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In today’s article, we are going to cover the top 39 Canada Startup Visa questions.
Expect the raw truth and nothing but the truth, just like the rest of our articles.
We will split the FAQ into 2 parts, a short beginner version for those who are new to the program or are considering applying soon. The 2nd part of this article will be for those who already have some previous knowledge of the Canadian Startup Visa program.
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. Book a personalized consultation, click here.
Answer: Yes, it is.
Answer: The typical current timelines are 1.5 years or longer for a final decision on your PR application.
Answer: If you work with the right contacts, yes in most cases it can be approved.
Answer: No, it’s not mandatory. You can do it by yourself.
Answer: On paper this is true. However, an approval with just these requirements is highly unlikely.
Answer: The work permit is optional and not mandatory. You can apply for your Canadian permanent residency (PR) without a work permit – or apply for the work permit later within the validity of your Letter of Support.
Answer: Your chances will not increase or decrease if you are a single applicant under the Startup Visa program. The key is to prove your previous experience as a subject matter expert in the field, past management and entrepreneur experience, and a proactive role in terms of showing real progress and investment in your Startup business.
Answer: It depends on the region you are applying from. We have seen 2 weeks in Europe, 4 weeks in other regions, and 4 months in other higher volume locations – so it is very dependent on the embassy and your nationality.
Answer: The new Startup Visa PR applications are starting to be processed within 16-18 months from the time you have applied for your PR application. The PR decision would take another 3-7 months after that timeline. The previous Startup Visa applications from 2020 took twice as long.
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. Book a personalized consultation, click here.
Answer: We are now seeing all 2021 SUV groups being processed for their PR this year (2023) and having a decision being issued as well. If you have not heard from IRCC yet, you will likely receive their correspondence letters very soon within this year (2023).
Answer: The program is announced but not implemented yet as of August 24th 2023. We expect it to be done between mid September 2023 to mid November 2023, if it is actually going to be implemented.
Let’s jump into a more in-depth FAQ’s about Startup Visa.
Answer: No. If you do not have any geographic commitments in your agreement signed with the designated organization, you can be anywhere in Canada except Quebec, although your incubator, VC or Angel Investor is located in another part of Canada.
Answer: Applying for a work permit and not showing progress is not helpful and therefore the business progress and investment is more important. Here is an example to give you clarity: IRCC prefers a Startup Visa group which has hired Canadians and invested in operations in Canada even if they are not themselves in the country yet, vs. co-founders who have entered Canada with a work permit and not done anything besides work on business plans or do some light marketing or meet with their incubator.
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. Book a personalized consultation, click here.
Answer: It can specifically affect your PR application decision if you were hit with misrepresentation for your work or the officer did not believe that your professional profile matches your startup business. In theory the work permit and PR application processing are independent, and one is processed by an overseas embassy while the other is processed inside Canada. The work permit refusal does not 100% affect your PR application – but the refusal reasons could give you some foresight on any upcoming challenges. Based on the information on refusals we have been seeing on recent SUV work permits, 70% of them are trivial refusals and will not affect your PR decision significantly.
Answer: Yes, it is 100% possible.
Answer: Yes, it’s possible. Please make sure this happens as soon as possible and not after you receive your permanent PR file number from the IRCC.
Answer: Yes 100%. There is nothing stated in the regulations or by IRCC that they cannot re-issue a Letter of support.
Answer: In theory it’s an infinite number of times, but in reality you do not want to go over more than one re-issuance since it would look odd to the IRCC, unless the IRCC officers have requested a re-commitment of your incubator, VC, or Angel investor during the review of your PR application, or you are seeking to renew or apply for your work permits.
Answer: There is no stipulated minimum investment however remember that this is an economic immigration program. Having zero investment or funds to invest in your startup business will guarantee you a refusal unless you have external investors. The investment amount you state in your business plan under the Startup Visa program will be what you should use as your group’s commitment in terms of investment funds.
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. Book a personalized consultation, click here.
Answer: Technically you could reside in another province, but you would not be eligible for the provincial government medical health care coverage for you and your dependents inside Canada.
Answer: The IRCC will withdraw your other PR application – based on whichever PR is approved first. In case your non-SUV PR application is approved first, and if you were an essential member, they will refuse the rest of your co-founders by default.
Answer: It is possible if your designated organization cooperates with your Startup group, you can change essential members to non-essential, and non-essential to essential members, or remove members completely. Be very careful when you do this as IRCC may use this against you depending on when you complete this change (i.e. before you receive a temporary PR file number, a permanent PR file number, or whether you have started receiving IRCC request letters). If you do not justify the change, explain to your designated organization and have them update everything in your commitment certificate, then this can create problems down the line for your Startup visa group. If you make this change after you receive the IRCC permanent file number for your PR, this can also raise red flags and suspicions with the IRCC officer.
Remember that we’re always posting about these key details for IRCC’s Startup Visa program and other investment immigration programs for professionals and entrepreneurs– and if that’s what you are interested in, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel for more deep dive videos.
Answer: Yes. There are no restrictions. Keep in mind that their professional profile, work experience and expertise should be related to your startup business and they should keep an active role.
