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CAP-ACADIE · E-2 FIELD GUIDE

Can an appraisal amount be described as cash I invested?

Sources checked:

THE DIRECT ANSWER

Not unless the actual facts support that description. Valuation and payment establish different things.

Identify the contribution precisely

Explain what was transferred, owned and committed. Do not replace the real transaction history with a higher estimated asset value.

Confirm how the actual commitment will be assessed rather than borrowing a number from an unrelated case, since a larger payment does not repair an unresolved nationality or business-operations problem. E-2 also requires treaty nationality for the investor and enterprise, lawful source and path, capital irrevocably committed and at risk, an amount substantial relative to the cost of buying or establishing the business, and a real operating enterprise that is more than marginal. What matters is that the enterprise is active and commercial, producing goods or services, with substantial capital genuinely committed and at risk, and prospects beyond minimal support for the family. Inventory must be bought for the business rather than parked as a personal asset, and the allocation in the purchase agreement should reflect a real valuation rather than a tax-driven number nobody can defend. The investment must be substantial in relation to the total cost of the enterprise, so the relevant comparison is between what has been committed and what the business actually costs to establish or acquire, rather than an absolute figure.