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The Canadian Startup Visa has one of the fewest requirements in terms of eligibility amongst Canadian business immigration programs – no education or work experience mandatory (although highly recommended for approval purposes). But what about the actual requirements to submit to the designated organization and IRCC after you’ve decided to apply? What are the requirements? This is what we will be discussing in this article.
We are going to cover the requirements for the stages of the Startup Visa: Pre-Admission, Pre-Letter of Support, Post-Letter of Support for your PR, and a preview of your Startup Visa work permit.
If you’re interested in applying for the Canada Startup Visa, at INGWE we will guide and support you throughout the endorsement letter or Letter of Support process and the entire immigration process, including work visas and Canada PR. Get a FREE email assessment with one of our Business Immigration consultants. Fill out the form, click here.
Most designated organizations typically require the following before they even consider admitting you to their program for endorsement:
* All co-founders updated resumes.
* Pitch deck (presenting your startup concept and why it is innovative and would succeed).
* Business plan (in some cases even a draft is enough).
At INGWE we are EXPERTS in the Canada and UK Startup Visa. We will guide and support you throughout the endorsement letter or Letter of Support process and the entire immigration process including work visas and permanent residencies. Get a FREE email assessment with us, fill out our form, click here.
This is the stage before your designated organization issues your final Letter of Support (i.e., graduating from their cohort, accelerator, or due diligence process):
* Proof of IRCC minimum settlement funds (in some cases even investment funds to prove you can run the business inside Canada if you don’t have external investors yet).
* Proof of language exam score (sometimes if one co-founder is missing the document, even if they have an appointment booked with an IELTS or TEF center, the designated organization could accept it if the rest of the co-founders had theirs completed already).
* Police clearance certificate (this is an optional step that may not be mandatory depending on your designated organization or legal representative. With our Startup groups we do request this from all co-founders and their spouses and dependent children ages 18 or over).
* Business registration documents for the Canadian entity including shareholder agreements (this is a requirement that some designated organizations want to see before they issue the Letter of Support – some may request this at this stage, and some may not).
If you’re interested in applying for the Canada Startup Visa, at INGWE we will guide and support you throughout the endorsement letter or Letter of Support process and the entire immigration process, including work visas and Canada PR. Get a FREE email assessment with one of our Business Immigration consultants. Fill out the form, click here.
Post-Letter of Support when submitting the PR application for co-founders as per the IRCC requirements (within 6 months after the original issuance of your Letter of Support): The following supporting documents are required in your PR application to IRCC – even if they’re not included in the official checklist.
* Final Letter of Support from your designated organization.
* Proof of funds for all co-founders. Again, this should be the minimum settlement funds as per the IRCC published rates as bare minimum, and it would be highly advisable to include additional liquid funds as this is an economic business immigration program (in some cases we also include assets of the co-founders to prove that they have enough backing if required – although this is optional).
* Police clearance certificate for a co-founder, spouse/partner, and any dependent children ages 18 and over.
* Proof of language exam such as IELTS, CELPIP, TEF, or TCF taken within the last 24 months of the application date to IRCC.
* Work Experience documents for co-founders. Although this is not a mandatory requirement for this program, we highly recommend it to increase your chances of approval. Examples include employment reference letters, contracts, pay stubs, and/or social insurance and tax history documents. Include your updated resume as well in your application package.
* Education documents for co-founders. Although this is not a mandatory requirement for this program, if the co-founders have education, we always include it as it doesn’t hurt the application but rather reinforces the application. You can include your completed post-secondary degree copies with transcripts. No educational assessment certificate is required such as WES.
* Upfront medical exam by a panel physician. This is not required at this stage, but we always ask our clients to complete it if the co-founders do not have intimate knowledge of each other – i.e., they are not very close friends or family. The purpose is to make sure no co-founders hide their medical conditions from other co-founders. Otherwise, as we all know, medical exams for IRCC expire within 1 year, so may ask you to retake it depending on your country of residence. And if you are a non-essential member then maybe it’s not necessary to do an upfront medical exam initially.
* Business registration documents in Canada, any shareholder agreements, and other business documents proving what you have already completed for your Startup. This is optional and not mandatory – but advisable.
* And of course, don’t forget all the mandatory IRCC application forms such as the generic PR forms, Schedule A’s, Schedule 13, your photos and the most important being proof of payment of the IRCC PR application fees and biometrics. Refer to the IRCC checklist for these required application forms and documents to be completed – and as you all know the IRCC online portal now has all this information available, and no physical paper application or PDF forms are required.
If you are trying to decide to apply to Canada or the UK through the Startup Visa Program, look no further. That’s our specialty here at INGWE Canada. We will guide and support you throughout the endorsement letter or Letter of Support process and the entire immigration process including work visas and permanent residencies. Get a FREE email assessment, click here.
The work permit stage, which is optional, also has its own requirements after you have received your Letter of Support: Keep in mind that you can only apply for your work permit within the validity period of your Letters of Support – and it’s only possible if you are marked as an essential member on this document.
* Literally everything we mentioned in the previous part for the PR application to IRCC, in addition to the following will be required for this optional work permit stage (seems very amusing how IRCC is stricter on temporary resident vs. permanent resident applications).
* Copy of your latest Business Plan as approved by the designated organization.
* Business registration at this stage is not optional, but mandatory for a work permit application.
* Your employer compliance fee (i.e. LMIA exempt code).
* A job offer from your own company in Canada to yourself as the main work permit applicant.
* All the required IRCC work permit application forms and proof of payment of their processing fees, as per the published information on their website.
* A detailed progress report of what you have already accomplished.
* A detailed roadmap of activities you plan to complete inside Canada if you are approved for a work permit.
* An explanation letter addressing the embassy’s main concerns along with the supporting documents for each item. In the coming weeks, we will cover this in a dedicated article as this is a whole other story – and very important. This is why we are dedicating another article for this subject.
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