Read the general investor planning overview
A staged closing spreads payments across several dates and conditions, which makes the funding picture easy to overstate. An E-2 review considers capital actually committed and placed at risk, and there is no fixed universal minimum that settles the question. Before signing, list every tranche and mark which ones are already irrevocable, which depend on a later decision of yours, and which depend on someone else acting.
Read the conditions attached to each tranche
For every payment, record the date, the amount, the recipient, the event that triggers it, whether it is refundable and who may cancel it. Then record what happens to money already transferred if a later condition fails. A qualifying escrow arrangement tied to visa issuance is recognized in the FAM, but the label escrow does not by itself make an arrangement sufficient; the terms are what get reviewed, and not every refundable deposit qualifies. Funds you may choose to contribute later are a different fact from funds you can no longer recover.
Test the schedule against what can be shown now
Hypothetical example: a Mascouche resident negotiates the purchase of an operating business located in the United States, with forty percent payable at signing, forty percent at closing conditional on assignment of the lease, and the remainder payable at the buyer's option after the first year for additional equipment. Ask which portions could be presented as committed at the time the application is prepared, and which documents prove that. The enterprise must be in the United States. Assess where the applicant would live and perform the activities needed to develop and direct it, and describe the tranche schedule as it actually reads.
Keep substantiality and the enterprise in the same frame
Substantiality is assessed in relation to the total cost of purchasing or establishing the enterprise, so changing the payment sequence changes what can be shown at a given moment. The enterprise must be a real, operating and non-marginal business, and the investor must be in a position to develop and direct it. Document the lawful source and the path of the funds for each tranche, not only for the first one. No dollar figure replaces this analysis, and an immigration review does not tell you whether the price, the conditions or the staging are commercially sound. Ask both advisers before you sign.
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.