Read the general investor planning overview
Hypothetical example: Corentin is not buying an existing business. From Saint-Alphonse-de-Granby he is building an American infection-control and specialized cleaning contractor for clinics and dental practices: a signed lease, a truck ordered, equipment quoted, staff identified but not hired, and the bulk of the money still in his personal account. He wants to know how much of that is investment. The honest answer sorts his spending into three piles, and only one of them counts today.
Three piles: irrevocably committed, recoverable, and merely intended
Committed money is money he cannot get back if the venture fails: the lease he has signed and is liable under, the deposit paid on the vehicle, equipment purchased outright, the fit-out already performed. Recoverable money is anything he can still walk away from, including refundable deposits and orders that can be cancelled without penalty. Merely intended money is the balance sitting in his account with a plan attached to it, and a plan is not a commitment however detailed. The first pile is his investment today. The second and third are evidence of intention at best, and describing them as invested is the most common reason a start-up file fails.
Real and operating beats impressive and idle
The enterprise must be a real, active commercial undertaking rather than a paper company or an idle accumulation of assets, and it must be more than marginal, meaning it has the present or near-future capacity to generate more than a minimal living for Corentin and his family. For a service contractor that is shown by the ordinary evidence of a working business: the premises in use, insurance and licensing in place, employees engaged, a first customer contract signed, invoices issued. A well-drafted business plan supports the marginality question by projecting staffing and revenue on stated assumptions, but it does not substitute for a company that has started trading.
Sequence the commitment so it is provable when it is examined
Because the capital must be irrevocably committed when the application is decided, Corentin should be deliberate about the order of events rather than spending as invoices happen to arrive. Fix the ownership first, remembering that at least half the enterprise must be held by treaty nationals and that he must develop and direct it. Then move the funds into the business account and spend from there, so the trail runs from origin to enterprise without detours through personal accounts. Keep every contract, invoice and payment record as it is generated. Money spent well but documented badly is indistinguishable, at the counter, from money not spent.
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.