Describe the genuine terms, including any actual repayment obligation.
Keep the funding history truthful
A convenient label cannot change the parties’ rights or the investment analysis. Use real agreements and transfer records, and assess financing under the applicable E-2 rules without importing unrelated EB-5 assumptions.
Use documents that match the real legal rights: a loan agreement for repayable money, a gift declaration for a genuine gift, and ownership records for jointly held assets. Pair them with statements, transfers, escrow terms, invoices, and purchase contracts so the lawful source and path can be followed. Misnaming a debt as a gift creates credibility and financing problems; it does not simplify them. Independently establish treaty nationality, qualifying enterprise nationality, and the investor’s ability to develop and direct through 50 percent ownership or operational control. Capital must be irrevocably committed, at risk, substantial for the business, and support a real non-marginal enterprise. Debt secured by the enterprise requires care. E-2 does not itself provide a direct route to permanent residence.
Hypothetical example: A kayak-rental operator from around Petit-Saguenay receives a spouse’s repayable advance for an American rental business. Rather than signing a false gift letter, the parties document repayment, security, transfer dates, and the investor’s personal exposure. Equipment orders, lease terms, insurance records, and the enterprise account show which money has been spent or committed. If the loan structure leaves the business assets as the only collateral or allows easy cancellation, they reassess it before submitting the case.