Read the general investor planning overview
Two terms in a purchase agreement decide most E-2 outcomes before any consular officer reads them: the ownership percentage and decision rights, which govern whether the investor develops and directs the enterprise, and the escrow or refund conditions, which govern whether the money is irrevocably committed. An East Hants buyer should read those clauses for immigration purposes before the commercial negotiation closes them. A buyer therefore needs to decide which commercial terms can be signed now without leaving the funds revocable or the investor powerless. Put that decision ahead of a price negotiation, because a later amendment may alter the immigration analysis.
Count control, not just the percentage
Hypothetical example: an East Hants greenhouse grower is offered forty percent of a U.S. nursery, with the U.S. majority owner keeping sixty. The investor test ordinarily expects at least fifty percent ownership or, failing that, operational control through a managerial position or other corporate device. At forty percent, the grower needs the shareholder agreement to give him genuine control — a managing-director role with authority over hiring, spending and operations, or negative-control rights that make his consent necessary for major decisions. If the agreement leaves him a passive minority partner who will run the propagation house under the majority owner's direction, he is an employee with equity, and E-2 fails on the development-and-direction requirement regardless of how much he pays.
Find the clause that returns the money
Read the escrow, deposit and financing sections for anything that could send the funds back. A deposit refundable if financing falls through, a closing conditional on a licence the buyer may never obtain, or an escrow that releases to the buyer on any refusal are all signs the capital is not yet at risk. The accepted structure is an escrow that releases to the seller upon visa issuance and reverses only on visa refusal. Separately, check what secures any loan: funds borrowed against the grower's own East Hants land can count as investment; funds borrowed against the nursery's own greenhouses generally cannot, because the investor has not put his own assets at risk.
Show the enterprise as a business, not a price
The officer measures whether the amount is substantial against the total cost of the enterprise and asks whether the business is real and more than marginal. Produce the nursery's tax returns, payroll records, lease and equipment list, and a business plan that explains what the investment buys — new growing capacity, a distribution contract, additional staff — with projections a reviewer can test. A purchase price on its own explains nothing. If the projections rely on the grower's own labour to become profitable, the marginality question sharpens; if they rely on hiring, show the hiring plan. The spouse is employment-authorized incident to E-2 status, and the household should record that as part of the plan rather than a footnote. Hypothetical example: an East Hants backflow-prevention testing company owner proposes to buy half of a U.S. testing firm while the other owner retains sole signing authority. The buyer must decide whether to negotiate documented operational control or select another structure before depositing funds. The operating agreement, bank mandate, and escrow instruction answer the control-and-commitment questions; an informal promise from the seller does not.
What else is on your mind?
Is there one minimum investment that guarantees E-2 eligibility?Is holding money or owning an asset enough for E-2?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.