IN THIS GUIDE · Treat nationality, the enterprise and the funding as three separate questions
Confirm nationality and who actually controls the business
Identify the investor's treaty nationality and how ownership of the U.S. enterprise is structured. Gather the agreements that show the applicant will actually develop and direct the business, including any rights retained by a seller, co-investor or lender that could limit that control. Canadian permanent residence is not the same fact as Canadian nationality for this purpose. Confirm the investor's treaty nationality and calculate the enterprise's nationality from actual ownership, not a mailing address or a co-owner's description. Review voting rights, management rights, seller controls, and lender covenants together. This identifies early whether the investor will retain the authority needed to run the enterprise personally.
Document the lawful path of the invested funds
Build a dated trail from the original lawful source of the money to the actual investment, including any currency conversions or intermediate transfers. Hypothetical example: a Hamilton-based buyer's financing is secured by several business assets rather than being an unsecured personal loan. Review the full loan and security documents before assuming a general description like personal loan settles the question. Make a source-of-funds ledger that begins with the lawful origin and ends with the money committed to the business. Put sale documents, tax records, account statements, currency conversions, loan documents, and wires in chronological order. Unexplained deposits or a loan secured by the enterprise can change the analysis, so do not wait until an interview to reconstruct the trail.
Read escrow and purchase terms as a set of conditions
Certain investment-in-process and escrow arrangements, including some visa-contingent purchases, can be recognized under the applicable Foreign Affairs Manual guidance. Identify the exact release, refund and cancellation conditions before any money moves. Substantiality is judged relative to the specific business's cost, and there is no fixed universal dollar minimum that decides eligibility by itself. Read the purchase agreement, escrow instructions, financing conditions, and refund provisions as one transaction. The point is not the label escrow; it is whether the investor has taken the meaningful financial step contemplated by the arrangement while retaining only an appropriate immigration contingency. A reversible bank balance is usually not a completed investment.
Show the enterprise is real and not marginal
Describe the business's actual operations, staffing and financial prospects, distinguishing historical results from a forward-looking forecast, especially after a recent change in ownership. Confirm the applicable visa or admission process for the specific nationality involved, since Canadian citizens generally require an E visa issued through the standard consular process for this category. Test the operating plan separately from the purchase price. Show what is sold, who is hired, how revenue arrives, and why the enterprise should grow beyond support for the investor's household. A detailed forecast must remain believable when compared with premises, licences, supplier terms, and available working capital.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.