Can labor costs, etc. also count toward the E-2 investment amount?
I’m preparing purchase records, invoices, and receipts to count toward my investment amount. I’ve already hired an employee in advance since I need someone working, and I’m paying weekly wages — I’d like to know if that can also count as part of the investment. I also have savings in a bank account — can that be submitted as investment as well?
The ‘investment amount’ evaluated in an E-2 small-business investor case includes amounts actually invested or for which a legal payment obligation has arisen. So amounts covered by a purchase order or invoice do count as investment. However, your own labor or opportunity cost doesn’t count as investment, though employee wages can be included as part of the investment. Money simply sitting in a bank account, however, is not recognized as investment.