IN THIS GUIDE · A County couple selling irrigated land to buy an established U.S. farm-equipment dealership outright
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Corporate proceeds are not personal capital until they are distributed
The land belongs to the family corporation, so the sale proceeds land in the corporation's account. E-2 requires the investor to have invested or be actively investing personal funds that are at risk. Money still inside the corporation is the corporation's, and a purchase made in the corporation's name would make the corporation the investor, which is workable only if it is itself Canadian-owned and Hank or Marlene enter as its employee-investor. The cleaner route is a documented distribution, dividend or shareholder-loan repayment to the couple personally, with the tax consequences taken on the Canadian side first. Every step from land title to personal account must be traceable on paper.
Irrevocable commitment usually means escrow with a single condition
Capital sitting in a personal account, even one in the United States, is not committed. The standard structure for a purchase is a signed stock or asset purchase agreement, with the purchase price deposited in escrow to be released to the seller on visa approval and returned to the buyer only if the visa is refused. That satisfies the requirement that the funds be irrevocably committed while protecting the couple from paying for a business they cannot run. A seller who refuses any conditionality should be asked whether he would rather receive a non-refundable deposit of meaningful size with the balance on closing; a deposit of that kind is also at risk and can support the case.
Substantial and non-marginal are measured against this business
Substantiality is proportional: the amount invested is compared with the total cost of buying this dealership, and a purchase of all the shares at fair value for a business with inventory, a building lease, and a service shop will ordinarily be substantial. Non-marginality asks whether the enterprise does more than support the couple: eight existing employees, a service contract book and a parts trade make a strong showing, provided the deal keeps them. Ask the seller for three years of financial statements, the payroll register, the dealership agreement with the equipment manufacturer and confirmation that the manufacturer will consent to a change of ownership, since a dealership without its franchise agreement is not the business described.
Ownership and direction, and what E-2 does not provide
Buying one hundred percent means Hank and Marlene own the enterprise and will develop and direct it; one of them applies as the principal investor and the other may apply as a derivative spouse with employment authorization incident to status, or both may apply as investors if both will direct it. E-2 status is renewable while the business operates but provides no direct path to permanent residence, and the couple should decide early whether that matters to them. Their children may hold derivative status until 21 but may not work. The application is made at a U.S. consulate with a full E-2 package, and processing and appointment availability vary.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.