Read the general investor planning overview
Hypothetical example: a caterer from L'Ancienne-Lorette who serves corporate and event clients wants to open a catering kitchen in a U.S. city rather than buy an existing business. There is no seller, no purchase price and no going concern. E-2 requires funds irrevocably committed and at risk in a real, operating, non-marginal enterprise the investor directs. For a start-up, commitment is shown by money actually spent or contractually bound on the kitchen: the lease, the equipment, the licences, the first payroll. The question is which payments count and when the enterprise becomes real enough.
Distinguish spent, bound and merely available
A bank balance earmarked for the business is available, not committed. A signed commercial-kitchen lease with a deposit paid and rent obligations running is bound. Equipment purchased and delivered is spent. The FAM recognizes that an investor may be in the process of investing and may show commitment through such expenditures, but funds sitting in a personal account waiting for the visa do not count. Build a ledger with three columns, spent, bound and available, and move money from the third to the first two only through steps that are irreversible: purchase orders with cancellation penalties, a lease without a free walk-away, health-department and business licences paid. The visa application will be judged on the first two columns and on whether the enterprise is close to operating.
Make the enterprise real before applying
An E-2 enterprise must be a real, operating commercial undertaking, or very nearly so. For a catering kitchen that means the leased premises fitted out, equipment installed, licences and inspections obtained, a bank account, insurance, initial staff identified and first contracts or letters of intent from event clients. Non-marginality means the business must be capable of more than supporting the founder's household; a catering operation with staff, delivery vehicles and event contracts can show that through a supported plan. Substantiality compares his committed funds with the total cost of establishing the kitchen, which for a start-up he must estimate carefully and document with quotes. Keep his projections separate from any supplier's marketing figures, and have the source of every dollar traced from lawful origin to the business account.
Sequence so nothing is lost if the visa is refused
A start-up cannot use a seller's escrow, so the founder is exposed: the money spent on the lease and equipment is at risk in the ordinary sense as well as the immigration sense. Reduce that exposure sensibly: negotiate a lease with a break clause tied to visa issuance where a landlord will accept it, and place equipment orders with delivery after the expected consular decision but with genuinely non-refundable deposits. As a Canadian citizen he applies at a consulate. His spouse will be employment-authorized incident to E-2 status. The category offers no direct path to permanent residence, and he may not work in the kitchen before the visa issues, so the opening date follows the decision.
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.