Assess the actual substantial investment and operating enterprise; there is no universal fixed minimum.
Review the changed transaction on its merits
Explain why the price changed and what resources remain available. A smaller total needs an accurate assessment, not automatic rejection or retention of the superseded higher figure.
Rebuild the investment schedule from the amended purchase agreement, inventory, payments, refunds and operating commitments. Test that amount against E-2 rather than the abandoned price. Investor and enterprise must have treaty-country nationality; the capital must be irrevocably committed, at risk and substantial relative to the business, and the enterprise must be real and non-marginal. Control is generally shown by owning at least half the enterprise or otherwise holding operational authority, enabling the applicant to develop and direct it. A lower price is not automatically disqualifying, but money refundable at the investor’s discretion is not counted; a visa-contingent purchase can still qualify when the funds are held in escrow for release upon visa issuance. E-2 provides no direct route to a green card.
Hypothetical example: A Canadian buyer in Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley agrees to acquire a farm-equipment repair shop, then negotiates a reduction after two service vehicles fail inspection. He preserves the inspection, signed amendment, refund record and revised equipment plan. Rather than quote the original total, he calculates what remains exposed to business loss and decides whether necessary replacement tools should be ordered under binding terms. Ownership documents show his control, while contracts and staffing projections address genuine operation and non-marginality. Buying unneeded machinery solely to restore the earlier price would distort the commercial plan; presenting the accurate smaller transaction permits substantiality analysis on real facts.