IN THIS GUIDE · What to ask the seller and the partner before a 60% purchase of a U.S. drilling business
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Ask the partner what the 40% comes with
E-2 requires that the treaty investor develop and direct the enterprise. Ownership of at least 50% ordinarily satisfies that requirement, but the presumption depends on the investor actually holding the control that the percentage implies. Consular officers read the shareholders' or operating agreement. If the 40% partner has a veto over hiring, capital expenditure, borrowing or strategy, or if decisions require unanimity, the Canadian buyer with 60% may not have the control the category demands. Negotiate the agreement with that in mind: reserved matters for the minority partner should be limited to genuine protections, and day-to-day direction and ordinary business decisions should rest with the majority. Ask also whether the partner's share is fully paid and whether any of the buyer's funds are being used to cover it, which would muddy the source-of-funds record.
Ask the seller what transfers and what does not
Water-well drilling requirements vary by state, and a company's drilling licence, contractor registration or water-system operator certification may be held by the entity or by an individual qualifier. If the retiring founder holds a required credential, it may not transfer with the shares, and the business could be unable to lawfully operate on the day the buyer takes over. Ask which licences the company holds, in whose name, whether the buyer can qualify with his Canadian experience or must retain a licensed employee, and how long that takes. Ask for the equipment schedule, the maintenance records, the customer list, the receivables and the current contracts, because those documents establish that the enterprise is real and operating and support the valuation against which the investment's substantiality is measured.
Then answer the E-2 conditions with the answers
The investor and the ownership must be Canadian to the extent of the treaty requirement, which 60% Canadian ownership satisfies since the enterprise is treated as having the nationality of its majority owners. The funds must be his own, lawfully obtained, traced from savings and the rig sale, and irrevocably committed — a signed purchase agreement with the price in escrow pending visa approval achieves that. The investment must be substantial relative to the cost of buying the business, and the enterprise must not be marginal, which an operating drilling company with field crews and contracts demonstrates. His spouse would be employment-authorized incident to E-2 status; children under 21 may study but not work. E-2 renews only while the business qualifies and leads to no immigrant status by itself.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.