IN THIS GUIDE · Identify the actual enterprise when the proposal contains several businesses
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Identify the enterprise and its directing rights
Relevant treaty nationality is required, with at least 50% enterprise ownership by nationals of that treaty country. The applicant must develop and direct the enterprise through at least 50% ownership or other qualifying operational control. A right in one company does not automatically establish authority over a different business in the proposal.
Trace the funds committed to the actual transaction
E-2 requires lawful funds substantially committed at risk in relation to the enterprise; no universal fixed minimum applies. Separate completed commitments from alternative purchases still being considered. Properly structured visa-contingent escrow may qualify, but a list of optional opportunities is not equivalent to capital committed to the business.
Read the security and operating evidence
Personal unsecured borrowing or debt secured solely by non-enterprise personal assets may count. Enterprise-secured debt is excluded even with additional personal collateral. The enterprise must be real and nonmarginal, generating more than minimal living for the investor and family or a significant economic contribution. Future capacity should generally be realizable within five years of normal business activity.
Keep the actual work and visa process aligned
Describe how the investor will develop and direct the genuine operation. Do not assume an assessment of one enterprise automatically covers every unrelated acquisition or activity. Intent to depart when E status ends is required; Canadians generally need an E visa. A portfolio plan or signed purchase agreement is not itself work permission.
Funds, escrow and revocation need fact-specific review
Substantial capital is judged in proportion to the total cost of establishing this particular enterprise, not against a benchmark borrowed from another industry. A substantial investment must be committed and irrevocably at risk in a real, active enterprise, and there is no published dollar threshold to reach. Funds must be genuinely committed and exposed to commercial loss, so deposits, escrow terms, refund rights and revocation clauses require fact-specific review rather than a blanket assumption. Deposits held in an escrow that releases only on approval of a visa application are a familiar structure, and an escrow conditioned on the immigration outcome is generally acceptable, whereas money simply sitting in an account under the buyer's control is not. Non-marginality may be established through the applicable income-capacity or significant-economic-contribution basis; the reviewer needs support for the proposed enterprise rather than a categorical claim that one customer is always enough or never enough. A buyer taking a majority of shares while the seller retains a veto over hiring, borrowing and distributions may not have the control the classification assumes. The investment must be irrevocably committed, at risk, and placed in an enterprise that is not marginal; a refundable arrangement may require more explanation than a payment exposed to the business's success or failure. The enterprise also must not be marginal; forecasts, staffing logic and credible operations should explain its capacity beyond the investor's household needs.
Show the amount is substantial for this business
Substantiality is proportional: the amount invested is compared with the total cost of buying this dealership, and a purchase of all the shares at fair value for a business with inventory, a building lease, and a service shop will ordinarily be substantial. Where the buyers intend to borrow, distinguish borrowing they are personally liable for from a loan secured by the assets of the business being bought, because the latter is treated differently.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-08. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.