Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Read the conditions individually
Identify the recipient, purpose, release and refund terms for each deposit. Explain funds actually committed and the real enterprise. Do not assume every refundable condition is prohibited or every deposited dollar automatically qualifies; the governing arrangement requires case-specific review.
Meet the enterprise and investor requirements
At least 50% relevant treaty-country national enterprise ownership, development and direction, substantial at-risk capital with lawful source and path, and nonmarginality remain necessary. Nonmarginality includes more than minimal living or significant economic contribution under the applicable framework. There is no universal minimum or EB-5 ten-job rule; Canadians generally require an E visa.
Trace the investor’s nationality, capital and control
The investor must be coming to develop and direct the enterprise, which is ordinarily shown by owning at least half of it or by holding operational control through a managerial position or another device. Confirm that treaty nationals hold at least fifty percent of the U.S. enterprise and that the applicant will genuinely develop and direct it — Canadian citizenship, not Canadian residence, supplies the treaty nationality. The enterprise must be real and operating, or about to operate, and must not be marginal, meaning it should have present or future capacity to generate more than a minimal living for the family, typically shown through a hiring plan over five years. Trace every transfer through bank records and identify whether the applicant's personal assets, rather than the enterprise's assets, secure any borrowed amount. For borrowing, examine personal liability, collateral, and use of proceeds: debt secured by the enterprise's assets raises a different issue from financing based on the investor's personal assets. Properly structured visa-contingent escrow may qualify, but a list of optional opportunities is not equivalent to capital committed to the business. Check treaty nationality, ownership and the enterprise’s non-marginal capacity alongside the rights issue rather than treating one successful negotiation as complete E-2 eligibility. Renegotiate so that the qualifying capital is the buyer's own or personally secured, and hold it in an escrow that releases on visa issuance so it is committed without being lost if the visa is refused.
Show the business beyond the escrow account
Substantiality is judged in proportion to the cost of acquiring or establishing this particular enterprise, not against a fixed number, so the purchase price and asset base matter more than any general figure. The evidence has to show money committed beyond recall and exposed to loss, which means an unconditional agreement, released deposits, equipment paid for and a lease carrying real liability. The enterprise has to satisfy the non-marginality requirement, so describe its operating activity, resources, and realistically supported financial expectations rather than pointing to unexplained growth projections. Substantiality is measured in proportion to the total cost of purchasing an established enterprise or of creating a viable new one, so a modest sum can be substantial for a small operation and a large sum insufficient for a capital-heavy one. Deposits held in an escrow that releases only on approval of a visa application are a familiar structure, and an escrow conditioned on the immigration outcome is generally acceptable, whereas money simply sitting in an account under the buyer's control is not. Marginality asks whether the business will produce more than a minimal living for the investors, which an existing payroll of employees and a history of profit ordinarily answers. A buyer taking a majority of shares while the seller retains a veto over hiring, borrowing and distributions may not have the control the classification assumes. Identify customers, premises, licences, staffing, inventory or equipment, projected revenue, and the applicant’s role in developing and directing the enterprise.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.