The $60K E-2 Visa Myth: How Canadians Should Think About "Substantial Investment" Before Moving Capital to the U.S.

TLDR:

• There is no fixed dollar minimum for an E-2 visa, but “no minimum” does not mean “minimal.”
• Consular officers use a proportionality test: the smaller the business, the higher the percentage of its total cost must come from you, the investor.
• A $75,000 investment might work for a low-cost consulting business. That same $75,000 in a business that realistically costs $600,000 to acquire or launch will likely be denied.
• Your funds must be committed and at risk, sitting in a Canadian bank account earning interest does not count.
• The right question isn’t “what’s the cheapest way to qualify?” It’s “what investment structure will actually survive scrutiny at the consulate?”
• Business type matters. Franchises, acquisitions, professional services firms, tech startups, and real estate-adjacent operating businesses are all evaluated differently.

If you’re a Canadian entrepreneur or investor exploring a move south, this guide walks through how much you actually need to invest and why the answer depends on the business you’re building, not a number you found online.

Nobody Should Navigate a Cross-Border Investment Alone

If you’ve spent any time researching the E-2 visa, you’ve probably run into the same reassuring line over and over: “There’s no minimum investment required.” Technically, that’s true. Practically, it’s one of the most misleading half-truths in immigration law, and it sends a lot of well-intentioned, well-capitalized Canadian entrepreneurs down the wrong path.

Here’s the problem: “no minimum” gets repeated so often that it starts to sound like permission to invest as little as possible. Some online guides even throw out a number like $50,000, $60,000, or $100,000 as if it’s a magic threshold that guarantees approval. It isn’t. The U.S. Department of State doesn’t publish a dollar figure because the real test isn’t about the size of the check. It’s about whether your investment is proportional to the kind of business you’re actually running.

For a Canadian who’s ready to deploy six or seven figures into a U.S. business, that distinction matters enormously. Moving capital across the border is not a decision to make casually, and the U.S. immigration legal process for treaty investors is more nuanced than most people expect. You shouldn’t have to guess your way through it, or find out at your visa interview that your investment structure doesn’t hold up.

What “Substantial Investment” Actually Means

The E-2 visa requires a “substantial” investment, and the government evaluates substantiality using what’s known as the proportionality test, outlined in the Foreign Affairs Manual. It works on an inverse scale:

• The cheaper the business, the higher the percentage of capital you need to contribute. A business that costs $100,000 to establish might need close to 100% investor funding to be considered substantial.
• The more expensive the business, the lower the percentage can be, because the sheer dollar amount already demonstrates real commitment. A $2 million acquisition might only require 50-70% investor equity, with the rest financed.

In short, there is no single number that works across every business. A $75,000 investment can be perfectly substantial for a lean consulting practice with almost no overhead. That same $75,000 in a business that realistically requires $600,000 in equipment, inventory, staffing, and leasehold improvements will almost certainly be viewed as insufficient; not because $75,000 is a small number in absolute terms, but because it’s a small fraction of what the business genuinely costs to run.

The “Funds at Risk” Requirement

Substantiality is only half the equation. Your funds also need to be irrevocably committed to the enterprise. This trips up a surprising number of Canadian applicants who assume that having money available is the same as having money invested.

Consular officers want to see:

• Funds that have already been spent or contractually obligated, not sitting untouched in a Canadian account
• A clear, traceable source of funds (savings, sale of a business, inheritance, home equity, etc.)
• Money that would be genuinely lost if the business failed, not a refundable deposit or a loan secured against unrelated personal assets with no real risk to you

A $500,000 balance in your RBC investment account doesn’t advance your case. A $500,000 balance that’s been used for a signed asset purchase agreement, leasehold buildout, or franchise fee does.

How Investment Levels Play Out by Business Type

Because proportionality is business-specific, the right investment amount looks completely different depending on what you’re buying, building, or launching. Here’s how it tends to shake out across the business types we see most often from Canadian clients.

