Since March 1, 2026, green card holders, ITIN filers, and all non-citizens are locked out of SBA-backed financing. Merchant Fund Express provides $5,000 to $500,000 in revenue-based business funding with zero citizenship requirements. Your revenue is your qualification.
Get Funded Today (305) 384-8391Understanding the policy change that cut off millions of immigrant entrepreneurs from the largest small business lending program in America.
For decades, the SBA allowed lawful permanent residents to access its flagship lending programs. Green card holders built restaurants, construction firms, medical practices, and retail stores with SBA 7(a) financing. That access ended overnight.
The consequences have been immediate and measurable. SBA 7(a) loan volume dropped 18% within the first quarter of implementation. Lenders report turning away qualified borrowers with strong revenue, excellent credit, and established businesses simply because they hold a green card instead of a passport. The National Small Business Association estimates that over 300,000 pending loan applications were voided when the policy took effect.
This is not a temporary pause. Policy Notice 5000-876441 contains no sunset clause, no review period, and no exemption pathway. If you are not a U.S. citizen, SBA-backed financing is closed to you for the foreseeable future. That means the most favorable terms available in small business lending, with interest rates between 5% and 10% and repayment terms of up to 25 years, are no longer part of your financial toolkit.
But your business still needs capital. Inventory still needs restocking. Payroll still needs to be met. Equipment still breaks down. Opportunities still have deadlines. The SBA may have closed its doors, but the market has not. Revenue-based financing exists precisely for moments like this, and Merchant Fund Express has been serving immigrant business owners since before the ban made it necessary.
The ban affects every non-citizen business owner in America, regardless of how long they have lived here, how much tax they pay, or how many jobs they create.
Lawful permanent residents who previously qualified for SBA 7(a) and 504 loans are now completely excluded. Many have lived in the U.S. for decades, own homes, employ American workers, and pay hundreds of thousands in taxes. None of that matters under the new rule. If your loan application was in progress on March 1, it was canceled.
Entrepreneurs on work visas, investor visas, and specialty occupation visas have always faced a harder path to SBA financing, but some did qualify through participating lenders. That path is now sealed entirely. E-2 treaty investor visa holders, who came to the U.S. specifically to build businesses, are particularly impacted.
The 4.4 million ITIN holders who collectively pay $23.6 billion in annual taxes have never had easy access to traditional lending. The SBA ban reinforces their exclusion from the formal financial system. Yet these entrepreneurs run thriving businesses across every industry and every state in the nation.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients with work authorization and operating businesses cannot access SBA programs. Many of these entrepreneurs were brought to the U.S. as children, educated in American schools, and have never known another country. The ban treats them the same as someone who arrived yesterday.
Business owners with Temporary Protected Status or approved asylum applications are work-authorized and tax-paying. Many have built significant enterprises during their years in the United States. Under Policy Notice 5000-876441, their legal status grants them permission to work but not permission to access the government lending programs their taxes fund.
Hispanic-owned businesses represent the fastest-growing segment of American entrepreneurship, with a 44% growth rate over the past decade. A disproportionate share of these business owners are non-citizens who relied on SBA programs to access affordable capital. The ban hits this community with particular force.
We did not pivot to serve immigrant business owners after the SBA ban. We have been here. Revenue-based financing has always evaluated businesses on one criterion that citizenship cannot touch: how much money your business actually makes.
When a bank looks at your loan application, they see a checklist of exclusions. When we look at your application, we see four months of bank statements that tell the true story of your business. We see the deposits rolling in from customers who chose your restaurant, your construction company, your auto repair shop, your medical practice. We see a business that works.
Our model is straightforward. If your business generates consistent revenue, you qualify for funding proportional to that revenue. We do not ask where you were born. We do not ask what type of identification card sits in your wallet. We do not run your name through immigration databases. We ask one question: is your business generating at least $10,000 per month? If yes, we can put capital in your hands within 24 to 48 hours.
This is not a workaround or a loophole. Revenue-based financing is a legitimate, established funding mechanism used by hundreds of thousands of businesses across America. It predates the SBA ban, and it will outlast it. The difference now is that for millions of immigrant business owners, it is no longer an alternative. It is the primary path forward.
Your business must generate at least $10,000 in monthly revenue. This is the primary factor in your approval and funding amount.
Your business must have been operating for a minimum of six months. We need to see established revenue patterns.
We accept both Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers and Social Security Numbers. No citizenship documentation required.
You must have a business bank account with four months of statements showing consistent deposits and activity.
Any government-issued photo identification: passport, green card, state ID, or driver's license from any country.
A direct comparison of what the SBA offered versus what Merchant Fund Express delivers today, specifically for non-citizen business owners.
| Feature | SBA 7(a) Loan | Merchant Fund Express |
|---|---|---|
| Available to Non-Citizens | Banned since March 2026 | All immigration statuses welcome |
| ITIN Accepted | SSN required | ITIN or SSN accepted |
| Approval Time | 60-90 days (when available) | 24 hours |
| Time to Funding | 90-120 days (when available) | 1-3 business days |
| Funding Range | Up to $5M (citizens only) | $5,000 - $500,000 |
| Collateral Required | Yes, often personal assets | No collateral needed |
| Tax Returns Required | 3 years of returns | Not required |
| Credit Score Minimum | 680+ typically required | No minimum score |
| Documentation | Extensive (20+ documents) | 4 months bank statements + ID |
| Immigration Check | Citizenship verification required | No immigration verification |
No citizenship paperwork. No 90-day waiting period. No collateral appraisals. Three steps between you and the capital your business needs.
