A business acquisition may depend on approvals from customers, landlords, lenders or suppliers. Identify which rights actually transfer and which remain conditional. The investment account should describe the U.S. enterprise the applicant would operate under those terms, not the seller’s business with every relationship assumed to continue. A practical first review should result in a dated evidence plan, a list of unsettled facts, and a decision about what must be resolved before money, travel, or work is committed. E-2 requires treaty-nationality facts, qualifying ownership, capital committed at commercial risk, and the investor’s ability to develop and direct the enterprise. The reader should separate facts already proved from assumptions that need a contract, official record, or individual advice.
List each consent and its consequence
Hypothetical example: a purchase includes equipment and trade names, while a customer agreement and equipment lease need separate approval. Record who must consent, what the agreement requires and what happens if consent is unavailable. Distinguish a submitted request from an executed consent and avoid treating a friendly conversation as a completed legal step. Hypothetical example: a cold-storage logistics buyer acquires equipment while the largest customer consent remains pending. The concrete decision is whether the remaining rights support a real non-marginal enterprise before the consent arrives. Record the document that settles the point, then preserve the earlier version if facts later change.
Explain the operating plan under confirmed facts
Show the activities the buyer can undertake with the rights acquired and the assumptions behind future revenue. E-2 requires a real operating non-marginal enterprise, qualifying treaty nationality, substantial committed capital at risk and development and direction. A consent list does not itself establish those requirements, but it can expose an assumption that materially changes them. Build a chronology before drafting a summary. It should identify who knows each fact, when the record was created, and which evidence supports the next requested step.
Connect changes to the payment evidence
Read termination, escrow and price-adjustment clauses with the appropriate advisers. Update what is committed if the transaction changes. Trace lawful source, rights and transfers rather than showing only the final balance. There is no universal minimum investment that compensates for an unexplained operating condition, and no automatic approval follows from completing a commercial closing. Do not use a commercial timetable as an immigration conclusion. Select a sequence that allows the underlying evidence and current official requirements to be checked before an irreversible action.
Check nationality and the funding chain
The enterprise generally must be at least 50% owned by nationals of the relevant treaty country. Trace the actual ownership chain and the lawful source and path of the investment capital. Applicant residence is not a substitute for nationality, and a bank receipt alone may not establish ownership or funding history. The applicant must develop and direct the real nonmarginal enterprise, with substantial capital committed at risk. E-2 has no universal minimum dollar amount; do not import the EB-5 ten-job rule. Revisit the plan when ownership, employment, funding, family facts, or the business proposal changes. A later development may require a different assessment even when earlier documents remain accurate.
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.