Identify the rights behind the customer data
Hypothetical example: a buyer is offered a customer list and trade name, but no service contracts are included. Record what is legally transferred, any use restrictions and the basis for expected business. Do not describe every listed customer as committed to the buyer. Separate a customer list from enforceable revenue. Review assignment clauses, cancellation rights, consent requirements, and the person who will perform each service. A forecast should identify its assumptions and sources. This lets a reviewer assess whether the enterprise has a real operating basis rather than an unsupported sales projection.
Assess the resulting operating enterprise
Explain services, staff, resources and supported revenue assumptions. The enterprise must meet the applicable non-marginality analysis; substantiality is assessed against the actual cost of purchasing or establishing it, without a universal minimum. Commercial optimism is not a substitute for the business evidence. Trace each dollar from lawful source through the transaction documents to its current commitment. Explain escrow terms, financing security, refunds, and any conditions still outstanding. Receipts should line up with bank records and signed agreements; otherwise a payment may look like a reversible plan rather than money genuinely exposed to business risk.
Trace the investor’s commitment and authority
Document lawful source and path, ownership, qualifying nationality and development-and-direction rights. Read deposits, staged payments and refund terms on their actual provisions. A signed list purchase does not by itself establish all the investment or enterprise requirements. Choose a launch sequence that fits the contracts and the proposed status. Secure business rights, document ownership and control, then show staffing, premises, and operating steps. A visa decision does not cure a missing commercial right, and completing a purchase does not itself authorize work before proper admission or status.
Establish treaty ownership and lawful funding
The enterprise generally must be at least 50% owned by nationals of the relevant treaty country. Trace the actual ownership chain and the lawful source and path of the investment capital. Applicant residence is not a substitute for nationality, and a bank receipt alone may not establish ownership or funding history.
Sources reviewed 2026-09-07. This guide covers a preparation focus; it is not an individual eligibility assessment.