Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Read the effective partnership terms
Establish who owns the enterprise now, each relevant nationality and the investor’s authority to develop and direct it. At least 50% relevant treaty-country national enterprise ownership is required. The enterprise’s nationality and the applicant’s directing authority are separate issues. Ownership evidence should be tested separately from control evidence. Share registers, operating agreements, voting provisions, and closing documents establish who owns the enterprise and whether treaty nationals hold the required majority. A management agreement, job description, and actual decision rights then show whether the investor can direct and develop it. Deferred capital from a partner may change the future commercial arrangement, but it does not prove a present ownership percentage or present authority. Resolve inconsistent subscription, voting, and purchase documents before using them in the same application.
Assess funded operations rather than a hoped-for arrangement
The case needs substantial capital at risk with lawful source and path, a real enterprise and nonmarginality. That economic standard includes more than minimal living or significant economic contribution under the applicable rules. No universal dollar minimum or ten-job E-2 quota applies. Canadians generally require an E visa; a partner’s promise cannot supply facts that have not occurred. E-2 status has no direct path to permanent residence. Trace the money in chronological order from lawful origin to the business. Bank statements, sale documents, gift records, loan terms, exchange records, escrow instructions, and paid invoices should show a coherent path. Capital must be irrevocably committed and exposed to the enterprise’s risk; a sum that can be withdrawn at the investor’s discretion does not carry the same weight as a completed purchase or binding loss-bearing obligation. The investment must also be substantial in relation to the actual cost of the enterprise, not a number selected from an unrelated industry example. Test the operating case apart from the payment evidence. Licences, premises, supplier arrangements, market research, revenue assumptions, and staffing plans explain whether the venture is real and nonmarginal. The nonmarginality analysis asks whether the enterprise is likely to support more than the investor’s household or make a meaningful economic contribution; it is not a fixed headcount rule. The reader must decide whether early losses are supported by a dated, credible operating path or whether the plan depends on customers, rights, or approvals that remain speculative.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.