IN THIS GUIDE · Reviewing a proposed patent contribution alongside cash in an E-2 plan
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Establish what rights can actually be contributed
Identify the registered owner, relevant agreements, geographic scope and any existing license or security interest. A patent associated with the applicant’s work may belong to a company or another party. Obtain qualified intellectual-property advice on ownership and the proposed transfer rather than relying on the inventor’s name or an informal valuation presentation. Ask whether the rights are transferable, enforceable in the intended market and accompanied by the documents needed for the enterprise to use them.
Ask how the proposed value is supported
Separate development spending, an owner’s estimate and an independent valuation. They answer different questions and need not produce the same amount. Explain the assumptions and evidence behind any proposed value. Immigration treatment is a further question: do not assume an appraisal automatically establishes qualifying invested capital or permits adding every historical research expense. Keep valuation assumptions beside the supporting reports and agreements. A number without its method cannot show what commercial resource is actually available.
Keep the commercial operation concrete
Describe how the U.S. enterprise will use the rights to supply products or services, who performs the work and what resources are committed. E-2 requires a real commercial enterprise and genuine development and direction. Merely holding a patent while waiting for it to appreciate does not provide the same operating case as a funded enterprise using it. The operating plan should connect the rights to customers, staffing, expenses and revenue rather than leaving the asset as a separate holding.
Review the cash requirement independently
Even a valuable right may not pay rent, staff or suppliers. Cost the actual operation and identify the cash needed to make it credible. Assess substantiality and non-marginality under the E-2 standards, without a universal investment minimum or job quota. Treaty nationality, ownership and lawful funding also require review; a technology contribution cannot replace those foundations. Trace the funds through each account and distinguish money promised by another person from money already available to the investor under documented terms.
Substantiality is proportional, not a fixed number
The business must be real and nonmarginal under the applicable standard, including capacity for more than a minimal living for the investor and family or significant economic contribution. Substantiality is proportional: the amount is weighed against the total cost of purchasing an established enterprise of that kind, and it must be large enough to make it likely that the investor will successfully develop and direct the business.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.