Review the actual transaction rights and any genuine agreed extension before relying on the acquisition plan.
Do not assume immigration timing extends a private option
An application does not automatically rewrite the seller’s contract. Coordinate the actual terms and process without inventing an extension or guaranteeing a decision before the option deadline.
Put the option deadline, notice period, financing conditions, closing steps, document preparation, and intended visa application on one calendar. Ask the seller for an extension before expiry if more time is genuinely needed, record any amendment in signed form, and plan for refusal as well as approval. Filing an E-2 application does not preserve private purchase rights or guarantee a decision by closing. At the chosen application stage, the evidence must show treaty nationality, qualifying enterprise ownership, development and direction, capital committed beyond recall and exposed to loss, plus a real non-marginal operation. A contingent escrow can sometimes address visa risk, but its actual terms control. The dangerous sequencing error is allowing the option to lapse while continuing to describe the acquisition as available.
Hypothetical example: A bookkeeping-studio owner in Larouche faces an option expiry shortly after her planned application date. She asks counsel and the seller to compare a signed extension with a revised escrow closing, without inventing an immigration deadline. When negotiations fail, she stops using the expired agreement and reassesses the transaction. If they agree, she keeps the amendment, payment trail, and updated control terms together for the eventual E-2 record.