Read the general pathway comparison overview
A French River applicant may have an intercompany employment opportunity and a separate chance to acquire a business’s customer contracts. Compare the actual employer relationship with the actual investment transaction, rather than treating access to the same customers as a common immigration basis.
Identify who would employ the applicant in an L-1 case
Establish the qualifying corporate relationship and foreign-employment record, along with the proposed managerial, executive or specialized-knowledge role. A commercial introduction, service agreement or purchased customer relationship does not itself make the organizations parent, subsidiary, affiliate or branch. Explain which organization has employed the person and how the U.S. and foreign operations will continue.
Identify what the applicant would own or control for E-2
Assess treaty nationality, the enterprise’s qualifying national ownership, lawful substantial capital at risk, development and direction and a real nonmarginal operation. There is no universal E-2 investment minimum. A transfer of selected assets can raise different questions from buying shares; use the real executed rights and investment commitments. The applicant’s intent to depart when E status ends remains relevant.
List the duties that would follow each arrangement
For the transfer, describe work performed as an employee of the qualifying group. For the acquisition, identify the business the investor would actually develop and direct. Resolve whether the same people or contracts are being described differently in the two plans. Permission for one arrangement is not unrestricted authority to operate the other, and neither a customer introduction nor an acquisition deposit grants work authorization.
What else is on your mind?
Does being a business owner or director qualify me for L-1A?What employment history should an L-1 transfer review cover?What makes a new-office L-1A case different?How should an owner compare L-1 and E-2?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.