GENERAL INFORMATION · Official sources checked · Plain English · Not legal advice

American Ambassador · Straight Talk For Canadians

E-2 starts with a real business, not a magic number.

Understand treaty nationality, substantial investment, control, operating readiness, marginality, family, and visa-versus-status boundaries.

Start Here Check The Sources

The Plain-English E-2 Test

Treaty nationality.
A substantial investment in relation to the specific business.
Capital genuinely committed and at risk.
A real, active, operating U.S. enterprise.
The ability to develop and direct the business.
A business that is not marginal.
Intent to depart when E-2 status ends.

No Universal $100,000 Rule

Important correction

A lawyer may use $100,000 as an experience-based planning figure, but official E-2 rules do not make it the universal legal minimum for every business.

Startup, Purchase, Or Employee

Start a business

Forming an entity is only the beginning. The enterprise, committed spending, lawful funds, operations, plan, control, and economic contribution all matter.

Buy a business

Asset and share purchases create different liability, tax, corporate, licensing, escrow, and evidence questions.

Qualifying employee

The enterprise may sponsor certain same-nationality executives, supervisors, or essential-skills employees under separate requirements.

Status Is Not A Travel Visa

USCIS may grant qualifying E-2 classification inside the United States. That approval does not place an E-2 visa in a passport.

A consulate decides the visa application and Customs and Border Protection decides admission and the authorized stay shown on the I-94.

Questions To Bring To Counsel

Which business model is credible for these facts?
What investment and spending pattern is substantial for that business?
Which source and path-of-funds records are needed?
What may be done before approval?
Should the case use consular processing or another route?
What corporate and cross-border tax advice is needed before money moves?

Build The Readiness File

Organize, do not self-diagnose

Use the business-readiness checklist to prepare questions. Do not upload private documents to this website.

Open the E-2 readiness checklist

Official Sources And Review Status

USCIS

Official E-2, EB-5, L-1, form, and policy guidance.

Open USCIS

Department of State

Treaty countries, visa process, and monthly Visa Bulletin information.

Open State Department

Congress and SEC

Current EB-5 statute plus investor-protection and fraud warnings.

Open the statute

Sources checked August 2026. Recheck forms, fees, policy, Visa Bulletin availability, and processing information before relying on any page.

This is general information only. I’m not an immigration lawyer. American Ambassador does not determine eligibility, authorize work or travel, recommend an investment, or guarantee approval, timing, admission, permanent residence, capital repayment, or results. Laws and agency practices change.