Ownership percentage is not the whole answer; the question is whether the applicant is genuinely in a position to develop and direct the enterprise. A minority holder with contractual control rights may be positioned differently from one with none. The other elements still apply: treaty nationality for the person and the company, substantial at-risk investment, and non-marginality.
Write down the decisions the applicant can make alone
Take ten concrete decisions the business will face, such as hiring a manager, signing a lease, setting prices, approving a budget or taking on debt, and mark who decides each under the current documents. The pattern tells the real story faster than the title does. Then ask counsel whether the rights that exist are sufficient, and what amendments the majority owner would realistically accept.
That conversation should happen before any money moves. Take ten concrete decisions the business will face over the next year, such as hiring a manager, signing a lease, setting prices, approving a budget, or taking on debt, and mark who decides each under the documents as they currently stand. That pattern tells the real story faster than any title does.
Then ask counsel whether the rights that exist are sufficient for the applicant to develop and direct the enterprise, and what amendments the majority owner would realistically accept. Hold the conversation before any money moves. The other conditions apply regardless: treaty nationality for both the individual and the enterprise, capital irrevocably committed and at risk, and an enterprise that is more than marginal.