How Much Investment Is Required for an E-2 Visa?

This is the question every prospective E-2 applicant asks first, and the honest answer surprises people: there is no legally defined minimum investment amount. The E-2 category was written without a fixed dollar threshold on purpose, unlike EB-5, which has a hard-coded minimum.

The real test: proportionality

Instead of a fixed number, adjudicators use what's informally called the proportionality test, drawn from the State Department's Foreign Affairs Manual guidance on treaty investors. The logic works like an inverse sliding scale:

• Lower-cost businesses need a higher percentage invested. A business that costs $100,000 to establish might need close to that full amount invested to be considered substantial.
• Higher-cost businesses can get away with a lower percentage. A $3 million business might only need 30% invested to clear the bar, since the absolute dollar amount is already large.

There's no published table mapping exact percentages to exact business sizes — it's a case-by-case judgment applied by the adjudicating officer, based on precedent and internal guidance.

What a "substantial" investment actually needs to show

Beyond proportionality, the funds need to satisfy a few other tests simultaneously:

• Committed, not just available. Money that's still sitting in your personal savings account "ready to invest" isn't enough on its own — it has to be spent or irrevocably committed (already tied up in a signed lease, equipment purchase, franchise fee, or escrow for a pending acquisition).
• At risk. The funds need to be exposed to the possibility of loss if the business fails — not shielded through a personal guarantee-free loan or a refundable deposit.
• Legitimately sourced. You need a documented paper trail showing where the money came from — savings, the sale of another business or property, an inheritance, or a loan secured by your own assets.

What this looks like in practice

Most approved E-2 cases we see cluster somewhere between $80,000 and $200,000, largely because that's the range where a real, viable small business (a franchise unit, a professional services firm, a small retail or hospitality operation) can be adequately capitalized. That said:

• Businesses with very low startup costs have been approved with investments closer to $50,000–$60,000
• Larger operations — manufacturing, multi-location franchises — commonly require $250,000 and up to meet the proportionality bar at their scale

What doesn't count

A few common mistakes we see in self-prepared filings:

• Counting projected future revenue as part of the investment (it doesn't — only capital actually contributed counts)
• Including the value of your own unpaid labor as part of the investment amount
• Treating a fully refundable deposit as capital at risk

Sources

• 9 FAM 402.9 — Treaty Traders, Investors and Free Trade Traders
• USCIS — E-2 Treaty Investors