Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Separate the business and property arrangements
Identify the buyer, operating entity, landlord and assets acquired under each agreement. Explain rent, use rights and obligations accurately even if the same people own both entities. A property purchase alone does not establish a real operating E-2 enterprise; nor should relevant premises investment be categorically excluded without assessing the actual structure.
Apply the treaty-investor conditions to the real enterprise
The applicant needs qualifying treaty nationality, and the enterprise generally must be at least 50% owned by nationals of the relevant treaty country. Establish lawful source and path, substantial capital committed at risk, and development and direction. There is no universal E-2 minimum dollar amount, and the total property price does not establish every investment requirement. Development and direction can be established by at least 50% ownership or actual operational control through a managerial position or another corporate device.
Explain operation and nonmarginality
The enterprise must be real and nonmarginal under the applicable standard, including capacity for more than a minimal living for the investor and family or significant economic contribution. Use the operating business’s actual resources, costs and activities. Keep property appreciation hopes distinct from evidence of an enterprise the applicant will actively develop and direct. 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. The applicant must intend to depart when E status ends.
Funds, escrow and revocation need fact-specific review
Beyond the enterprise, the employee must hold the same treaty-country nationality as the qualifying owners, and must be coming either to fill an executive or supervisory position or to provide services requiring special qualifications essential to the enterprise's operations. An E-2 preparation file should describe the enterprise the buyer would actually own and operate after closing, not assume every revenue relationship transfers with the assets. Funds must be genuinely committed and exposed to commercial loss, so deposits, escrow terms, refund rights and revocation clauses require fact-specific review rather than a blanket assumption. A shareholder who holds U.S. lawful permanent residence is generally not counted as a treaty national for these purposes, so a family member who obtained a green card years ago can affect whether the fifty percent threshold is met. The clauses that matter here are different: who decides pricing, what the franchisor can require, whether the franchisee may choose suppliers or hire freely, what approvals are needed to sell, and on what grounds the agreement can be terminated. Funds become committed when they are paid to the seller, spent on equipment, or placed in an escrow that releases to the seller on visa issuance and returns to the buyer only if the visa is refused. Substantiality is judged relative to the actual cost of the business — there is no fixed universal E-2 minimum that replaces that analysis — so distinguish money still being discussed from money committed under signed terms and from money already spent. Properly structured visa-contingent escrow may qualify, but a plan to fund the enterprise later is not automatically equivalent to an existing qualifying commitment.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.