Read the general investor planning overview
E-2 review starts with a business-specific account of cost, commitment, risk, source of funds, and operating capacity. It cannot be reduced to a single investment figure. The investor should be able to explain the business in chronological order: fund origin, transfer, contractual commitment, operating expenditure, present activity, and projected capacity. Ask whether each step is proved by a primary record. If an assumption comes from a seller, label it as a seller statement and seek independent support. This makes the business narrative more reliable than a set of unconnected bank pages and projections. Before treating the evidence as complete, reconcile the ledger against bank statements, wire confirmations, invoices, and the purchase or formation documents. Check whether the proposed enterprise is actually using the funds in the manner the plan describes. A mismatch may be explainable, but it should be identified before the application stage. Maintain the record after the business begins operating, because an extension analysis can turn on the ongoing enterprise. Do not allow later bookkeeping convenience to erase the original source and commitment trail. Finally, separate genuine due diligence from immigration characterization. A seller’s disclosure, broker’s estimate, or accountant’s projection may be important, but each should be identified by its source and tested against the transaction documents and operating evidence. That evidence ledger should be kept current through closing and early operations. It is more useful to record a change when it occurs than to reconstruct a neat narrative after the business has moved on. Review the final packet from the perspective of a reader who has not met the seller, investor, or broker. Every material claim should have a visible document trail. Hypothetical example: A treaty-national buyer plans to open a specialty bicycle-repair studio and has paid a deposit, ordered tools, and negotiated a lease. The crucial decision is whether the documents show actual commitment and commercial exposure, or whether the buyer can still recover the money freely if the case receives no approval. Early review builds a transaction ledger that assigns every expenditure to a document, identifies the source account, and distinguishes a forecast from an incurred cost.
Map money from source to business use
Create a dated chain from lawful origin through every account to purchase, lease, equipment, payroll, or other enterprise expenditure. Explain gifts, loans, sales, and transfers with their own records. A final account balance does not show how the funds arrived or whether they are committed. Number the transfers in chronological order and reconcile each number to both bank evidence and the transaction document. That makes it possible to see whether a claimed business expenditure was paid from the identified lawful funds.
Read the deal terms closely
Purchase agreements, escrow provisions, refund clauses, financing terms, and closing conditions affect whether funds are sufficiently exposed to commercial loss. The investor should understand the deal before relying on it for immigration planning. A payment must be evaluated in relation to the business’s total cost. Read each refund and contingency clause from the investor’s perspective. The meaningful question is what the investor stands to lose in the ordinary commercial outcome, not the label placed on an account.
Prove a working enterprise
Use real operating evidence: lease, licences, seller records, accounts, staffing plan, contracts, and credible market analysis. The business must be more than a personal income arrangement. Show how the investor will control and develop it without confusing a forecast with a completed result. Set the operating claim beside evidence of customers, expenses, staffing, and the owner’s control. The undertaking needs genuine operations, the investor must direct it, and its present or future capacity cannot be limited to household support.
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: 2026-09-08. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.