investor should own the version that is filed.
Show capital is committed and genuinely at risk
Money still sitting in an account is not a commitment. Document irrevocable transfers, signed contracts with the general contractor, deposits released to vendors, and equipment orders placed. Escrow arrangements and refundable deposits are not all treated the same way; the conditions and revocation rights in the actual instrument decide the analysis. If a loan funds the repairs, identify what secures it, since collateral pledged against personal assets can be treated differently from debt secured only by the enterprise. For each payment, establish who could get the money back and on what conditions. That question identifies risk more reliably than the label on the account. An escrow agent holds funds under instructions written by someone, a lender's security is defined in an instrument, and a supplier's deposit is governed by its own terms. Hypothetical example: a nursery-stock supplier requires a non-refundable deposit before propagating an order, and it is that instrument the file should show rather than a bank balance.
Describe readiness and the revised opening plan
A delayed opening is not automatically fatal. Filings before first sales can succeed where commitments are credible and the enterprise is close to operating, so describe the permit stage, the contractor's schedule, the hiring plan, and the date the premises can lawfully receive customers. Update the financial projections that support the non-marginality discussion, whether that rests on future capacity beyond a minimal living for the family or on a significant economic contribution. Readiness is asserted by the investor but demonstrated by third parties. A permitting authority decides when the premises may lawfully receive customers, a contractor's schedule sets when the work finishes, and a hiring plan depends on people who have not yet accepted offers. State which of those are confirmed and which remain in someone else's hands, and date each. Keep the develop-and-direct requirement in view as well: the investor must be the person who directs the enterprise, and that is a claim the file should support rather than assume.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.