Read the general investor planning overview
Hypothetical example: a Canadian-citizen heavy-equipment technician from Pilot Butte wants to start a U.S. mobile hydraulic and diesel repair service with a service truck, tools and a small shop lease. The total cost of establishing it is modest. The U.S. enterprise must be at least 50% owned by treaty-country nationals. E-2 has no fixed minimum investment, but it applies a sliding scale: the lower the cost of the enterprise, the higher the proportion the investor must fund personally, and for a business at this price the expectation is close to the whole amount. The second hurdle is marginality, since a one-technician service earns one technician's living unless the plan credibly shows hiring.
How the proportionality test works at the low end
Substantiality is assessed by comparing the amount invested with the total cost of purchasing or creating the enterprise. The Foreign Affairs Manual describes an inverted sliding scale: a business that costs relatively little to establish should be funded almost entirely by the investor, while a very expensive enterprise may qualify with a smaller percentage. For a mobile repair service where the truck, tooling, diagnostic equipment, lease deposit and initial working capital make up the full startup cost, the investor should expect to have committed all or nearly all of that figure from his own funds. Financing the truck through a dealer loan secured on the truck itself does not count as his capital.
Showing the money is committed and at risk
For a startup there is no seller to hold escrow, so commitment is proven by spending: the truck purchased outright or with a personally secured loan, tools and diagnostic equipment invoiced and paid, the shop lease signed with the deposit paid, insurance bound, the U.S. entity formed and its account funded. Source of funds should be traced from Saskatchewan savings or the sale of Canadian equipment, with statements showing accumulation and transfer. Working capital transferred to the enterprise account and needed for the first months counts when the business plan supports it; a large cash cushion left in the investor's personal account does not. Keep every receipt in the enterprise's name.
Escaping the marginality finding
A business is marginal if it lacks the present or future capacity to generate more than enough income to support the investor and family. A sole-operator repair service is the archetype of a marginal enterprise unless the plan shows growth. The five-year projection should present realistic fleet-maintenance contracts with construction or agricultural customers, the hiring of a second technician and an apprentice within a defined period, and revenue supporting those wages, with assumptions the officer can test. Letters of intent from prospective customers help. The investor must develop and direct the business; his spouse, if she accompanies him, is employment-authorized incident to status and may work anywhere. E-2 provides no direct path to permanent residence.
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.