One of the most common questions we hear from E-2 investors is some version of this:
“How much do I need to invest?”
It’s an understandable question. You’re about to put a significant amount of your own money into a U.S. business, and naturally you want to know whether $80,000, $120,000, or $200,000 is enough.
The problem is that no single investment amount works for every E-2 business.
The government looks at whether the investment is substantial relative to the cost of purchasing or establishing the business. In other words, the investment has to make sense for what you are actually proposing to do.
That last part is where things get interesting.
Imagine someone wants to open a small consulting company. The business may legitimately require relatively little to get started. There may be an office, computers, software, marketing, professional fees, and enough working capital to operate while the company develops its client base.
Now compare that with someone proposing to open a restaurant.
The restaurant needs a location, kitchen equipment, furniture, signage, permits, inventory, payroll, and enough working capital to get through the opening period. Depending on the concept and location, there may also be a substantial build-out.
An investment that could reasonably establish the consulting company might make very little sense for the restaurant.
That’s why focusing on the investment amount alone can send an E-2 applicant in the wrong direction.
At Visa Business Plans, when we prepare an E-2 business plan, we want the investment, business model, and financial projections to align.
Suppose an applicant tells us they plan to invest $100,000 and grow to $1 million in revenue within five years.
We don’t simply put $1 million into the fifth-year projection and work backward.
We need to understand how the business could realistically get there.
If it’s a service company, how many customers would it need? What would the average customer spend? How many employees would be necessary to provide those services? If it’s a retail operation, how much inventory will it need? If it’s a restaurant, how many customers can the location realistically serve?
Those questions often tell us much more about the strength of the business plan than the investment amount by itself.
They can also reveal problems early.
Maybe the projected revenue would require significantly more employees than the plan can afford. Perhaps the business needs equipment that wasn’t included in the original investment budget. Or the owner may be planning to hire aggressively while leaving very little working capital available to pay those employees while the business grows.
This is where experience matters.
After working on thousands of immigration business plans, we’ve seen business models that can realistically operate with relatively modest investments and others where the proposed investment simply doesn’t match what the applicant says the company is going to do.
Our job isn’t to make the numbers look impressive.
It’s to make sure they tell a story that makes business sense and supports the immigration case being presented by the attorney and applicant.
The E-2 regulations also require the enterprise to be real and operating and more than marginal. The business must have the present or future capacity to generate more than simply a minimal living for the investor and family.
That makes the financial story particularly important.
A lower investment isn’t automatically a weak investment, just as a larger investment isn’t automatically a strong one.
What matters is what you’re trying to build with it.
So before asking whether you’ve invested “enough” for an E-2 visa, there may be a better question to ask:
Does the amount you’re investing realistically support the business you’re telling the government you’re going to build?
Contact us today to get started
The information provided in this blog is intended solely for informational purposes. While we strive to offer accurate and up-to-date content, it should not be considered legal advice. Immigration laws and regulations are subject to change, and individual circumstances can vary widely. For personalized guidance and legal advice regarding your specific immigration situation, we strongly recommend consulting with a qualified immigration attorney who can provide you with tailored assistance and ensure compliance with current laws and regulations.
Visa Business Plans is led by Marco Scanu, a certified coach from the University of Miami with a globally-based practice coaching Fortune 1000 company executives, entrepreneurs, as well as professionals in four different continents. Mr. Scanu advises clients on turnaround strategies and crisis management.
Mr. Scanu received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (Cum Laude) from the University of Florida and an MBA in Management from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. Mr. Scanu was also a Visiting Scholar at Michigan State University under the prestigious H. Humphrey Fellowship (Fulbright program) with a focus on Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital, and high-growth enterprises.
At present, Mr. Scanu is the managing partner and CEO at Visa Business Plans, a Miami-based boutique consulting firm providing attorneys and investors with business planning services in the areas of U.S. and Canadian immigration, SBA loans, and others.
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