Read the general investor planning overview
A Léry investor may plan to acquire equipment and other business resources in stages. Explain the actual obligations and funds at risk without presenting every future purchase in the budget as completed investment. Take the budget line by line and mark each item as paid, contractually committed, or contemplated. The first two belong in the investment discussion and the third does not. Doing this before the file is assembled usually shortens it, because a budget with the third category removed is a much smaller document than the plan it came from.
Identify the stage of each material commitment
Hypothetical example: the first equipment order is binding while a later expansion remains a quote. Preserve that distinction and the actual payment evidence. A forecast total is not proof that all money has moved or become committed. Hypothetical example: the owner of a rock-mechanics testing laboratory signs a binding order for a load frame with a non-refundable deposit, while a second press remains a supplier's quotation valid for ninety days. Those two documents deserve very different treatment. For each committed item, keep the signed instrument, the deposit receipt and the cancellation terms together, since the cancellation terms are what show how much is genuinely exposed. A quotation with no obligation attached shows intention, and intention is not commitment.
Assess the complete investment arrangement
E-2 requires substantial lawful capital genuinely committed at risk, with source and path explained. There is no universal fixed investment minimum. Enterprise-secured debt is not qualifying capital; other financing requires its actual terms assessed. Properly structured visa-contingent escrow may be relevant, without making every refundable arrangement acceptable. Where money is borrowed, the terms matter more than the amount: ask what secures the loan, who is personally liable and what the lender may claim on default, then have counsel assess how the structure bears on the at-risk analysis. Where a lease is signed, the personal guarantee and the term are as relevant as the rent. Keep the source-of-funds narrative in one continuous line from the original lawful source through every account to the enterprise, and where that line passes through another asset, document the step rather than describing it.
Retain the enterprise and investor conditions
Establish treaty nationality and qualifying ownership, generally at least 50% relevant treaty-national enterprise ownership, and the principal’s development and direction. The enterprise must be real and nonmarginal, with capacity beyond minimal family living or for significant economic contribution. Purchase readiness is not work authorization. Marginality is judged on the enterprise's actual and projected capacity, so the plan should show the basis for its projections rather than the projections alone: the contracts or pipeline behind the revenue, the staffing it implies and the time needed to reach it. Where the enterprise will employ nobody at first, say so and explain what changes that. Ownership and control need their own documents, such as the share register, the operating agreement and the signing authority, and those answer the develop-and-direct question, which is separate from how much money was invested.
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.