Several years of financial statements, tax filings, payroll registers, the customer contract list, equipment schedules and any lease. Ask for the records that separate owner compensation from profit, since that is what the marginality question turns on.
Request the boring records, not the summary deck
Sellers and brokers naturally lead with a summary presentation, which is written to sell rather than to be verified. The documents that answer immigration questions are the unglamorous ones: payroll registers showing who was paid and when, tax filings that a third party has seen, bank statements matching the revenue claimed, and contracts showing whether customers are committed to the business or to the owner. Ask for them in a single written list with a deadline, and make the purchase conditional on receiving them. If a broker discourages the request as unusual, remember that a buyer who is also making an immigration filing has a stronger reason than most to insist. Keep every document received, along with the dates, because the file eventually has to show a coherent story rather than a conclusion.
Hypothetical example: Fatima, a bicycle-repair shop buyer, received part of her capital from a relative and has only a text message about it. She should document the donor’s lawful source, the gift terms, the transfer into her account and the later movement into the enterprise. A signed gift instrument, donor bank records and corresponding statements provide a trace that the text alone cannot. The acquisition file should also include the purchase agreement, escrow terms, share ledger, invoices and operating plan. Together those records must show treaty ownership, a substantial commitment exposed to loss, an operating non-marginal business and Fatima’s authority to develop and direct it.