Do not treat every future obligation or forecast as capital already committed at risk. Review the actual agreement, enforceability and payment conditions.
Separate orders, deposits and optional projections
Record what has been paid, what is binding and what depends on later decisions or performance. Explain inventory ownership, return rights and any financing. Verify current immigration charges separately from commercial purchasing costs. No spreadsheet total automatically determines qualifying investment, and a larger projected order does not guarantee substantiality.
There is no fixed universal E-2 investment figure. The amount must be substantial in proportion to the cost of the real enterprise, so the budget must show what this specific business costs to acquire or establish. Separate committed capital from filing charges, visa fees where applicable, document translations, professional advice, and personal moving costs. Hypothetical example: a solar-panel cleaning company can begin with rented equipment, while the owner budgets as if it were purchasing a fleet. The correct decision requires actual vendor terms, lease deposits, insurance, working capital, and binding commitments—not a borrowed industry total. Funds kept fully available for withdrawal may not carry the same weight as money placed under a genuine commercial obligation. Check official fee instructions near filing and do not describe commercial startup costs as a government-required minimum.