Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Use the contract’s actual economic terms
Identify the committed work, payment conditions and genuine assumptions behind the forecast. E-2 requires a real nonmarginal enterprise, exceeding minimal investor-family support or meeting the applicable significant economic-contribution standard; there is no ten-job quota. A single customer does not supply an automatic answer, and projected renewals should not be described as already secured revenue. The decision is whether the forecast rests on enforceable demand, a reasonable operating model, or both. Read cancellation rights, performance milestones, and customer concentration alongside payroll, premises, insurance, and equipment costs. The enterprise cannot be marginal; the record should show more than a plan to support only an investor household, or the applicable significant economic contribution. A polished projection without identified assumptions is weak evidence.
Keep investor eligibility separate from customer demand
Treaty nationality, at least 50% relevant national enterprise ownership and the applicant’s ability to develop and direct are required. Capital must be substantial, lawfully sourced and traced, and genuinely at risk; E-2 has no fixed minimum. Review actual financing and escrow arrangements, including potentially qualifying visa-contingent escrow. Canadians generally need an E visa, and a customer’s order does not itself authorize US work. E-2 is a temporary classification and provides no direct path to permanent residence. Confirm nationality and ownership before treating customer demand as decisive. The funds need an irrevocable commitment exposed to commercial loss, and the applicant must have a real role in developing and directing the business. Bank records, purchase documents, escrow terms, and source records settle those issues more reliably than a forecast. Decide whether additional spending is necessary only after checking that the proposed capital is substantial relative to the actual enterprise. The reviewer should preserve dates and receipts so the commitment can be tested against the purchase price and genuine startup needs.
Funds, escrow and revocation need fact-specific review
The investment must be irrevocably committed to the enterprise and subject to partial or total loss. At least 50% of the enterprise must be owned by nationals of the treaty country, and Canada is a treaty country, so treaty nationality follows citizenship rather than where anyone lives. If the licence is currently held by the seller, the enterprise may be unable to operate lawfully once the seller leaves, which affects whether it is a real, operating business under the buyer's direction. Loans are not automatically disqualifying, but collateral matters, and escrow or refundable-deposit terms need fact-specific review. Trace every transfer through bank records and identify whether the applicant's personal assets, rather than the enterprise's assets, secure any borrowed amount. A partner contributing forty percent of the funds may still direct the business through a documented managerial role or control device; equal ownership needs review under the whole governance arrangement rather than a universal assumption that a tie-breaker is required. Develop and direct is assessed on what the investor actually controls and decides, and a plan showing the investor abroad for most of the year while a manager runs the enterprise raises that question directly.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.