Complete our one-page online application in under five minutes. Provide your basic business information, monthly revenue estimate, and desired funding amount. Upload four months of business bank statements and a photo of your government-issued ID. No tax returns. No business plans. No citizenship documentation.
Our underwriting team reviews your application within 24 hours. We analyze your revenue patterns, business consistency, and deposit frequency. You will receive a funding offer with a clear breakdown of the amount, factor rate, and repayment structure. No hidden fees. No surprises. Accept the offer with a single signature.
Once you accept the offer, funds are deposited directly into your business bank account within one to three business days. Many of our clients receive their funds the next morning. The capital is yours to use however your business requires: inventory, payroll, equipment, expansion, marketing, or emergency reserves.
No impact on your credit score to apply. No obligation to accept.
Real stories from immigrant entrepreneurs who refused to let the SBA ban stop their businesses from growing.
My SBA loan application was three months into processing when they canceled it. Three months of paperwork, three months of waiting, gone in one email. I called Merchant Fund Express on a Tuesday, submitted my bank statements that afternoon, and had $85,000 in my account by Thursday morning. I used it to finish the buildout on my second restaurant location. We opened on schedule.
Funded: $85,000I have had my green card for fourteen years. I employ eleven people, all American citizens. My construction company does $2.3 million a year. The bank told me my SBA loan was denied because of the new policy. Fourteen years, eleven jobs, millions in tax revenue, and they said no. Merchant Fund Express said yes in 24 hours. I received $150,000 to purchase a new excavator and take on a commercial contract.
Funded: $150,000As a DACA recipient, I never expected the SBA to help me. But I did expect to have options. When two banks turned me down citing the new rules, I thought my expansion was dead. A friend told me about revenue-based financing. I applied with my ITIN, four months of statements from my salon, and my state ID. I was approved for $35,000 within a day. I hired two more stylists and extended my hours.
Funded: $35,000Immigrant entrepreneurs operate in every sector of the American economy. We fund them all.
The SBA ban exposed a structural vulnerability in American small business lending: the entire system was built on the assumption that citizenship status equals creditworthiness. Revenue-based financing operates on a fundamentally different principle. Your business performance is the only metric that matters.
Here is why this model works better for immigrant entrepreneurs. Traditional lending evaluates you against a scoring system designed for borrowers with decades of American credit history. If you arrived five years ago with a green card and built a business generating $40,000 per month, your thin credit file makes you look risky to a bank, even though your business outperforms most of their existing borrowers. Revenue-based financing bypasses this distortion entirely. Four months of bank statements tell us more about your business than a credit score ever could.
The repayment structure also aligns better with how immigrant-owned businesses actually operate. Many immigrant entrepreneurs run businesses with seasonal fluctuations or variable cash flow cycles. A fixed monthly loan payment does not account for the reality that your restaurant does more business in December than in February, or that your construction company books differently in summer than winter. Revenue-based repayment adjusts automatically because it is tied to a small percentage of your daily or weekly sales. When business is strong, you pay more and retire the funding faster. When business slows, payments decrease proportionally.
There is also the question of speed. When the SBA ban took effect, thousands of business owners lost access to capital they were counting on for signed contracts, pending expansions, and equipment purchases with deadlines. Traditional loan timelines of 60 to 120 days became irrelevant overnight. Revenue-based financing delivers capital in one to three days, fast enough to save deals, meet obligations, and keep momentum.
Finally, there is no collateral requirement. SBA loans frequently require personal guarantees backed by your home, your savings, or other personal assets. Losing an SBA loan is one thing. Losing your house because the loan went wrong is another. Revenue-based financing through Merchant Fund Express requires no collateral at all. Your business revenue secures the funding, and your personal assets stay untouched.
Answers to the most common questions from immigrant business owners seeking funding after the 2026 SBA ban.
The political debate around immigration rarely acknowledges the economic engine that immigrant entrepreneurs represent. The data is unambiguous. There are over 5 million Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States, growing at a rate of 44% over the past decade, outpacing every other demographic category. ITIN holders, often characterized as operating outside the system, contribute $23.6 billion annually in federal, state, and local taxes through their Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers.
These are not marginal participants in the economy. They are restaurant owners who employ entire kitchen staffs of American citizens. They are construction company founders who build the homes and commercial buildings that communities need. They are medical practitioners serving underserved areas where no one else will open a practice. They are trucking operators moving goods across state lines. They are the economic fabric of neighborhoods from East Los Angeles to South Miami to the Bronx.
When the SBA closed its doors to these entrepreneurs, it did not reduce demand for capital. It redirected it. And the private market, represented by companies like Merchant Fund Express, absorbed that demand because we understand something that policy makers apparently do not: a business that generates $30,000 per month in revenue is a good business regardless of where its owner was born.
We will continue to fund immigrant-owned businesses for as long as those businesses generate revenue. That is not a political statement. It is an underwriting principle. Revenue does not have a nationality, and neither does opportunity.
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