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Hypothetical example: Gael, a Canadian citizen in Orillia, plans to open a boat-detailing and winterization business in a U.S. lake town. He has the funds but intends to leave them in his Canadian savings account until the visa is approved, then transfer and spend them. That plan fails the commitment requirement: E-2 needs funds irrevocably committed to the enterprise, not funds available for it. This guide explains what commitment looks like without forcing him to gamble everything. Hypothetical example: A Canadian owner of a mobile bicycle-repair business wants to purchase a U.S. service route. The first decision is how much to commit before the visa process so that the investment is commercially real but the contract still manages refusal risk. A signed agreement, payment trail and operating plan answer that more clearly than money left available in a personal account.
Available is not committed
The E-2 rules require that the investor has placed the capital at risk in the enterprise, or has irrevocably committed it, before the application is decided. A bank balance in Canada earmarked for the business is neither. Gael would need to show funds already spent on lease deposits, equipment purchases, insurance, incorporation and inventory, or funds held under an arrangement from which he cannot withdraw them except on visa refusal. The consular officer is entitled to ask what would happen to the money if the visa were refused, and the answer 'I would keep it' is exactly the answer that shows the funds were never committed. The owner can stage lease deposits, vehicle purchases, insurance and inventory through written contracts. Each payment should be traceable from lawful source through the business account to the supplier.
Commit in stages that a refusal would not ruin
Commitment does not require reckless spending. Gael can incorporate the U.S. entity and open its account, sign a shop lease with a visa-refusal exit clause, purchase the pressure washers, shrink-wrap equipment and trailer through the company, obtain insurance and permits, and place the remaining working capital into the company's account or an escrow that releases only on visa issuance. Each step is a real, documented commitment that reviewers accept, and together they show the enterprise is on the point of operating. Keeping receipts and bank records for every item is what turns spending into evidence. The plan must show more than personal income. Staffing, route capacity and credible revenue assumptions are the records that address whether the enterprise can grow beyond support for one household.
The funds also have to be substantial and the business non-marginal
Once the money is committed, the other tests follow. Substantiality compares what Gael has invested with the total cost of starting a detailing business of that kind — a lower-cost enterprise needs a higher proportion invested, often close to all of it. Marginality asks whether the business will support more than Gael and his family: a plan showing seasonal hires, a second crew and growth over five years answers that. And because Canadians normally obtain E-2 visas at a consulate, the whole file — commitment, source and path of funds, plan and control — is presented there rather than at a land border. The crucial choice is between a transaction whose terms bind the buyer subject to visa refusal and a refundable reservation that leaves no exposure. The contract language determines which description is true.
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.