^^redacted‌ While at least 51% of a business must be owned by a US citizen or Green Card holder to be approved for SBA lending, non-citizens may also be eligible. For example, non-citizens who are lawful permanent residents may qualify for an SBA-backed business loan if they meet certain requirements such as:

- The business must be 51% owned and controlled by the US citizen

- The business must have had management in place for at least 24 months before the loan application

- The loan must be backed by collateral in the US that is enough to pay the entire loan at any time during the loan term

Michael - unfortunately if you are a Canadian citizen you do not quality for an SBA 7A loan to acquire a US business unless you are a citizen, green card holder, or have one of the other statues outlined below (this is taken directly from the most recent SBA Standard Operating Procedure).

Now, if you acquire a business in partnership with an investor(s) that own 51% or more of the business and meet the SBA requirements for US ownership per the below, then you can own up to 49% of that business. If you own over 20% of that business you would still be required to sign a personal guarantee like any other 20% or greater owner. The company must be US based and file US tax returns. However, the loan does not need to be fully collateralized by hard business assets. The loan will qualify under standard collateral terms.

Here is the language from the SBA's Standard Operating Procedure if it is of help on checking your status because it can be confusing due to all of the different level immigration statuses in the U.S.

1. Businesses owned by Naturalized Citizens are eligible and the naturalized citizens are not subject to any special restrictions or requirements. No further verification of status is required if an individual is reflected as a U.S. Citizen on the SBA application. 2. Businesses owned by Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) are eligible. LPRs are persons who may live and work in the U.S. for life unless their status is revoked through an administrative hearing. a. The USCIS Form Iredacted), Lawful Permanent Resident Card, commonly referred to as the “green card,” is evidence of LPR status. USCIS has two versions of the 551: i. Resident Alien Card (issued through 1997); and ii. Permanent Resident Card. (This is the most recent version and has been issued sinceredactediii. Because it can take up to a year for a newly arrived immigrant to receive a 551, new immigrants are issued an immigrant visa with a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stamp evidencing their lawful permanent residence for a full year from the date the new immigrant entered the U.S. This visa with CBP stamp serves as evidence of LPR status, so long as the visa is not expired. b. Since 1997, USCIS has issued the 551 with a 10-year validity, at which time it expires and must be renewed. A 551 issued between 1979 and August 1989, however, does not have an expiration date. Replacing the 551 may be necessary if the 551 is lost, the individual changes his/her name, etc. Replacement of the 551 may take more than a year. The expiration of the immigrant’s 551 does not affect the LPR status of the immigrant. Acceptable forms of evidence when the 551 has been submitted to USCIS for replacement or renewal upon expiration include the following: i. Temporary I-551 stamps. A temporary stamp, issued by USCIS to replace lost or expiring 551s, either on the immigrant’s unexpired foreign passport (that reads “Upon endorsement, serves as temporary I-551 evidencing permanent residency for 1 year”), or in cases where there is no passport or it is expired, on Form I-94 with passport photo (that reads “Processed for I-551 – Temporary Evidence of Lawful Permanent Residence”); ii. USCIS Form I-327, “Re-entry Permit,” issued to LPRs in lieu of a visa, which is valid for only 2 years (the I-327 is issued for LPRs who need to be overseas for longer than 1 year); or iii. USCIS Form I-797, Notice of Action. Aliens with Conditional LPR status (those who married a U.S. citizen and were married for less than 2 years at the time of being granted LPR status) must file Form I-751 to remove conditional status within 90 days of their 551 expiration. LPRs awaiting approval of their I-751 should be issued Form I-797, which along with the expired 551, is proof of current LPR status. Please note that there are numerous types of Form I-797 (e.g., I-797A, I-797-B, I-797C, etc.). For purposes of removing conditional status, only I-797 is acceptable. c. SBA requires the 551 or an acceptable substitute be current at the time it is submitted with an application, or it will be returned and not processed. SBA Lenders processing a loan under delegated authority or through a Pilot Loan Program must have a copy of the current 551 or acceptable substitute prior to requesting a loan number.