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MONT-ROYAL · E-2 FIELD GUIDE

Can low introductory rent make a weak E-2 business plan look stronger than it is?

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THE DIRECT ANSWER

Yes. A forecast limited to the concession period may hide whether the enterprise can cover normal operating costs and demonstrate non-marginal capacity. Review the full rent schedule and realistic revenue after the concession ends. The immigration assessment should reflect the actual business rather than the most favorable short period.

Extend the forecast to the obligation that changes the result

Identify how much additional monthly revenue is needed when regular rent begins and what evidence supports achieving it. Test slower customer growth as a planning scenario, not a predicted outcome. If the plan works only with unsupported growth, reconsider costs or premises before treating the lease concession as a solution to the underlying business economics.

The investment showing still has to stand on its own: treaty nationality based on citizenship, at least fifty percent treaty ownership, substantial capital irrevocably committed and at risk, a real operating commercial enterprise, non-marginality, and genuine development and direction by the investor. The E-2 rules do not require an investor to be licensed in the trade the business practises; they require a real, active commercial enterprise that the investor develops and directs. Nonmarginality is judged from the real enterprise and its present or credible future economic capacity, not the contract’s headline value alone.