Read voting and operating rights together
Identify who can approve budgets, commit the enterprise and direct its ordinary operations. Describe deadlock and reserved-decision provisions accurately without assuming one clause automatically decides eligibility. A general promise to cooperate may not show the authority the applicant will actually hold. Keep planned governance distinct from executed arrangements. Read shareholder agreements alongside bank authority and the daily operating plan. The decision is not simply whether a percentage looks sufficient; it is whether the applicant has a credible role in developing and directing the enterprise under the documents that will actually govern it.
Verify nationality and lawful invested capital
The applicant needs qualifying treaty nationality, and the enterprise generally must be at least 50% owned by nationals of the relevant treaty country. Trace the actual ownership chain, not merely each partner’s residence. Establish lawful source and path, substantial committed at-risk investment and development and direction. E-2 has no universal minimum dollar figure. Organize proof by transaction: lawful source, account control, executed commitment, payment, and business use. That sequence makes it possible to see whether a claimed investment remains conditional or has reached the enterprise in a form that bears genuine risk.
Assess the enterprise the partners will operate
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. Explain each partner’s role and the resources behind the plan. Equal shares do not prove that funds are committed or that all necessary operating functions have been assigned. Test the operating forecast against invoices, staffing assumptions, and the applicant’s planned decisions. A revenue projection alone does not settle marginality; the record should explain how the enterprise will support more than personal subsistence or make a significant economic contribution.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.