IN THIS GUIDE · Assess an owner-operated enterprise without inventing a staffing quota
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Describe actual direction and delivery
Hypothetical example: an investor directs the enterprise while also performing some work. Explain the real responsibilities and control. Do not import L-1A’s principally managerial test into E-2, but preserve E-2 development and direction.
Assess nonmarginality on the real plan
The enterprise must have the applicable capacity beyond minimal living for the investor and family or for significant economic contribution. There is no universal fixed E-2 employee quota. A plan to support only the household cannot simply be relabelled nonmarginal.
Show qualifying nationality and capital
The investor needs treaty nationality and qualifying enterprise ownership, generally at least 50% relevant treaty-national ownership. Lawful substantial funds must be genuinely committed and at risk. A personal work commitment is not a substitute for qualifying capital.
Explain financing and operating commitments
Provide actual source and path evidence, costs and commitments. Enterprise-secured debt is not qualifying capital; other borrowing requires the real terms. Properly structured visa-contingent escrow may be relevant, without assuming every conditional promise qualifies. 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.
Show qualifying capital in the buyer’s actual enterprise
The investment must be irrevocably committed to the enterprise and subject to partial or total loss. Debt secured by the assets of the business being purchased raises different questions from an obligation backed by the buyer's own assets or personal guarantee. Identify the investor's treaty nationality and read the ownership and governance documents to see who can actually direct the business, including any retained rights held by a seller, co-owner or lender. Substantial is judged in proportion to the total cost of purchasing the established business, so a full-price purchase of a small contracting company is proportionally stronger than a fractional investment in a large one. An agreement in which the franchisee owns the entity outright, hires and fires, sets pricing within brand limits and bears the profit or loss supports the control requirement; one where the franchisor can run the business over the owner's head does not. Purchase deposits, escrow arrangements, lease security and revocation clauses each need fact-specific review; a refundable deposit is not automatically qualifying investment. Substantiality is judged relative to the actual cost of the business — there is no fixed universal E-2 minimum that replaces that analysis — so distinguish money still being discussed from money committed under signed terms and from money already spent. Substantiality is evaluated in relation to the cost of the enterprise, so a budget should distinguish acquisition price, equipment, inventory, start-up expenditure and working capital.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.