No universal minimum determines E-2 eligibility. Substantiality relates the size of the investment to the actual business being acquired or built, and nationality, commitment, direction and the enterprise's own requirements must all be satisfied separately.
Understand what the proposed budget is actually meant to establish
Identify the specific business being purchased or formed and exactly what costs the proposal includes. Flag any expense that sits outside the headline purchase price, and distinguish estimates from payments already made. Ask how the actual commitment will be assessed rather than adopting a figure used in an unrelated application, since a larger payment does not repair an unresolved nationality or operating-business problem.
Test nationality, ownership, commitment of funds, direction, and the business’s expected scale as separate issues. The first review should state what record settles each one and should not treat a bank balance as an investment. Hypothetical example: a Canadian owner of a specialty tea-blending company plans to buy a U.S.
shop with a friend who is not a treaty national. Their shareholder agreement, voting rights, and closing terms decide whether treaty ownership and control are present. Until the funds are bound to the transaction and exposed to loss, a promising concept remains only a proposal.