IN THIS GUIDE · Testing growth forecasts built on unsigned letters of interest
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Grade every letter by what it actually obligates
Read the actual terms rather than ranking documents by title alone. A letter of interest may be nonbinding, and a signed order may still have cancellation conditions. Record the writer, proposed price and volume, conditions and withdrawal rights. Distinguish an enforceable commitment from useful market feedback, while preserving the documents that support each description. Hypothetical example: a refrigerated cargo sensor designer receives an email from a distributor saying that it expects to order after a field trial. The decision is whether that message supports a forecast or a current sale, and the record that settles it is the wording of the email, any trial agreement, purchase order, and cancellation terms.
Model demand conservatively, then show the business still works
Non-marginality can rest on present or future capacity to generate more than a minimal living for the investor and family, or on a significant economic contribution. Build a low case in which only a fraction of the interested parties convert, and show what the enterprise does then: staffing, pricing, break-even volume, and cash on hand. A plan that survives only in its best-case column invites hard questions about whether the forecast means anything. Explain the low-case assumptions in a way that can be checked against bank balances, pricing, payroll, and signed obligations. The decision is whether the business can operate if leads convert late or at reduced volume. A forecast becomes more useful when its assumptions can be traced to records rather than repeated as a confident conclusion.
Commitment of capital does not wait for customers
Substantial capital must be irrevocably committed and genuinely at risk relative to the total cost of the enterprise, and that showing is separate from the sales pipeline. Funds already spent on a U.S. lease, equipment, inventory, licensing, or fit-out need payment records and an explanation of their connection to the enterprise. Where money sits in escrow, or a deposit is refundable on conditions, the contract language needs fact-specific review rather than an assumption that it counts or that it does not. Trace every material payment from the investor to a binding business expense and preserve the contract that made it due. The decision is whether a particular payment is genuinely committed and vulnerable to commercial loss, not whether its amount looks impressive in a budget. Explain refundable conditions and any escrow release rules in plain terms.
Decide what the first filing can honestly claim
End the planning stage with a written list: which commitments bind a counterparty today, which are still being negotiated, and what evidence would change the picture. Prelaunch enterprises can qualify where readiness and credible commitments are documented, so first sales are not a universal precondition. Record how the investor will develop and direct operations, and the intention to depart when E-2 status ends. Then choose the filing date against that record, not against optimism. A first review should result in a document list that separates executed agreements, negotiations, and assumptions. It should identify the next commercial decision: proceed with a binding expense, obtain stronger demand evidence, or revise the operating plan. Do not confuse a favorable immigration narrative with permission to ignore ordinary due diligence on the business itself.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.