The following is republished, with permission, from www.canadavisalaw.com and last updated Sept. 2003

Investor Immigrants & Canada (Federal Immigration Program)

| Qualifying as a Canada Investor Immigrant | Investor/Entrepreneur Point Requirements | Business Experience & Investors | CanadaVisaLaw.com

Business is conducted differently in each country.  Often, what is "normal" in one country would be completely strange or even illegal in Canada! 

We help businesspeople prepare their cases so that a Visa Officer can clearly understand what your business is, how it has been successful, and why it qualifies for Investor Immigration.  We never blindly submit the documents that Canada Immigration requests on their "checklist", because that might not be applicable or relevant. Instead, we think through the process, analyze your documents, advise of any additional evidence we need. Only after we have done that preparation will be submit your case.

Canada allows successful business owners and managers to immigrate by investing $400,000 CDN for 5 years, interest free, into a Government guaranteed Immigration Fund." Unlike the Entrepreneur program, Investors and their family members are given unconditional immigrant visas, and are free to live anywhere in Canada.

HOW TO QUALIFY

To qualify as an Investor, applicants destined for any province in Canada other than the Province of Quebec must meet 3 conditions:

1. They must have "Business Experience"
2. They must have a legally obtained net worth of $800,000 CDN; and
3. They must invest $400,000 without interest for 5 years into the Federal Immigrant Investor program.  Many banks will lend you monies to invest in the fund, so that you just need a down payment of about $130,000 CDN.

Investor Immigrants must also earn at least 35 points on the Investor/Entrepreneur Point Assessment Grid.  Investor Immigrants destined for Quebec must apply to immigrate under the Quebec Investor Immigrant Program.

Business Experience

There are 2 ways that you can qualify for "Business Experience" as an Investor Immigrant:  as a Manager of a business, or as an Owner/Manager. The criteria are as follows:

1. Business Manager :  You must show that you have managed at least 5 full-time employees per year for at least two years out of the past 5 years. This is a significant advantage over the Entrepreneur definition of Business Experience, and is a fairly easy criteria for most businessmen to meet.
2. Owner/Manager :   You can also prove Business Experience if you have managed a business and owned shares in that business in 2 of the last 5 years, that meets 2 of the following criteria (depending upon the percentage of the business owned):

For more information and the most current information contact us:

Lowe & Company
Immigration - Business Lawyers
1200 - 777 West Broadway,
Vancouver, BC, Canada
V5Z 4J7
Tel 604.875.9338
Fax 604.875.1325
E-mail info@canadavisalaw.com

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CanadaVisaLaw.com
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