Answer: Technically this is not true. However, the reverse of this is true, that having a letter of support from certain incubators can reduce your chances of approval. However, these 2 following points are the main factors that can increase your chances of PR approval under the Canadian Startup Visa program:
A: A venture capital or angel investor commits investment funds to your startup business and pays up while you are waiting for your PR approvals.
B: You have a very pro-active startup business which includes customers, pilot projects, or maybe even revenues.
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. Book a personalized consultation, click here.
Answer: Yes, you can start or control equity in an infinite number of businesses inside Canada. But in order to make sure you have a successful Startup Visa PR approval, you need to prove that your main focus is the startup business and that you are ‘pro-active’. There are no restrictions on investing in other entities.
Answer: 100% yes. No restrictions on this matter. The more people working on your Startup the better.
Answer: Yes, you can have any partner from anywhere in the world as long as they do not control the startup company or the intellectual property, meaning that they should not have more than 49% of the controlling stake of your startup business. This is a key eligibility criteria as part of the startup visa program that the co-founders and your designated organization combined should be controlling more than 50% of the voting share rights of the startup business.
Answer: If you are refused inside Canada with a work permit, your status inside Canada will not be valid anymore as of the date of the refusal. You can apply for a Judicial Review if you believe that an error in law has been made in the decision of your immigration application, but it does not give you status inside the country so you can either change to a visitor record, or try to apply and be sponsored by another company or convert to another status (each case is unique and professional legal advice should be taken in such cases). Your spouse and children’s work or study permits will be valid until the end of the permit – they can continue to work or study as per the original permit which was issued to them but without the option of a renewal if they are under your status.
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. Book a personalized consultation, click here.
Answer: Yes, they have been calling Iranians and Chinese nationals both overseas and inside Canada and interviewing them with very specific questions that can last over an hour. Yes, we do have a list of these questions and we believe that it is likely that IRCC officers will start to call other nationalities in the near future.
Answer: Approx. 6 months after you submit your initial PR application online under the Startup Visa program, you will receive your temporary file number starting with ‘X’ from the IRCC, and approx. 1 to 1.5 years after you have applied for your PR you will receive a permanent PR file number starting with the letter ‘E’. This timeline was much longer for applicants who applied in 2020 during COVID-19. But now the processing has been updated to reflect these changes.
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. Book a personalized consultation, click here.
Answer: You will receive request letters from the IRCC officer reviewing your PR application, where they may request the following information as just a few examples:
* An updated business plan.
* Business progress report.
* Updated Schedule A.
* Update family information.
* Update travel history.
* Updated contact and residency info.
* Anything related to you and your family that may have changed.
* Updated medical and/or police clearance reports.
* Updated minimum settlement funds and investment funds.
* In some cases, requesting you to submit your biometrics if you have not already done so before.
The number of IRCC request letters depends on your startup visa group’s activity and the specific officer reviewing it. It can range from 1 letter to 4 or 5 letters back and forth. You can watch our video about how IRCC processes your Startup Visa PR application for more insight.
Answer: Not necessarily. Everyone in the group will be scrutinized to check their pro-active role in the startup and their relevance. Whether you are inside Canada or outside, each co-founder will be independently reviewed by the IRCC officer regardless if they are non-essential or essential members of the group.
If you have a Startup Visa work permit, can you come and go into the country as you please, or do you have to spend a specific time in Canada?
Answer: You have the flexibility to move in and out of Canada with your work permit as long as you stay pro-active in your startup business and can justify your role defined in your business plan and commitment certificate under the Startup Visa program. You will require a visitor visa to re-enter Canada as a work permit is not a visa.
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. Book a personalized consultation, click here.
Answer: Yes, you can. 100% possible and it will not negatively be viewed by the IRCC.
Answer: In theory the answer is ‘Yes’, but in reality, you will lose all payments made to the designated organization, and have to go through the process again with your new incubator, VC or Angel investor, and have to justify to the IRCC later on why you switched. It would not push you back in terms of PR processing or backlog, as long as you webform and your new designated organization sends the new commitment certificate to the IRCC. You can also add designated organizations to your endorsement or have multiple letters of support such as a VC or Angel Investor combined together or with an incubator.
Answer: Yes, 100%. This will actually help your application because it will look like you are pro-active and very serious about your Startup business. Keep in mind that you do need to stay in communication and update your designated incubator, VC or Angel investor throughout the processing time and never lose touch with them. They are a key component of your application since they issued the Letter of Support.
Answer: You can only communicate with the IRCC via webform before they start reviewing your application and requesting additional information and documents. You can technically only submit new information or documents or updates to the IRCC via webform only if you have already received your temporary or permanent PR file number. You cannot submit a webform if you do not have an IRCC file number yet.
Answer: 100% Yes! At least quarterly with your designated organization if you are already not in touch monthly or weekly, and especially after your cohort is completed. You should be updating the IRCC every 6 months at the very least with key milestone achievements and progress.
Answer: Of course we do. That’s our specialty. We have a list of interview questions, IRCC request letter questions and other information based on our past experiences helping Startup Visa applicants obtain their PR approvals for Canada.
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