Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Show the business behind the website
Document actual goods, suppliers, fulfillment, customer arrangements and operating responsibilities. An attractive site or platform account alone does not establish a functioning enterprise. Keep projected orders distinguishable from sales already made.
Prove nationality, direction and investment
Relevant treaty nationals must own at least 50% of the enterprise, and the applicant must develop and direct it. Trace lawful source and path of substantial at-risk capital. E-2 has no universal minimum investment, and money merely available for future use is not automatically committed.
Assess economic capacity realistically
Apply the nonmarginality framework, including more than minimal living for the investor and family or significant economic contribution. E-2 does not impose ten jobs, but a revenue projection needs support. Canadian citizens generally require an E visa for E-2 entry.
Committed funds and real control, alongside the marginality question
The enterprise itself must be at least fifty per cent owned by nationals of the treaty country, so the analysis follows the ownership chain upwards rather than stopping at the buyer's passport. 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. Unsecured personal card debt for which the investor remains personally liable is analysed differently from borrowing secured by the assets of the United States enterprise itself. Funds must be irrevocably committed and exposed to loss, so review escrow terms, refund rights and revocation conditions on their actual facts rather than assuming any deposit qualifies. Non-marginality may be established through the applicable income-capacity or significant-economic-contribution basis; the reviewer needs support for the proposed enterprise rather than a categorical claim that one customer is always enough or never enough. Substantiality is judged in proportion to the total cost of acquiring the enterprise, not against a fixed dollar figure, and there is no universal minimum. Properly structured visa-contingent escrow may qualify, but a plan to fund the enterprise later is not automatically equivalent to an existing qualifying commitment. The enterprise also must not be marginal; forecasts, staffing logic and credible operations should explain its capacity beyond the investor's household needs.
Price the enterprise before arguing the amount is substantial
Substantiality is proportional: the amount invested is compared with the total cost of buying this dealership, and a purchase of all the shares at fair value for a business with inventory, a building lease, and a service shop will ordinarily be substantial. If the seller releases the security interest over company assets in exchange for a larger down payment, the qualifying portion rises; if a side letter later restores that collateral, it falls again. Funds paid into escrow that releases on visa approval, equipment purchased, a lease signed and deposits paid, a franchise fee remitted: these are commitments at risk. Shareholder agreements can leave a majority owner unable to appoint a manager, approve a budget or hire; the E-2 investor must develop and direct the enterprise, so those clauses matter as much as the price. Maintenance contracts that can be cancelled on notice when the company changes hands are worth less than the seller's revenue summary suggests, and the projections that support the enterprise being more than marginal depend on them. The recognised middle path is an escrow holding the purchase price with release to the seller conditioned on issuance of the E-2 visa, so the money is unconditionally committed for immigration purposes yet returns to the buyer if the visa is refused.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.