Read the general investor planning overview
A comparison of businesses should preserve the actual ownership, financing and operating evidence for each. Combining attractive terms from incompatible offers can create a proposal that no party has agreed to.
Record rights and direction for each enterprise
Hypothetical example: one acquisition offers clear management rights while another leaves the seller in control. Assess how the applicant will develop and direct the actual business. Treaty nationality of applicant and enterprise matters, generally including at least 50% enterprise ownership by nationals of the relevant treaty country.
Trace each genuine financial arrangement
E-2 requires substantial lawful capital committed at risk relative to the enterprise, with no universal fixed minimum. Identify source, path and security. Personal-asset-secured or unsecured loans may qualify; enterprise-asset-secured debt does not qualify as invested capital. Do not present funds as already committed to two mutually exclusive acquisitions. Mixing personal collateral with enterprise assets does not make that debt qualifying investment capital.
Compare capacity and actual conditions
Each enterprise needs real operating and nonmarginality evidence: capacity beyond a minimal living for the investor and family or for a significant economic contribution. A qualifying visa-contingent escrow may matter, but one transaction’s conditions do not establish another’s. Review the actual selected purchase before relying on a closing or work-start assumption. Future capacity should generally be realizable within five years after normal business activity begins.
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.