Read the general investor planning overview
A Mont-Saint-Hilaire investor may receive financing from a relative for a U.S. enterprise. Document the actual transaction without treating the family relationship as proof that the funds qualify or fail. The first review should produce a money trail and a risk trail. It identifies where the lender obtained the funds, what the borrower must repay, what collateral exists, and which expenditure puts the investor's capital in real commercial jeopardy. That work prevents a familiar relationship from being used as a substitute for documentation.
Trace the money and the actual obligation
Identify the lender, lawful source and path, borrower, transfer and repayment terms. Distinguish a genuine loan from a gift or an informal promise. Do not rewrite the document’s label to obtain a preferred result; the investment assessment needs the transaction that actually occurred. Collect the loan agreement, security documents, transfer confirmations, and records showing the lender's lawful source. If terms changed, keep the amendment and the reason for it. The decision is whether the records describe a real obligation consistently, not whether relatives agree that repayment is expected.
Check what secures the debt and what is committed
Debt secured by the enterprise’s assets does not qualify as E-2 investment capital. Borrowing secured by personal assets or unsecured borrowing may be assessed under the applicable conditions. Funds must be genuinely committed and at risk; an available credit amount is not automatically invested capital. Properly structured visa-contingent escrow remains a matter for assessment on its actual terms. Separate money available for a deal from money placed beyond the investor's unilateral recall. Review cancellation, refund, and default clauses alongside the collateral. An investment assessment asks whether the capital is committed and exposed to loss; it does not treat an unused financing facility as an operating expenditure.
Retain the full investor and enterprise criteria
Establish treaty nationality, generally at least 50% relevant treaty-national enterprise ownership and development and direction through qualifying control. The investment must be substantial in a real operating nonmarginal business with capacity beyond minimal family living or for significant economic contribution. Neither a generous relative nor a signed loan replaces that business evidence. The investor must have the relevant treaty nationality and qualifying control, and the enterprise must be real, operating, substantial for its cost, and not marginal. Hypothetical example: a specialty bicycle-frame coating shop is financed by an aunt and uses the shop equipment as collateral; the decision is whether the debt structure leaves qualifying personal risk and whether signed equipment purchases are more than a budget forecast.
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.