IN THIS GUIDE · Identify what an asset-only purchase actually includes
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Define the assets and obligations transferred
In a hypothetical transaction, customer receivables remain with the seller while the buyer purchases equipment and takes selected contracts. Read the signed schedules and any exclusions. Identify the applicant’s qualifying treaty nationality, at least 50% relevant treaty-country national enterprise ownership and the actual ability to develop and direct the new business. Buying assets does not automatically establish control over the seller’s legal entity.
Show qualifying capital in the buyer’s actual enterprise
Trace lawful source and the full path of funds, including financing and collateral. The capital must be substantial relative to the actual business cost, committed at risk and invested or actively in the qualifying process; there is no universal minimum. Borrowing secured against enterprise assets does not qualify as investment. Assess personal financing and any qualifying escrow terms rather than assuming every listed purchase cost has the same treatment.
Rebuild the operating forecast after the exclusions
The enterprise must be real and nonmarginal, with capacity beyond a minimal living for the investor and family or the applicable significant economic contribution. Future capacity generally should be realizable within five years of normal business activity. E-2 has no ten-job quota. If receivables, staff or customer contracts are excluded, explain how the buyer’s working capital and operations will function without simply copying the seller’s accounts.
Coordinate title, activity and temporary status
A qualifying visa-contingent escrow may be possible under its actual terms. Legal ownership of assets does not itself authorize US work. The investor must intend to depart when E status ends; Canadian citizens generally require an E visa for this route. Reassess material changes to the asset schedule, funding or control before relying on a file built around the earlier transaction.
Establish the investment and enterprise conditions
Substantiality is judged in proportion to the enterprise, and no universal dollar minimum exists, so the honest starting point is what capital is genuinely available and lawfully sourced. An applicant must be coming to develop and direct the enterprise, which is ordinarily shown by owning at least fifty percent or by operational control through a managerial position or other device. If the seller releases the security interest over company assets in exchange for a larger down payment, the qualifying portion rises; if a side letter later restores that collateral, it falls again. Money sitting in a Canadian account, or held in an escrow that returns it if the visa is refused, has not yet been invested; the accepted approach is an escrow that releases to the seller on visa issuance and only that condition. The capital must be irrevocably committed to the enterprise and genuinely exposed to loss; a revocable promise or money still freely available for another use does not settle that issue. Share registers, operating agreements, voting provisions, and closing documents establish who owns the enterprise and whether treaty nationals hold the required majority. Two conditions govern the outcome and neither is arithmetic: the investment must be at risk, meaning subject to partial or total loss, and it may not be marginal, so the enterprise must have the present or future capacity to generate more than a minimal living.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-08. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.