IN THIS GUIDE · Clarify investor direction and the other adult’s work plan
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Identify the real owners and direction
Hypothetical example: a couple plans a business purchase but different documents give different adults decision authority. Explain actual ownership, voting rights and who will develop and direct the enterprise. Assess treaty nationality of applicant and enterprise, generally at least 50% enterprise ownership by nationals of the relevant treaty country.
Trace funds without merging people’s records
Review substantial lawful capital committed at risk relative to the enterprise, without a universal fixed minimum. Identify who owns and transfers funds and the actual source and path. A joint household narrative should not conceal the real transactions or the rights of the proposed investor.
Assess financing and operating capacity
Personal-asset-secured or unsecured loans may qualify; enterprise-asset-secured debt does not qualify as invested capital. Identify the actual borrower and security. The enterprise must be real and operating and nonmarginal, with capacity beyond a minimal living for the investor and family or for a significant economic contribution. Debt secured partly by enterprise assets is excluded even when personal assets are also pledged; personal-only secured or unsecured borrowing may qualify on its actual terms.
Distinguish investor eligibility from spouse permission
Qualifying E spouses may be employment-authorized incident to status with appropriate evidence. That is different from independently establishing an E-2 principal case. Describe genuine transaction conditions, including any potentially qualifying visa-contingent escrow, and review each adult’s actual work permission before relying on the household launch plan.
Explain enterprise nationality and nonmarginality precisely
The enterprise generally must be at least 50% owned by nationals of the relevant treaty country; the applicant’s passport alone does not establish enterprise nationality. Nonmarginality includes capacity to provide more than a minimal living for the investor and family, with the alternative of a significant economic contribution. Apply those conditions to the real operating proposal rather than importing EB-5’s capital amounts or ten-job rule into E-2. The investor must also intend to depart when E status ends; business ownership does not replace that individual requirement. If relying on future capacity, it should generally be realizable within five years after normal business activity begins.
Ownership at fifty percent still has to produce control
The investment must be irrevocably committed to the enterprise and subject to partial or total loss if the business fails. The investor must develop and direct the enterprise, which is ordinarily shown by at least fifty percent ownership or by operational control through a managerial position or other device. If the numbers do not work, the options are commercial rather than clever: acquire a larger share, bring in additional treaty-national investors, buy the assets into a new company with the right ownership, or accept that this transaction does not support this route. The commitment is shown by money paid to the seller, equipment purchased, a lease signed with personal liability, or funds held under conditions that release them on the sole condition of visa issuance. A corrected contract still needs to support the wider E-2 case, including substantiality and a non-marginal enterprise. E-2 requires that the treaty investor personally have the ability to control the enterprise; a passive funding role by either party changes the analysis. The seller's fifty-five percent cannot be counted toward the Canadian share on any reading, and no operating agreement changes the arithmetic of ownership.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.