IN THIS GUIDE · Separate each co-owner’s rights from the enterprise’s treaty nationality
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Identify the relevant treaty ownership
At least 50% of the enterprise must be owned by nationals of the relevant treaty country. The investor applicant must develop and direct through at least 50% ownership or other qualifying operational control. Do not assume a family relationship or joint investment automatically establishes either condition for every owner.
Trace the actual lawful capital commitment
Capital must be lawfully sourced, substantial in relation to the enterprise and committed at risk; there is no universal minimum. Explain the real contributions and transfer path rather than attributing all co-owner funds to one person. Properly structured visa-contingent escrow may qualify, with the actual conditions preserved.
Read the financing and operating case
Personal unsecured borrowing or debt secured solely by non-enterprise personal assets may count. Enterprise-secured debt is excluded even with personal collateral. The business must be real and nonmarginal, supporting more than minimal living for the investor and family or a significant economic contribution. Future capacity should generally be realizable within five years of normal business activity.
Describe who will actually work and direct
Explain each proposed role without assuming ownership authorizes everyone’s U.S. activity. Intent to depart when E status ends is required, and Canadians generally need an E visa. Co-owner agreement, payment or a household move plan does not itself guarantee approval or provide work permission.
Ownership at fifty percent still has to produce control
Substantiality is judged in proportion to the cost of the business: a purchase of the going concern, its furniture, systems and working capital should bring the committed amount close to the total. The enterprise must be a real, active and operating commercial undertaking, not a paper organization or a passive holding, and it must not be marginal. Maintenance contracts that can be cancelled on notice when the company changes hands are worth less than the seller's revenue summary suggests, and the projections that support the enterprise being more than marginal depend on them. Treaty nationals must hold at least fifty percent of it, shown by the share register and the subscription documents, not by an intention to restructure later. Marginality asks whether the business will produce more than a minimal living for the investors, which an existing payroll of employees and a history of profit ordinarily answers. An escrow that releases to the seller upon visa issuance, and returns to the buyer only if the visa is refused, is the accepted way to protect the buyer while still showing commitment. The capital must be irrevocably committed and exposed to loss; a refundable reservation or a seller's unrestricted cancellation right may therefore need closer analysis. Identify customers, premises, licences, staffing, inventory or equipment, projected revenue, and the applicant’s role in developing and directing the enterprise.
Develop and direct means control, not merely majority ownership
Shareholder agreements can leave a majority owner unable to appoint a manager, approve a budget or hire; the E-2 investor must develop and direct the enterprise, so those clauses matter as much as the price. Use credible forecasts, staffing plans, contracts, pricing assumptions, and a timeline for revenue growth; then test whether the numbers can sustain more than household expenses. A lawful Canadian permanent resident who is not a Canadian national does not acquire treaty nationality through residence, and an ownership structure can affect the enterprise's nationality as well as the individual's eligibility.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-08. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.