Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Describe the real funding arrangement
Trace lawful source and path and explain the actual entitlement to use the resources. A gift, loan or jointly held asset should be described according to its genuine terms; do not hide a repayment obligation or invent a requirement that all money must always have been in the applicant’s sole account. E-2 capital must be substantial and at risk, with no fixed universal minimum. The record should follow money in chronological order: how it was earned, received, transferred, and placed beyond the investor’s unqualified control. Bank statements alone may not explain a sale, dividend, gift, or loan. The practical decision is whether to document a clean transaction trail now or postpone an unexplained transfer that would require inconsistent explanations later.
Separate family funds from the enterprise tests
Qualifying treaty nationality, at least 50% relevant national ownership of the enterprise and the applicant’s development and direction remain required. The enterprise has to be genuine and cannot be marginal, judged against the more-than-minimal-living test or, where it applies, the significant-economic-contribution standard. Canadians generally need an E visa. Working capital and visa-contingent escrow require genuine-term review, while enterprise-secured debt differs from qualifying personal financing; family funding does not waive these conditions. A business plan must show more than personal support; the enterprise may not be marginal and the investor must have a real role in developing and directing it. Match the staffing, revenue, lease, contracts, and operating timeline to the actual cost of the enterprise. The decision to use escrow or staged spending should follow the written terms and the risk analysis, not a template.
Escrow, holdback and what commitment looks like on paper
The enterprise has to be a real and active commercial undertaking producing goods or services for profit, not an idle holding of land or a paper company waiting for a decision. E-2 review looks at the enterprise the investor will own and direct, its customers, assets and expenses, not the seller's whole history. Money the applicant can still take back at will is not committed, but 9 FAM 402.9-6(B) accepts a purchase conditioned on issuance of the E-2 visa as a solid, irrevocable commitment where the assets are held in escrow for release once that condition is met. Marginality is assessed by whether the enterprise has the present or future capacity to generate more than a minimal living for the investor and family, or makes a significant economic contribution; staff wages and the existing payroll answer that. The company may rely on outside suppliers without becoming passive, but the investor must genuinely develop and direct the enterprise. The enterprise must then itself possess that nationality, which is established by at least fifty percent ownership by nationals of the same treaty country who are not permanent residents of the United States. 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.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.