It depends on ownership and control, not a fixed percentage of the target. The enterprise must be at least fifty percent owned by treaty nationals of the investor's nationality, and the investor must genuinely develop and direct it. A small passive holding carrying no direction typically does not fit.
Map ownership and voting rights before signing
Bring the cap table, the shareholders' or operating agreement, and any voting, veto or board provisions. If other owners are not treaty nationals of your country, calculate the treaty-national percentage precisely rather than assuming it. Where the purchase is of a division rather than shares, describe which legal entity will hold it. In a hypothetical Pointe-Calumet planning discussion, restructuring the deal before closing is often easier than explaining it afterwards.
Treaty nationality, substantial committed at-risk investment and real operations remain separate requirements. The frequent mistake is stopping at “51 percent owner” without asking whether contractual vetoes leave the applicant unable to direct essential operations. The decision is not simply whether a percentage looks sufficient; it is whether the applicant has a credible role in developing and directing the enterprise under the documents that will actually govern it.
What a consular officer will examine is whether the numbers are real: whether the income depends on the seller's personal reputation, whether the guide payroll is on the books, and whether the buyer's plan for the off-season is credible.