IN THIS GUIDE · Trace Canadian business funds into the actual U.S. investment
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Identify the real owner and transaction
Hypothetical example: an applicant plans to use funds associated with a Canadian business for a U.S. acquisition. Explain actual ownership of the money, lawful transactions and the path into the enterprise. Do not treat company assets and personal assets as interchangeable without evidence.
Assess treaty ownership and direction of the relevant enterprise
Qualifying treaty nationality of applicant and enterprise matters, generally including at least 50% enterprise ownership by nationals of the relevant treaty country. Canadian incorporation alone does not establish ownership nationality. Identify how the applicant will actually develop and direct the U.S. operation.
Review actual commitment and financing
E-2 requires substantial lawful capital committed at risk relative to the enterprise, without a universal fixed minimum. Personal-asset-secured or unsecured loans may qualify; enterprise-asset-secured debt does not qualify as invested capital. Use the actual borrowing and collateral terms rather than assuming a Canadian source resolves every issue. 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.
Assess the U.S. business and genuine stage
The enterprise must be real and operating and nonmarginal, with capacity beyond a minimal living for investor and family or for a significant economic contribution. A qualifying visa-contingent escrow may matter. Continuing Canadian business success does not automatically establish the U.S. enterprise or authorize the investor’s work.
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.
Apply the treaty-investor conditions to the real enterprise
An applicant must be coming to develop and direct the enterprise, ordinarily shown by ownership of at least half of it or by other proof of operational control such as a managerial position with genuine authority. The consular application should present the signed partnership agreement, the escrow instructions, the funds trace, the firm's financial records and a business plan describing the buyer's role. Cancellation clauses, refundable deposits, escrow arrangements, and conditions that let either side walk away all affect whether capital is genuinely at risk. A commercial landlord in the United States may ask a spouse to guarantee the lease before an E-2 treaty investor enterprise opens. Substantiality is proportional: the invested amount is compared with the total cost of buying that marina, and for a purchase of an established business the price paid normally is that cost, so a fully funded purchase is substantial. A large deposit toward a much larger price, with the balance owed to the seller, may leave the committed proportion too low.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.