IN THIS GUIDE · A contractor buying an American company, and the conditions the purchase has to satisfy
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Nationality is traced to individuals, not to the company's address
Canada is a treaty country for E-2 purposes, and the requirement runs to people. Constantin must hold Canadian citizenship, and the American enterprise must be at least fifty percent owned by nationals of the same treaty country. Ownership is followed through every layer until it reaches individuals: a holding company has no nationality of its own, and a corporation in which treaty nationals hold less than half fails the test. An exact fifty-fifty split with an American partner does meet that ownership threshold, and the question then moves to whether the shareholders' agreement leaves Constantin able to develop and direct the enterprise. Permanent residence in Canada does not substitute for citizenship, and a dual national should establish which citizenship the case is built on before anything is filed. The evidence is documentary — passports, share registers, shareholder agreements — and it is worth resolving before the purchase agreement is signed rather than afterwards.
Committed and at risk means the money can be lost
Funds sitting in Constantin's own account, or held by his lawyer subject to his instructions alone, are not an investment. The capital must be irrevocably committed and subject to partial or total loss if the business fails. In a purchase like this the usual mechanism is an escrow released on approval of the E-2 application, which puts the money beyond his control while protecting him if the case is refused. The vendor-financed portion is a harder question: an obligation secured only by the assets of the business being purchased is generally not treated as the investor's own capital at risk, whereas a personal guarantee or security over his other assets changes the analysis. The source of the funds must also be lawful and traceable, which means bank records rather than a summary.
Substantial is a proportion, and marginal is about capacity
There is no minimum dollar amount. Substantiality is measured against what this particular business costs to buy or to establish: a low-capital service company can be fully funded for a fraction of what a manufacturer requires, and the question is whether the investment is enough to make the enterprise operational. Marginality is a different test, and the one that surprises buyers. The enterprise must have the present or future capacity to generate significantly more than a minimal living for Constantin and his family, and an eleven-employee company with contracted work is comfortably placed to show it. A business that would support only the investor's household is marginal, and a projection reaching beyond that within about five years has to rest on something firmer than optimism.
E-2 does not lead anywhere by itself
E-2 status can be extended indefinitely while the enterprise continues to qualify, which is often described as its great advantage and is also its limitation: it offers no direct path to permanent residence. Status ends when the business is sold, closed or ceases to meet the conditions, and nothing accrues toward a green card in the meantime. A family building a long-term life on E-2 should therefore understand what it is choosing. Constantin's spouse would be employment-authorized incident to status, and his children would hold dependent status until twenty-one, at which point each needs their own. If permanent residence is the eventual object, that route has to be planned separately and on its own requirements, not assumed to follow from years of successful renewals.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-08. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.