No. Assess actual qualifying capital, commitment and risk relative to the enterprise.
Review the full transaction
A payroll or provider expense does not automatically establish every investment condition. Trace real funds and security and assess the enterprise’s capacity.
Professional review of the seller's records, legal work on the purchase agreement, the preparation of a business plan capable of supporting the application, and the working capital the business needs after closing. Money irrevocably placed into the enterprise and exposed to loss counts: the purchase price, equipment, inventory, leasehold commitments and working capital. Costs of preparing the immigration application are different in character from expenses incurred to establish and operate the enterprise, and the treatment of a specific invoice depends on what the work was and how it was paid. The relevant question is not whether a single number meets a published minimum—there is no universal fixed E-2 minimum—but whether the committed amount is substantial for this enterprise’s total cost. Build the funding plan from net cash the business retains, then treat legal fees and government charges as separate spending that never counts toward the investment itself. A refundable deposit, a break fee or a due-diligence budget spent on a target you decline is the price of not committing capital to an enterprise the evidence could not support.