IN THIS GUIDE · The enterprise's first-year budget assumes owner draws immediately
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
No rule bans paying the owner
There is no universal prohibition on owner compensation in an E-2 enterprise, and no fixed minimum investment or job count to satisfy. What matters is whether substantial capital is genuinely committed and at risk in a real operating commercial enterprise, and whether that enterprise is more than marginal. A draw becomes a problem when it quietly converts committed capital back into personal money. Put the proposed draw beside the bank statement, invoices, and the business account ledger, not beside an unsupported annual total. Hypothetical example: an orthotic-brace refurbishment shop plans monthly owner payments before its first clinic contracts begin. The review tests the cancellation terms and cash shortfall. The decision is whether to reduce the draw or commit additional capital before presenting the enterprise.
Run the cash plan month by month
Rebuild the first year as a cash schedule rather than an annual total: rent, payroll, inventory or equipment, insurance, professional services, and the proposed draw, set against realistic collections. Some plans hold a period of operating reserve; that is a planning example, not a legal requirement. The useful output is a month where the plan runs short, or evidence that it does not. In a hypothetical Varennes household, that single month may reshape the whole draw plan.
Non-marginality rests on capacity
Non-marginality can rest on present or future capacity to generate more than a minimal living for the investor and family, or on a significant economic contribution. If the projections show the business supporting a household draw only by deferring rent or supplier payments, the capacity claim is weak. Show how the revenue is expected to arise, with assumptions a reviewer can follow and test.
Document the money behind the plan
Alongside the budget, the file needs lawful source and path of funds — where the money came from and how it moved — since an account balance alone establishes neither. Loans are not forbidden, though what secures them matters to the at-risk analysis. If the enterprise has not opened, credible commitments can count; nobody should assume that first sales or equipment already in production are required in every case. A Canadian citizen generally needs an E visa.
Develop and direct means control, not merely majority
Beyond the ownership floor, the investor must be in a position to develop and direct the enterprise, ordinarily through at least fifty per cent ownership or through operational control by some other legitimate means. Qualifying treaty nationality, at least 50% relevant national ownership of the enterprise and the applicant’s development and direction remain required. Personally secured or unsecured borrowing may qualify under applicable rules; enterprise-asset-secured debt does not count as the investor’s qualifying investment. Trace each transfer from the investor to the enterprise, noting any escrow release, seller financing, or refund right that changes the risk analysis.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.