Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Separate nationality from personal control
E-2 requires the applicant’s qualifying treaty nationality and a qualifying treaty enterprise, generally established through at least 50% treaty-country ownership. That enterprise-nationality inquiry differs from whether the particular applicant can develop and direct the business. Identify the real owners and relevant nationality evidence rather than treating one percentage as the answer to both questions.
Read the actual operating authority
Development and direction may be demonstrated through at least 50% ownership or operational control through a managerial position or other corporate device. For a minority buyer, examine genuine decision rights and the work they will perform. A protective veto or ceremonial board seat should not be presented as operational control without analysis of the complete arrangement.
Establish the investment and enterprise conditions
The capital must be lawfully sourced, substantial in relation to the enterprise and committed at risk to a real operating commercial business. There is no universal minimum dollar amount. The business must be nonmarginal under the applicable standard, including more than a minimal living for the investor and family or significant economic contribution. Borrowed funds secured by the enterprise’s assets do not qualify as the investor’s at-risk capital on that basis. When relying on future capacity, it should generally be achievable within five years after normal business activity begins. Borrowing secured only by personal assets, or unsecured personal borrowing, may qualify under the other investment conditions; debt secured by enterprise assets is excluded even when personal assets also secure it.
Keep the temporary classification and household separate
The applicant must intend to depart when E status ends. A business purchase does not itself grant admission, work permission or permanent residence. Review any dependent spouse or unmarried child under 21 individually; qualifying E spouses may work incident to valid status with appropriate evidence, while children do not receive that spouse authorization.
Establish treaty nationality and enterprise nationality
Deposits held in an escrow that releases only on approval of a visa application are a familiar structure, and an escrow conditioned on the immigration outcome is generally acceptable, whereas money simply sitting in an account under the buyer's control is not. 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. The recognised middle path is an escrow holding the purchase price with release to the seller conditioned on issuance of the E-2 visa, so the money is unconditionally committed for immigration purposes yet returns to the buyer if the visa is refused. Properly structured visa-contingent escrow may qualify, while a freely reversible expression of interest does not establish the same commitment. Identify customers, premises, licences, staffing, inventory or equipment, projected revenue, and the applicant’s role in developing and directing the enterprise. Trace nationality through to individuals, then total the percentages against the fifty percent requirement rather than eyeballing them. Ask both whether the enterprise will be real and operating by the interview date: a signed yard lease, purchased equipment, a state contractor’s registration and a first customer contract answer marginality better than projections.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.