Read the franchise arrangement
Identify the investor’s ownership and authority to develop and direct the enterprise. Brand standards and franchise terms need examination in context; neither the franchise label nor a signed agreement automatically establishes the investor’s control or eligibility. Read restrictions on hiring, operating hours, transfers, and approvals alongside the ownership documents. The question is what authority the investor will exercise after the business opens.
Separate the use of each payment
Trace franchise fees, equipment, premises costs and operating resources and assess their actual treatment under E-2 requirements. A quoted package total can include different obligations. There is no universal qualifying minimum that applies to every franchise. Reconcile each payment against a bank record, contract term, and business use. A refundable or conditional amount may need a different explanation from an amount that cannot be recovered.
Address opening dependencies
Identify required licences, premises and other conditions without assuming that a payment alone creates an operating enterprise. Describe what is obtained, what is pending and what the business can legally do. Immigration permission does not replace business or professional licensing. Put licences and permits on a dated dependency list. This helps distinguish a genuine opening sequence from a claim that a business is already operating when a legal prerequisite remains outstanding.
Support a credible business plan
Use reasonable evidence for customers, expenses, staffing and revenue projections. Assess the applicable nonmarginality standard rather than promising that brand recognition guarantees profitability. E-2 has no general ten-job requirement, and a franchisor’s sales forecast is not an immigration decision. Test the narrative against the cash-flow model: who is hired, when revenue begins, and how the venture becomes more than support for the household alone.
Verify the franchise company’s owners
The business needs at least 50% ownership by nationals of the relevant treaty country. Review who actually owns the franchise enterprise rather than using the franchisor’s nationality. The operating plan must support the nonmarginality framework: more than minimal living for the investor and family or the alternative of significant economic contribution, with the applicable rules for future capacity. Check nationality at the enterprise level through the actual ownership chain. A well-known franchisor cannot cure ownership facts that leave the local company outside the treaty requirement.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.