Candian Entreprenuer interested in buying AZ business (Prescott, Young: hotels, lawyer)

[Falken]

Currently Canadian citizen living in BC (Young, Married, Bachelors Degree).
Actively looking to buy an existing business in the service sector (closing price $750k-1.2mill)(c-type corp.).
Interested in buying said business in the US (AZ) and relocating.
If this took place i would like to become a dual citizen.

What the best way to go about this (business & immigration)?
Whats required and in what order?

any recommendations/advice from Canadians who own or have purchased US businesses would be appreciated. managing from a distance is not an option...i need to be were the business is. If this process is too difficult I'll be buying in Canada...a immigration lawyer is being sourced for me by my business lawyer in AZ...but I'm looking for some input in the mean time.

Thanks

Falken

[adventuregurl]

Originally Posted by Falken

Currently Canadian citizen living in BC (Young, Married, Bachelors Degree).
Actively looking to buy an existing business in the service sector (closing price $750k-1.2mill)(c-type corp.).
Interested in buying said business in the US (AZ) and relocating.
If this took place i would like to become a dual citizen.

What the best way to go about this (business & immigration)?
Whats required and in what order?

any recommendations/advice from Canadians who own or have purchased US businesses would be appreciated. managing from a distance is not an option...i need to be were the business is. If this process is too difficult I'll be buying in Canada...a immigration lawyer is being sourced for me by my business lawyer in AZ...but I'm looking for some input in the mean time.

Thanks

Falken

I am a Canadian living in AZ and in the process of immigrating here. I did not buy a business I am getting an 'extraordinary abilities' green card. There is something called and E2 investors visa which I think is how you would begin but immigration law is so tricky that I would only listen to a lawyer. I only know about the E2 visa as I was exploring all options and a lawyer told me about it. I have a good lawyer if you want PM me and I will share his name, he's in Encino CA.

[Sensimilla]

There is a few hotels up in Prescott that are in the $800k range, if your budget is 1.2mm then you should have enough to renovate.

[ArizonaBiz]

Falken:
I don't qualify as a Canadian. Oh wait. Maybe I do if visiting BC several times a year for hockey counts .
You're on the right track if you have consulted with an Arizona attorney familiar with immigration law. Odds are you'll be looking for an E2 visa which has certain requirements in terms of level of investment and number of jobs created. Based on the investment numbers you gave above, that should be fine.
The greatest challenge comes in terms of the waiting time from the time you find the right business and the day you receive the approval. It can be trickly since most sellers are uncomfortable waiting that length of time (which seems to run 4 to 6 months on average).
But the good news for you is that the Arizona economy is much weaker this year so your money will go further and sellers are now more likely to wait than they were just a year ago.
I work with many people/buyers relocating to Arizona helping them to find and negotiate the purchase of the right business. [mod] cannot advertise self or service on C-D [/mod]