Read the general investor planning overview
A Central Frontenac couple who have managed a farm-supply outlet are buying a feed and agricultural supply store in northern New York. They have the price agreed and the money available, and they still risk a refusal, because the requirement is not that funds exist but that they are irrevocably committed and at risk in the enterprise. Money in three different places on application day is treated three different ways, and the file should say which is which. The decision for the buyers is whether they can accept commercial obligations that survive a refusal, because that exposure—not merely the amount in the account—is what demonstrates the required commitment.
The money that counts on the day
Funds are at risk when they have been placed beyond the investor's recovery if the business fails: paid to the seller at closing, spent on inventory and shelving, used for the lease deposit and the first payroll, or committed under an agreement the investor cannot walk away from. That is the core of the file, and it is proved with cancelled cheques, wire confirmations, invoices and the closing statement rather than with a bank balance. A balance shows capacity, not commitment. If the couple want to present a substantial figure, they should be prepared to show what each part of it has already done. Hypothetical example: a greenhouse-controls distributor wires a nonrefundable equipment deposit before the application. The supplier contract and wire record, not the buyer's explanation, show whether the money is exposed to business loss.
Escrow, and how to write it so it still counts
Hypothetical example: the Central Frontenac buyers place the purchase price in escrow, releasing it to the seller only if the visa is issued. That visa condition does not by itself make the money uncommitted: official guidance recognizes a solid commitment when the buyers have entered a binding purchase agreement and the assets are held in escrow for release once the condition is met. The agreement must otherwise bind the buyers to close, and an arrangement they may abandon at will remains insufficient. The escrow instructions should be filed, not summarised, because the exact conditional wording is what the reviewer is reading for. Choose the escrow wording before signing the purchase agreement and ask the escrow holder for the complete executed instructions. A summary email cannot settle a condition that controls whether the money is returnable.
Working capital that is not just a cushion
Money left in the company account is neither ignored nor automatically counted. It supports the file when the business plan states what it is for, in what months it will be spent and on what, and when the amount matches the plan. Six months of documented operating reserve for a store that carries seasonal inventory is a real business decision. An unexplained sum described as reserve looks like money the investor is keeping within reach. Write the reserve into the plan with a schedule, and keep the immigration application's own costs out of the investment schedule entirely, since they buy status rather than the store. The operating plan should assign working capital to specific months and uses, then match the bank balance to that schedule. That lets the reviewer see a real non-marginal enterprise rather than a reserve held for withdrawal.
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.