Assess the real business and qualifying investment rather than impose a universal machinery-ownership rule.
Identify the enterprise’s actual role
Contract production needs an accurate explanation of what the investor’s company operates and controls. Outsourcing is not itself proof that the business is marginal or that every remaining E-2 requirement is satisfied.
Describe the investor’s enterprise as a set of real commercial functions: product selection, branding, sales, inventory risk, customer obligations, quality control, and supplier management. Owning every production machine is not an E-2 condition, but the applicant must show a genuine operating enterprise rather than borrow the contract manufacturer’s assets or employees. Confirm treaty nationality for both the investor and the relevant ownership of the company, substantial capital measured against the business, and funds irrevocably committed and at risk. The enterprise must not be marginal, and the investor should develop and direct it through at least 50 percent ownership or other operational control. Review invoices, contracts, bank movements, and cancellation rights together. A recurring error is describing accessible machinery as invested capital. E-2 status does not itself create a direct route to a green card.
Hypothetical example: A winter-workwear company organized by a Ferland-et-Boilleau investor contracts sewing to an independent factory. The applicant documents ownership of the brand, paid design and inventory commitments, control over pricing and distribution, and supplier obligations without listing the factory’s sewing machines as company property.