How much do I need to invest for an E-2 visa?
FAQ.
Answered by Diane Rish, Deputy Director of the International Student Resource Center
Last updated: July, 2026
How much do I need to invest for an E-2 visa?
There is no fixed dollar amount. The investment must be “substantial” — enough of your own money, at real risk of being lost, to make the business viable and help it grow. The business cannot be a “marginal” one that only supports you and your family.
A few principles flow from this:
U.S. law does not set a minimum investment figure for the E-2 treaty investor visa. Instead, the test is whether the investment is “substantial” relative to the business. You must put in enough of your own money to make the enterprise viable and to help it grow.
The money must be at real risk. Funds count as “invested” only if they are genuinely committed and could be lost — not simply set aside or promised. Investing means putting a real amount of your own money into starting or buying a U.S. business so it can operate and grow.
The business cannot be marginal. A “marginal” enterprise is one that earns only enough income to support you and your family. The E-2 business is expected to do more than support you personally — it should create jobs or otherwise benefit the U.S. economy, so hiring U.S. workers is expected.
You must control the business. You qualify through majority ownership or operational control of the enterprise.
Because there is no bright-line number, what counts as “substantial” depends on the type and scale of the business. A small service business and a capital-intensive enterprise will require very different amounts.