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FOR ENTREPRENEURS · ROXTON PONDRoxton Pond

Your ambition.Your enterprise.

Hypothetical example: a Granby investor buys a U.S. business with part of the price payable to the seller later. Separate the debt, ownership and decision rights. An unpaid balance does not by itself establish who controls the enterprise or how each amount should be treated for E-2. An E-2 review should reconcile the funding ledger, ownership table, commercial agreements, and operating forecast. It should show whose money moved, when it became bound to the enterprise, what is exposed to loss, and who will direct the operation. That sequence often reveals whether a commercial step should be completed before the immigration presentation is made. Use the review sheet as a decision tool: it should show what can be proved today, what needs confirmation, and which commitment must wait. That discipline prevents a later explanation from being asked to repair a fact that should have been documented before the route was selected. Before acting, name the next verifiable step and the document that will confirm it. This turns preparation into a measured decision rather than an assumption that an attractive plan will answer an independent legal condition. Keep that decision log with the file so later changes can be compared with the evidence available when the route was chosen.

Talk about E-2
PurposeDevelop and direct a business
InvestmentSubstantial and at risk
Fixed minimumNo universal dollar threshold
01

Read the financing and control terms together

Identify the borrower, security, repayment obligations and any rights retained by the seller. Review actual ownership and operational authority at closing and during repayment. Do not assume a seller’s protective provision always defeats control or that a nominal majority always resolves every issue. The transaction must be understood on its actual terms. Read source, transfer, escrow or loan terms, ownership, and governance together. A wire confirmation can be decisive only when the agreement shows why the payment is committed and at risk. At least half of an enterprise generally must be owned by treaty-country nationals, and the investor must be able to develop and direct the business.

02

Establish the investment and nationality requirements

E-2 requires qualifying treaty nationality for the applicant and enterprise; generally at least 50% enterprise ownership must be held by nationals of the relevant treaty country. Establish lawful source and path of capital and a substantial investment irrevocably committed and at risk. The applicant must develop and direct the enterprise, ordinarily through at least 50% ownership or operational control. There is no universal minimum dollar amount, and E-2 provides no direct path to permanent residence. Use the forecast to test operating reality rather than to promise a result. State the assumptions for customers, staffing, overhead, and debt, then identify the record supporting each assumption. A business can be commercially sensible yet still require more evidence about its capacity to avoid marginality.

03

Assess the operating enterprise after debt service

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 repayment and operating assumptions honestly. A signed note is not proof that every financed dollar qualifies as invested capital; review the actual financing structure rather than applying a blanket rule to all loans. There is no universal dollar figure for E-2 substantiality. The investor’s funds must be placed beyond revocation and exposed to loss, and the enterprise cannot be marginal. Test the forecast against real rent, payroll, inventory, and debt service, including capacity beyond a minimal living for the investor and family or a significant economic contribution. E-2 is temporary, not a direct permanent-residence route.

SOURCES FOR THIS GUIDE

Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.

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