IN THIS GUIDE · Reassess an acquisition when the assets or rights change
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Identify the retained and excluded assets
Hypothetical example: the seller keeps equipment previously included in the price. Explain how the buyer’s enterprise will operate and what alternative commitments actually exist. A lower price does not necessarily preserve the original operating capacity.
Reconcile qualifying capital
Show lawful source and path, actual commitment and risk. Distinguish completed payments, binding obligations and freely retained reserves. There is no universal fixed E-2 minimum; the actual cost and substantiality assessment must reflect the real enterprise.
Explain direction and nationality
Treaty nationality and qualifying enterprise ownership remain necessary, generally at least 50% relevant treaty-national ownership. The principal must develop and direct the business. A revised share or voting arrangement should be assessed on its real control terms.
Check the operating proposal and financing
The enterprise must be real and nonmarginal, with capacity beyond minimal family living or for significant economic contribution. Enterprise-secured loans are not qualifying capital. Genuine visa-contingent escrow and other financing require assessment of actual terms, not an automatic acceptance or exclusion. Personally unsecured borrowing or borrowing secured solely by non-enterprise personal assets may count under its actual terms. Debt secured by enterprise assets is excluded even when personal assets also secure it.
Explain enterprise nationality and nonmarginality precisely
Enterprise nationality generally requires at least 50% ownership by nationals of the relevant treaty country. The investor must develop and direct the business through at least 50% ownership or other qualifying operational control. If nonmarginality rests on future capacity, that capacity generally must be realizable within five years after normal business activity begins. The investor must intend to depart when E status ends; Canadian citizens generally need an E visa.
Confirm the investment is substantial and irrevocably committed
Substantial capital must be irrevocably committed and genuinely at risk relative to the total cost of the enterprise, and that showing is separate from the sales pipeline. Properly structured visa-contingent escrow may qualify, but an optional or freely reversible proposal should not be described as equivalent. The enterprise itself must be at least fifty percent owned by nationals of the treaty country, and ownership is traced through to the individuals who ultimately hold it rather than stopping at a corporate name. 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. A franchise agreement does not remove ownership, and it does not by itself defeat the requirement, but it does constrain decisions: menu, suppliers, pricing structures, branding, hours, refurbishment cycles. Two conditions govern the outcome and neither is arithmetic: the investment must be at risk, meaning subject to partial or total loss, and it may not be marginal, so the enterprise must have the present or future capacity to generate more than a minimal living. Use credible forecasts, staffing plans, contracts, pricing assumptions, and a timeline for revenue growth; then test whether the numbers can sustain more than household expenses. If part of the funding is borrowed, the security matters: debt secured against the business assets is not viewed the same way as personal collateral, so have the structure reviewed.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.