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FOR ENTREPRENEURS · FERLAND-ET-BOILLEAUFerland-et-Boilleau

Your ambition.Your enterprise.

Suppose a Saguenay investor’s US startup forecast shows modest early earnings but a later expansion. E-2 review should test the evidence for that future capacity and the applicable nonmarginality standard. An optimistic spreadsheet does not replace treaty nationality, control, lawful committed investment or a real operating enterprise. The decision is not simply how much money will be spent. Review treaty nationality, qualifying ownership or control, the lawful trail of funds, and whether the operating enterprise has a credible nonmarginal future. Capital needs to be committed irrevocably and subject to commercial loss; the business cannot be marginal. A complete review identifies which commitment is already binding and which remains a future intention. Keep the household plan distinct from the evidence that the enterprise can operate and grow on its own terms.

Talk about E-2
PurposeDevelop and direct a business
InvestmentSubstantial and at risk
Fixed minimumNo universal dollar threshold
01

Apply the nonmarginality standard

Assess the enterprise’s present or future capacity to provide more than a minimal living for the investor and family, or to make a significant economic contribution. The projected future capacity should generally be achievable within five years after normal business activity begins. Explain what supports that forecast; E-2 does not impose EB-5’s ten-job rule. Use an operating model that ties revenue assumptions to capacity, price, delivery costs, and staffing. Label signed customer commitments separately from leads. This lets the reader test the forecast without disguising a household need as an enterprise result.

02

Support the growth assumptions

Explain customers, pricing, expenses, staffing and the resources needed for expansion. Distinguish signed commitments from prospects. The plan should describe the actual business rather than insert unsupported growth solely to meet an immigration concern. Trace who owns the enterprise and who actually directs it. Corporate records, voting rights, operating agreements, and role evidence should tell the same story. A nominal ownership percentage or an informal promise of control leaves a material question unanswered.

03

Complete the investor requirements

The enterprise generally needs at least 50% ownership by nationals of the relevant treaty country. The investor must develop and direct it through at least 50% ownership or other qualifying operational control. Establish lawful source and path and substantial capital genuinely committed at risk; there is no universal E-2 minimum. The investor must intend to depart when E status ends, and Canadians generally require an E visa. Sequence commitments so that the file can show source, transfer, commitment, and business use. Reassess a plan when a lease, supplier agreement, financing term, or customer assumption changes. A submitted application does not permit work before the appropriate status or visa is in place.

SOURCES FOR THIS GUIDE

Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.

PUT THE DETAILS TO WORK

Guides for your next decision.

Applicant planning

Compare the E-2 evidence for a startup and a business purchase

Read & prepare
E-2 · FERLAND-ET-BOILLEAU

YOUR QUESTIONS.
A CLEARER START.

KEEP EXPLORING

A LITTLE MORE CLARITY.

INVESTOR PLANNING

Describe the investor’s operating business beyond its suppliers

Read the guide PATHWAY COMPARISON

Compare actual duties with the enterprise’s supplier commitments

Read the guide LIFE ACROSS THE BORDER

Keep employer benefits separate from each family member’s permission

Read the guide