Read the general investor planning overview
A McMasterville investor may negotiate shares instead of buying business assets. Read the ownership and decision rights that would actually result from the transaction; the percentage on an early term sheet may not describe the final arrangement. The first review should produce a closing checklist that distinguishes contemplated shares from rights and funds that will exist after closing. The applicant must decide whether the final documents give qualifying control and whether the money is already bound to a real operating enterprise at risk. An investment cannot remain merely an intention, and the proposed enterprise must be nonmarginal.
Compare the ownership records before and after closing
List the actual owners, relevant nationalities, share interests and governing rights. E-2 generally requires at least 50% ownership by nationals of the relevant treaty country, and the applicant must develop and direct through qualifying control. A minority interest is not automatically sufficient or automatically disqualifying; analyze the applicable rights and evidence. Hypothetical example: A custom-violin varnish supplier will buy 45% of a workshop and receive a veto over sales of the business, while the remaining owners retain ordinary operating votes. The decision is whether the signed governance rights, not the headline percentage, place the investor in a position to direct the enterprise.
Trace the capital actually committed
Identify who receives the funds, their lawful source and path, and the obligations that place the investment at risk. Distinguish a proposed transfer from completed or genuinely committed funds. Enterprise-secured debt does not qualify as capital; personal-asset-secured or unsecured loans and properly structured visa-contingent escrow require assessment of their actual terms. Read the purchase agreement, operating agreement, shareholder register, and voting provisions together. The first review should identify which right actually permits operational direction and whether treaty-national ownership remains established after every planned issuance or transfer.
Keep the enterprise’s substance in view
The investment must be substantial in a real operating nonmarginal enterprise, with capacity beyond minimal family living or for a significant economic contribution. A share certificate does not by itself establish those conditions. Prepare the operating evidence and actual business economics alongside the ownership documents rather than relying on corporate form alone. Trace every dollar from its lawful source to the agreement or expenditure that makes it unavailable for the investor’s personal use and subject to business loss. The bank record, escrow agreement, loan security, and closing statement each answer a different part of that inquiry. Decide whether the post-closing enterprise can operate with the assets, contracts, permits, and forecast actually transferred. A valuation report may inform price, but it cannot substitute for evidence that the business will be real, operating, and nonmarginal.
What else is on your mind?
Is there one minimum investment that guarantees E-2 eligibility?Is holding money or owning an asset enough for E-2?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.