Read the general investor planning overview
A Mercier investor may prepare one moving budget that includes both a U.S. enterprise and family expenses. Classify the proposed spending before using its total as evidence of an E-2 investment. A first review should create a dated decision record, not simply collect documents: identify the legal question, the record that can settle it, the responsible person, and the next event that may change the answer. Hypothetical example: a reusable-packaging wash-facility buyer includes a refundable apartment deposit in the purchase budget. The concrete decision is whether the proposed facts can be proved as they will exist on the filing or admission date, rather than as a hoped-for future arrangement. Where a document, payment, ownership right, or duty changes, update the comparison before relying on an earlier explanation.
Identify the actual commercial commitment
For each proposed expense, record the business purpose, recipient, source and payment or commitment evidence. Household living funds are not automatically investment capital. Keep uncommitted reserves distinct from funds genuinely committed and at risk; do not transform every cost of relocating into a qualifying business expenditure.
Assess the enterprise’s economic capacity
E-2 requires a substantial investment in a real operating nonmarginal business. Evaluate the ability to provide more than minimal living for the investor and family or a significant economic contribution. A family’s preferred spending level is not the legal test, and neither a fixed universal dollar minimum nor a universal employee quota applies.
Retain the nationality, control and funds analysis
Verify treaty nationality, generally at least 50% relevant treaty-national enterprise ownership and the applicant’s development and direction through qualifying control. Establish lawful source and path. Enterprise-secured debt is not qualifying capital; personal-asset-secured or unsecured borrowing may be assessed under the real terms. Properly structured visa-contingent escrow can be considered rather than dismissed merely because it is conditional.
Start with primary records: executed agreements, bank or payroll evidence, corporate registers, and the current duty description. E-2 requires an irrevocable at-risk commitment in a real nonmarginal enterprise, with lawful source and path of funds and investor development and direction. A first review should identify which item is missing and whether it can be obtained before a material commitment is made.
Sequence the work deliberately: verify the controlling record, compare it with the proposed representation, then decide whether to proceed, revise the transaction, or obtain case-specific advice. A summary, title, payment receipt, or optimistic forecast cannot safely replace the record that answers the governing condition.
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.