IN THIS GUIDE · Buying a Pennsylvania tree-care company from Central Frontenac: the four places this kind of E-2 file usually breaks
Start with the E-2 eligibility and application overview
Buying trucks is not the same as buying an enterprise
When most of a price is rolling stock, the file has to show that the money bought a going concern rather than a fleet. The evidence that does that is operational: the crews who stay, the customer list that transfers, the work in progress on the day of closing, the yard lease and the scheduling system. Set out the purchase-price allocation and explain what each part buys, because equipment held for resale is not an investment in an operating business while equipment put to work by employees is. A valuation or an independent equipment appraisal is worth having, since the allocation the parties agree for tax reasons is not always the story the immigration file needs to tell.
Revenue that may not survive the closing
A utility subcontract is often the most valuable thing in a company like this and the most fragile. Many such agreements terminate or require the utility's written consent on a change of control, and some require the contractor to hold a registration or qualification in its own name. Read the assignment clause before relying on the revenue it produces. The same applies to municipal accounts, arborist certifications held personally by the departing owner and any state contractor registration. If the projections assume a contract that has not been consented to, the projections are speculative, and an officer comparing them with the historical accounts will see the gap.
Who develops and directs when the seller wants to stay
Sellers of service businesses frequently want to retain a minority stake and keep running operations for a few years. That can be sensible commercially and fatal to the visa if it leaves the buyer as a passive owner. The requirement is that the investor develops and directs the enterprise, ordinarily through at least fifty percent ownership or demonstrable operational control. If the seller keeps forty per cent and the general manager's chair, write the shareholders' agreement and the buyer's job description so that hiring, pricing, bidding and capital spending sit with the buyer, and file both documents. Decide which spouse is the applicant; the other is employment-authorized as an E-2 spouse and may take unrelated work.
Marginality is usually the easy part here
A company with eleven employees and an existing payroll does not look marginal, which is an advantage this purchase has over a start-up. The argument is still worth making explicitly: show historical payroll, the number of full-time positions retained, and revenue that supports more than the couple's living costs. The risk is the reverse of the usual one. If the buyers plan to shed staff, run leaner crews and take a larger draw, the business they described in the file is not the business they will operate, and an extension application five years later will be read against the plan filed today.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.