IN THIS GUIDE · An applicant has renewed citizenship documents while ownership agreements use an older name
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Build a dated name history
Write a single chronology: each legal name, the date it took effect, the event that caused the change, and the official document that records it. Then list every place the older name still appears, including the share register, operating agreement, escrow instructions, bank signature cards, the commercial lease and supplier contracts. The chronology is what lets a reviewer read two differently named documents as one person's continuous record. Use the chronology as an index to the actual documents, with a document date and the name shown on it. That lets a reviewer test continuity without asking the reader to infer it from an unexplained collection of records.
Nationality is tested on citizenship, not on a name
A name change does not create or remove treaty nationality. Canada is a treaty country, and the analysis looks at your citizenship and at whether treaty nationals hold at least 50% of the U.S. enterprise. Living in Québec is not itself the qualification, and Canadian citizens generally need an E visa. Confirm that ownership held under a former name is still counted to you. Check citizenship evidence and the ownership ledger at the same time. A change in names, shareholders or voting rights can affect how the relevant nationality ownership is demonstrated.
Correct the corporate record deliberately
Decide with counsel which instruments should be amended, which need a name-change rider, and which are better left intact with an explanatory affidavit attached. There is no universal rule that every agreement must be re-signed. Conflicting obligations, such as a lender's consent clause, an escrow condition or a co-owner's approval right, are legal questions and need fact-specific review before any document is reissued. Do not amend an agreement merely to make the file look simpler if doing so obscures the actual transaction. Preserve the signed version and explain the relationship between it and any later rider or correction.
Keep the money trail readable across names
Funds often moved through accounts opened under the earlier name. Show the lawful original source and the full path: payroll or sale proceeds, tax records, transfers, currency conversion into U.S. dollars, and the deposit into the enterprise. Where the account holder's name differs from the passport, attach the name-change document to that step. A balance statement alone proves neither origin nor route. Reconcile each transfer to the document that caused it and to the business use that followed. The first review should expose an unexplained gap before funds are described as investment capital.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.