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Can you find the true cost of a Canadian Startup Visa anywhere online? It’s difficult and very blurred. That’s because the Startup Visa world has a lot of secrets. In this article we will discuss the not so hidden costs of the SUV program, as well as expose the fees that are found between the different layers of agencies and designated organizations.
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 procedure, including work visas and Canada PR. Get a FREE email assessment with one of our Business Immigration consultants. Fill out the form, click here.
There are two types of Startup visa groups: The real Startup and the concept Startup. What’s the difference between these two?
Startup Visa Type # 1:
Real Startups have something real to sell and were initially created for the purpose of having a successful product or solution to make money and grow. Their original goal was not to immigrate to Canada. They all have ready products or solutions, and most of them have early onboarding customers and some even have revenues. In some cases, they may not have either but have external investors (whether private or institutional) who are sold on their concept and have injected investment into the Startup to succeed and grow, believing that there is potential for them to become a unicorn in the Startup world.
Startup Visa Type #2:
Concept Startups are created for immigration purposes. I know many stakeholders in the industry don’t want to see this exposed in the public forums, however, that is the reality. Nobody is really interested in continuing these types of Startups after the immigration process is completed (i.e., Canadian PR to be approved). These Startups try to develop a product or solution and, in most situations, for the sake of immigration success, do have an MVP. Many successful concept startups will invest money (as co-founders) to get some traction in marketing, media coverage, product development, research, and so forth. In some cases, it may even look like they have some customers or collaboration partners. Basically, they will do anything and everything to become successful in their immigration path to Canada. Making money or growing this business after the IRCC approval is received for immigration purposes, is not high on the agenda.
Then you have the investor applicants. They are not a Startup Visa group themselves but fall into either of these two types of Startup groups which we just covered. In 90% of the cases, investors who want to take a passive route to Canada will join a concept Startup Visa group, and their funds will be used to bankroll the product/solution development and cover some of the expenses of the designated organizations for the founders.
The most successful concept Startup Visa groups have real founders– who are quite committed to the Startup and will do most of the grunt work. 99% of the time they don’t really continue with the Startup after IRCC confirms the final permanent residency for the group members, and they just prefer to get a high-paying job in Canada.
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.
Here is a breakdown of the Canadian Startup Visa costs: Not all groups will incur in all these costs, but we will outline them for each category and what you can expect depending on your type of profile, nationality, and Startup type.
For Startup Visa concept groups or investors, there is a fee to join a group. Almost an entry fee. It’s sometimes called “pay to play”. If you do not know the real founders from before such as family or friends, you can expect to pay anywhere from $75,000 to $250,000 Canadian dollars. Depending on your nationality, your region of residence, and your background as an investor who wants to join a group, this is what you can expect to be paying to join a ready and eligible Startup Visa. Obviously, they don’t take everything upfront but are paid in milestones.
Real Startup founders who have their own startups do not pay these fees.
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.
The next step is to pay the agency and/or business consultant who will prepare the group or as we call it in the industry ‘assemble’ the Startup group to process the admission and Letter of Support through one of the IRCC Startup Visa designated organizations. There are approx. 76 designated organizations on the IRCC website, depending on when you check, as they are always adding and removing these organizations from their website. The trick is to know which ones to work with and which ones to avoid.
In some situations, the investor payment or ‘entry fee’ to join a group, will cover these third-party agency or consultant fees for admission and Letter of Support. Real startups sometimes do pay these fees if their startup concept is not innovative yet – so they do need outside help to package their business successfully for the designated organizations. And in some cases, real startups pay business consultants to get them entry into a low-cost designated organization which would be a win-win for them as well, even considering the business consultants’ fees which can range anywhere from $15,000 to $35,000.
If you are trying to make up your mind about applying 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. Fill out the form, click here.
This following expense is something nobody can avoid, namely the fees the designated organization charges the Startup Visa group. Whether it’s a venture capital organization, angel investor, or business incubator, 99% of them have a fee to cover their expenses to run these programs. You can expect anywhere from $8,000 to $15,000 for real startups, and $25,000 to $90,000 for concept Startups – as the fee the Startup group as a whole needs to pay the designated organization. These fees typically can be split between the co-founders of the group and are not per person, unless you are a single founder. There are a few designated organizations that offer a no-fee admission to their accelerator program if you have enough revenues (i.e. minimum $100,000) and are innovative enough to become part of their portfolio – they will take equity in your Startup in return for endorsing you and admitting you into their accelerator program and issuing a Letter of Support.
Each designated organization’s processing can take anywhere from 90 days to issue the Letter of Support to even 6 months in case they have special accelerator programs that you need to attend before they endorse.
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The next expense would be the investment into the Startup business. No matter if you are a real startup or a concept startup visa group, you need to run your successful startup visa business proactively to keep good traction and proof for IRCC’s immigration process to obtain the final Canadian PR.
Real startups need to pay out of pocket unless they have ‘assembled’ investors.
Concept Startups must pay out of pocket for the investor co-founders. In the higher range of the prices, if anyone has paid $200,000 to $250,000, these prices typically include the investment share of the co-founder in the business.
This is a crucial expense that nobody should under-estimate and always plan for – since IRCC does not like Startup groups that don’t do anything and are just waiting around for their Canadian PR – which we call ‘Sitting ducks’ and will most likely be on the IRCC hit list. Because as we all know, IRCC will not approve 100% of all Startup Visa groups for immigration purposes. The approval rate is approx. 65%, so they will pick and approve the least bad groups to become Canadian residents. Yes, you heard right, the ‘least bad Startup Visa groups’, and most of it is dependent on the human capital factor – i.e., how strong the profiles are of the co-founders in terms of academics or professional work experience and entrepreneurship.
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* The final cost that every single applicant in a Startup Visa group needs to account for is the IRCC application fees which are $2,140.00 per principal applicant or co-founder, and the partners or spouses of these co-founders will be paying $1,365.00 for their PR fees, and dependent and eligible children under the age of 22 will be paying $230.00 each.
* Biometric fees are either $85.00 per adult or $170.00 for the whole family applying together.
* For work permits, which are optional and not mandatory, expect to pay $155.00 per co-founder plus the employer compliance fee of $230.00.
* In addition to each dependent family member such as $255.00 for open work permits for spouses/partners, and $100 to $150.00 for each child depending on whether they are old enough to attend a school or not. Remember, that only essential members as per the Letter of Support can apply for a work permit – non-essential members as outlined on your commitment certificate or Letter of Support do not have the option to apply for a Startup Visa work permit.
As a real startup, your costs are still decent and competitive especially if you are a single founder – and you should know which designated organization to apply to in order not to break the bank. As Startup Visa investors, expect to pay different fees depending on which region or nationality you are from and what type of Startup group you are joining.
The key to success is to join a group that will be successful and has eligible applicants as per the IRCC regulations and internal policies and practices which are typically not published.
And as a quick reminder and refresher for everyone reading, dependents such as spouses/partners or children do not need any language proficiency, proof of experience or work, or minimum net worth or settlement funds. The principal applicant or co-founder has to meet these requirements, not the spouse/partner or children of the co-founders.
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