Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Describe what the second location changes
Identify the activities, staffing, rights to premises and responsibilities at both locations. Distinguish additional capacity within an existing operation from a different entity or business arrangement. The immigration account should reflect what the investor will actually develop and direct, not simply attach a second address to the earlier plan. Development and direction can be established by at least 50% ownership or actual operational control through a managerial position or another corporate device.
Trace the new capital and continuing ownership
The applicant needs qualifying treaty nationality, and the enterprise generally needs at least 50% ownership by nationals of the relevant treaty country. Explain the lawful source and path of the expansion funds, their substantial commitment at risk and the investor’s development and direction. There is no universal E-2 minimum dollar figure; an earlier investment amount is not a universal benchmark for later transactions. 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.
Assess the enterprise’s operating position
The enterprise must remain real and nonmarginal under the applicable standard: capacity for more than a minimal living for the investor and family or significant economic contribution. Show how the forecast allocates resources between locations. If financing is involved, examine the actual structure; qualifying unsecured or personal-asset borrowing can differ from capital secured by the E-2 enterprise’s assets, which does not count as qualifying investor capital. When relying on future capacity, it should generally be achievable within five years after normal business activity begins. The applicant must intend to depart when E status ends.
Establish treaty ownership and qualifying funds
The buyer's eighty percent stake meets the ownership threshold, and the company remains a qualifying enterprise because it is majority-owned by a Canadian national. Share registers, operating agreements, voting provisions, and closing documents establish who owns the enterprise and whether treaty nationals hold the required majority. A loan secured by the investor's personal assets, or backed by personal liability, is treated differently from one secured by the assets of the United States enterprise being acquired or built. Funds must move beyond a revocable intention, be exposed to commercial risk, and support an enterprise that is not marginal. 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. Properly structured visa-contingent escrow may qualify, but a list of optional opportunities is not equivalent to capital committed to the business. E-2 requires that the capital be irrevocably committed and genuinely at risk, and that the enterprise be more than marginal, so a plan leaving the business unable to operate answers neither point well.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.