IN THIS GUIDE · An applicant proposes reinvesting profits from an existing US business
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Trace the earnings back to their source
Provide filed tax returns, financial statements, bank records and the distributions or transfers that moved money out of the existing company. The requirement is a lawful original source and a documented path, not simply a healthy balance in an account. Where the existing business has other owners, show that the funds distributed were genuinely yours to take, and that the distribution was authorized in the company's own records.
Assemble the status history behind the profits
Distinguish passive ownership returns from work actually performed in the United States. Document the business’s earnings, the investor’s actual role and location, and any US status or authorization relevant to that work. Lawfully receiving profits does not universally require that the investor held US work status. If the history raises a work or status issue, provide the facts to counsel and assess its effect rather than omitting it.
Separate retained earnings from committed capital
An accounting label of retained earnings does not establish that a particular amount is available and committed to the proposed enterprise. Capital counts when it is irrevocably committed to the enterprise and genuinely at risk — spent, contracted for, or placed beyond your control in a way tied to the business succeeding. Signed leases, equipment orders, purchase agreements and escrow terms all need reading on their facts, since revocation and refund conditions differ from one arrangement to the next.
Test the new enterprise on its own footing
There is no universal minimum sum and no fixed job count; substantiality is measured against what this particular business costs to establish and operate. Non-marginality can rest on present or projected capacity to produce more than a minimal living for the family, or on a significant economic contribution. A business preparing to open can qualify on credible commitments. Canadian citizens generally need an E visa to travel in this category. Before relying on a forecast, identify the decision it must support: whether the capital is committed beyond the investor’s unilateral reach and exposed to the enterprise’s risk of loss, and whether the operation may avoid marginality. The forecast should tie revenues, expenses, owner compensation, and staffing assumptions to records that can be checked. Hypothetical example: an investor acquires equipment for a business making tactile navigation maps for public venues, but the purchase order permits cancellation until a customer contract is signed. The decision is whether the money is truly committed now or remains available to the investor; the cancellation clause, deposit terms, and signed commitments answer that question.
Prove the business is substantial and not marginal
E-2 classification depends on the nationality of the owners: at least 50 percent of the enterprise must be held by nationals of the treaty country whose nationality supports the case. The investment must be substantial in relation to the enterprise, already committed in a manner that exposes it to loss, and directed to a real operating business that is not marginal. 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.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.