Read the general investor planning overview
A business that must be built out before it can open produces two very different kinds of paper: quotes for work nobody has ordered, and evidence of money actually committed. An E-2 review looks at what has been irrevocably committed and placed at risk in the enterprise. Sort the file into those categories yourself before asking what it establishes.
Sort the construction file into three piles
First, estimates and quotes: a price for work nobody has ordered. Second, signed contracts, deposits and purchase orders that create an obligation or a penalty if you walk away. Third, work paid for and performed, with invoices, proof of payment and permits. For each item record the date, the contractor, the scope and the payment evidence. The total renovation budget is not the same thing as an investment, and a folder of quotes describes an intention. Ask the reviewer how each pile is treated rather than presenting one combined figure that hides the difference.
Look at where the money sits and what could pull it back
Funds held in a business account and earmarked for the build-out remain under your control. Ask what would make them committed and at risk on your facts, and document the lawful source and the path those funds travelled. Where a purchase or a lease is conditional, the escrow terms, the release conditions and the consequences if the condition fails all matter; the Foreign Affairs Manual recognizes qualifying escrow arrangements, and a deposit described as refundable is not qualifying merely because of that label. Hypothetical example: a lease is signed, a contractor deposit is paid, and the remaining work exists only as a quote — three different statuses inside one project.
Show how the premises lead to an operating business
Set out the sequence from permits and construction to opening, first staff and first customers, with the assumption behind each date. Substantiality is assessed in relation to this enterprise, the business must meet the non-marginality requirement, and there is no universal dollar figure that replaces that analysis. Explain your own role in developing and directing the business. Keep uncertainties visible — a permit not yet issued, a contractor not yet engaged — and keep commercial diligence on the renovation separate from the immigration review, which does not tell you whether the build-out is priced or scheduled sensibly.
The lease schedule is a commitment document too
Build-out files tend to focus on contractors and overlook the lease, which is frequently the largest obligation anyone signs. Read the schedules: the commencement date, the rent-free or fit-out period, the landlord's works set against the tenant's works, any personal guarantee, and the reinstatement obligation at the end of the term. Each bears both on what the enterprise owes and on what has genuinely been placed at risk. A guarantee signed personally is a different exposure from a deposit, and the two should not be presented as one figure. Ask which of these the reviewer treats as committed.
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.