Read the general investor planning overview
Hypothetical example: a Val-des-Monts couple who are both Canadian citizens and have operated a seasonal lakeside restaurant and rental cabins for eight years plan to lease a U.S. waterfront building and open a restaurant with a boat-rental counter. They will spend on leasehold improvements, kitchen equipment, a rental fleet, opening inventory and a deposit on a house nearby. The E-2 question is which of those outlays count toward the investment, because the consular officer measures substantiality against the money genuinely placed at risk in the enterprise, and a personal residence is never part of it.
Outlays that count and outlays that do not
Investment means the placing of capital, including funds and other assets, at risk in a commercial sense with the objective of generating a profit. Leasehold improvements paid to a contractor count; so do kitchen equipment purchased outright, the boats and motors bought for the rental counter, opening inventory, signage, licences, insurance premiums paid, and working capital to the extent it is irrevocably committed to identified operating expenses rather than merely held in an account. Equipment leased rather than bought counts only to the extent of payments actually made. Prepaid rent counts for the period paid. A security deposit that the landlord must return does not. The deposit on the couple’s house does not count at all, because a residence is not part of the enterprise.
Substantial relative to this restaurant, not to restaurants in general
Substantiality is proportional: the amount invested is compared with the cost of establishing this particular business, and the proportion must be high enough to demonstrate commitment and the likelihood that the couple will develop and direct it successfully. For a leased-premises restaurant the total cost is defined by the improvements, equipment, fleet, inventory and initial working capital, so the couple should price each from quotes and invoices and present a table showing invested amount against total cost. A file that shows most of the cost already paid is far stronger than one that shows funds in an account awaiting the visa. If the fit-out will finish only after issuance, the contractor’s contract and a visa-conditioned escrow for the balance can show commitment.
Marginality, seasonality and who directs the business
The enterprise must not be marginal: it must have the present or future capacity to generate more than a minimal living for the investor and family, or make a significant economic contribution. A seasonal restaurant should document a credible staffing and operating plan, including how it will support the family beyond the operating months. The principal investor must have treaty-country nationality, and at least 50 percent of the enterprise must be owned by nationals of that same treaty country; in this hypothetical both owners are Canadian citizens. The principal must develop and direct the enterprise, ordinarily through at least 50 percent ownership or operational control. E-2 provides no direct route to permanent residence, while an E-2 spouse is employment-authorized incident to status and children are not authorized to work.
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.