Franchise Purchases

Franchises are popular with Canadian investors because they come with built-in operational systems, brand recognition, and financial transparency through the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD). That transparency is actually an advantage for E-2 purposes, consular officers can see exactly what the franchisor expects a location to cost.

• Typical range: $150,000 to $500,000+, depending on the brand and industry (food service, fitness, home services, etc.)
• What matters most: the FDD’s total investment range, and whether your contribution covers a meaningful share of that range rather than the bare minimum franchise fee alone.

Professional Services Firms

Think consulting, accounting, marketing, or specialized advisory businesses. These are lower-overhead operations, which sounds appealing but actually raises the bar percentage-wise.

• Typical range: $75,000 to $150,000
• What matters most: because there’s little to invest in physically, officers scrutinize whether the funds cover a genuine operating runway, staffing, and a real U.S. office presence, not just enough to open a bank account and call it a business.

Business Acquisitions

Buying an existing U.S. business is often the strongest E-2 case type, because there’s already a defined purchase price, revenue history, and employee base to point to.

• Typical range: $400,000 to $1,000,000+, driven by the purchase price itself
• What matters most: the percentage of the purchase price that’s investor equity versus seller financing or a business loan, and whether the acquired business already supports (or will quickly support) U.S. jobs.

Tech Startups and Cross-Border SaaS

This is often where wealthy Canadian founders get the proportionality test wrong. A SaaS business can technically be built for very little capital, but a lean cost structure works against you here, not for you.

• Typical range: $100,000 to $300,000, but structured carefully
• What matters most: demonstrating that the investment funds a real U.S. operating presence (office space, U.S.-based hires, marketing, infrastructure) rather than sitting almost entirely in a corporate bank account while the founder works from a laptop.

Real Estate-Adjacent Operating Businesses

Pure real estate investment doesn’t qualify for E-2, but an operating business that happens to involve real estate (property management companies, short-term rental management operations, construction or renovation businesses) often does.

• Typical range: $250,000 to $750,000+
• What matters most: clearly separating passive real estate holding from active business operations, and showing the investment funds staff, equipment, and service delivery, not simply the appreciation of a property.

Why This Matters More for Wealthy Investors, Not Less

If you have the capital to invest six or seven figures in a U.S. business, the temptation is to ask, “What’s the minimum I actually need to put in?” It’s the wrong question. A case built around the smallest defensible number is a case built to be questioned. A case built around what the business genuinely requires to succeed is a case built to be approved, and to actually work once you’re operating it.

Nobody should be piecing this together from forum posts and outdated estimates, especially when there’s real capital and a real relocation on the line. The businesses we see succeed at the consulate are the ones where the investment amount was designed around the business plan, not backward-engineered from a number someone saw online.

How Berardi Immigration Law Prepares and Files Your E-2 Case

Our business immigration team works with Canadian entrepreneurs and investors to structure E-2 cases that hold up to scrutiny, from evaluating whether a target business or franchise supports a credible investment amount, to documenting source of funds, to building the business plan that ties your capital directly to job creation and operational scale. We prepare and file your case so you’re not guessing at what “substantial” means for your specific situation.

Book a consultation with us today and let us help you make your U.S. business immigration dreams a reality.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is there really no minimum investment for the E-2 visa?

Correct, there’s no fixed dollar figure written into the law. But “no minimum” doesn’t mean any amount qualifies. Your investment is measured against what the specific business realistically costs to establish or acquire, using the proportionality test described above.

Q: Can I use financing or a business loan as part of my E-2 investment?

Yes, in many cases, but the loan generally needs to be secured by your own personal assets, not solely by the business itself, and you need meaningful personal equity in the deal beyond the financed portion. Seller financing on an acquisition is common and can work well when structured correctly.

Q: How early should I start planning my investment amount before applying?

Ideally before you sign any purchase agreement, lease, or franchise contract. Investment structure, source-of-funds documentation, and business planning all work best when they’re built together from the start, rather than retrofitted onto a deal that’s already closed.