Read the agreements together
Identify the buyer, seller, escrow holder, amounts and release or refund provisions. Explain discrepancies with the transaction advisers rather than choosing the clause that appears most favourable. The immigration narrative should describe the arrangement that will actually govern the money. Make a transaction timeline from contract through deposit, release, closing, and operations. Identify who controls each condition, because similar labels can describe materially different obligations.
Trace the committed funds
Document lawful source and path and the payment into the relevant arrangement. The funds relied on must be irrevocably committed and at risk; a purchase promise, escrow deposit, and released payment establish different facts. The treatment depends on the actual terms and applicable investment requirements, not only the document’s heading. Maintain a source-and-path ledger that pairs each transfer with its origin, bank evidence, and business use. It distinguishes available money from capital already committed.
Establish the remaining E-2 elements
Confirm relevant treaty nationality, ownership or control, development and direction, operations and nonmarginality. An escrow analysis cannot cure missing enterprise nationality or an unsupported business plan. E-2 has no universal minimum purchase price or ten-job rule. Review nationality, ownership, operating assumptions, and management role independently from purchase mechanics. Spending more does not make the enterprise treaty-qualified or nonmarginal.
Coordinate the decision points
Identify which commercial obligations arise before the immigration outcome and who can lawfully perform US work. Obtain advice on material changes and conditions. Neither a signed agreement nor an escrow receipt guarantees approval or permission to operate the business. Identify pre-opening activity and who may lawfully perform it. Transaction professionals can coordinate without altering commercial records to create a preferred immigration sequence.
Confirm what escrow cannot establish
A qualifying release condition does not replace at least 50% enterprise ownership by nationals of the relevant treaty country. Canada is a treaty country, but Canadian residence alone is not nationality. Nor does escrow establish nonmarginality: assess capacity beyond minimal living for the investor and family or significant economic contribution under the applicable standard. Those business facts need evidence apart from the funds held by the escrow agent. E-2 does not provide a direct path to permanent residence. Test the forecast against premises, customers, suppliers, and staffing evidence. A polished projection is weaker than a realistic account of why the enterprise can grow beyond household support.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.