Read the general investor planning overview
A signed lease may commit the business to years of occupancy without making all future rent a current investment. Review actual payments and any prepayment separately. The relevant calculation should reflect the applicable lease-payment rules and the premises needed for operations, rather than adding the full lease term to inflate capital.
Separate the lease schedule
List deposits, rent already paid, amounts prepaid and future instalments. Keep receipts and explain refundable security amounts. State guidance distinguishes current rent payments from annual rent not paid in advance. Counsel should review the treatment of each item instead of assuming that every contractual future obligation counts as capital already committed under the same rule.
Check premises readiness
Identify whether the space can support the intended activity, including any fit-out or approval still needed. Paid rent on unusable premises may not establish that the business is close to operating. Connect the lease to the business plan and explain dependencies honestly. A large premises commitment does not independently establish a viable or non-marginal enterprise.
Compare commercial and immigration budgets
The financial plan should include future rent even when it is not part of the current qualifying-investment calculation. Maintain those distinct views so the business does not underbudget its actual obligations. Review prepayment decisions commercially rather than paying unnecessary rent only to enlarge a visa figure. Neither a landlord’s agreement nor a substantial lease cost guarantees immigration approval.
Identify who actually paid, and from where
A premises schedule listing amounts without payers is incomplete. For every entry, record the account the money left, the party owning that account, and the party that received it. Payments made personally by the investor, by a foreign parent, or by a director on the company’s behalf are common and manageable when explained at the time. Hypothetical example: a packaging automation venture pays a deposit and a first quarter’s rent from the founder’s personal account before the U.S. entity’s banking is open. The record should show that sequence and how the payment was subsequently reflected in the enterprise, instead of presenting it as a company payment made from the start.
Separate the landlord’s obligations from the tenant’s
Read the lease for who must do what, not only for what must be paid. Structural work, power supply, roof and services are often the landlord’s. Fit-out, machinery bases, racking and specialised installations are usually the tenant’s. Where the schedule is split, a delay by one party stops the other, and the readiness account should say which party is responsible for the current position. The same discipline applies to money. Rent already paid, rent prepaid in advance, refundable deposits and tenant fit-out expenditure have different characters, and State guidance distinguishes rent actually devoted or prepaid from future periodic payments. Keep them on separate lines with evidence attached, and have their treatment reviewed rather than assumed.
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.