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Everything you know about the Startup Visa program is WRONG! Or maybe it’s right?
We will cover the latest news for Startup Visa Canada, processing times, and insights including Internal correspondence between SUV officers and the program manager at IRCC, sample letter questions on what IRCC is sending to Startup Visa (SUV) applicants when the actual processing begins, the latest timelines for the IRCC processing times of Startup Visa (SUV), and IRCC’s Startup Visa (SUV) statistics up to the last few years.
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Ernesto Fajardo, senior policy, and program advisor for the IRCC Startup Visa had sent correspondence to Tracy Butt regarding the officer’s “SUV concerns” as per this information (all paraphrased):
1: Addressing the first concern (in this correspondence) being the applicant’s experience: According to SUV regulations, applicants are not required to have education or work experience. Is there any limit to this exemption? Can a high school teacher open a business manufacturing heart surgery equipment? This was a real case that IRCC received. How can this applicant be essential for a business to succeed with no proper experience or education in this specific field? The main concern, in this case, was that the designated organization may have proposed the business concept to the applicant instead of the other way around.
There should be a correlation between the applicant’s education, experience, and prospective business venture. These types of concerns are valid and logical, and officers should also review and consider the file in its entirety. If an IRCC officer notices that the applicant’s professional, business experience or education does not match the SUV business, it can be refused based on the IRPR R98(1) meaning “under the balance of probabilities it would be unlikely that an applicant would successfully economically be able to establish themselves in Canada to perform the duties and responsibilities that the business venture demands.”
2: Addressing the 2nd concern which is the “applicant’s involvement in the venture as well as the progress of the business”: Currently we (IRCC processing officers) can request an applicant to provide evidence of the progress of the SUV business. This is a major challenge if the applicant is abroad (i.e., not inside Canada). It is expected that most of the business be created in Canada, and the fact that IRCC officers cannot follow up on what has been achieved can cause issues. For example (real case), the SUV business is based on online sales (products or application services) – in this case, can the applicant claim that they are waiting for their PR before they can start working on this business? Such as demos, having a logo, or a website? Currently, there are applicants who are claiming that it is too risky to even register a business or open a Canadian bank account before receiving the final PR. In these cases, IRCC officers can request updates and progress regarding the SUV business overseas from the applicant. It is unlikely that a business would ‘stop’ or ‘pause’ completely when the applicant submits their PR application to IRCC under the SUV program, especially since the PR processing times are much longer than 12 months.
It is also very important for IRCC officers to consider the role of each applicant in the prospective business venture. An example would be if the designated CEO of the SUV group lacked the necessary experience or professional education for this position, officers can consider IRPR R98(1) for refusal reasons.
3: Here is another correspondence between IRCC case processing agents, Ilyas Esalhi to Constantina Stamatakis subject as “untouchable files”. The agent provides some extreme examples of SUV cases and applicants that are difficult to refuse based on technicalities. The examples given: an applicant who is 20 years old without any study nor work experience. They have been accepted by the designated organization and it states that there is no urgent need to be inside Canada (meaning they will wait for the PR from outside Canada until they can start the business). The specific SUV business concept is highly technical and would typically require advanced degrees and vast experience in the field. For some undisclosed reason, the IRCC agent cannot obtain a peer review, or the peer review is incomplete.
Back about 1 year ago, this file will most likely be approved because the SUV program does not make it mandatory for applicants to have any work experience, and the agent cannot request a progress report for the business as the applicant has stated that they will start the business once inside Canada, therefore lack of progress is also another reason the agent cannot use for a refusal. They can however require showing proof of intellectual property (IP) in the SUV business. Since peer review has not been performed, the IRCC has sent the IP request to the applicant and the applicant responded that in their business intellectual property is not an issue. This example indicates how an applicant or even a designated organization can create ‘untouchable files’ that will be potentially approved and the true motivation behind this is just a ‘smart application for PR’ instead of an actual true intention to start a business in Canada.
These correspondences date back a year and until now IRCC may have adjusted their internal policies and created strategies to refuse these untouchable files which would not go against the IRPR.
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Currently, Startup Visa groups who submitted their PR applications in mid of 2020 have received their permanent file numbers from the IRCC, and we expect that they will receive the progress request letter from the officer reviewing their file in the few weeks. Any Startup Visa groups who have filed applications for PR back in mid to end of fall 2020 will receive correspondences and requests for more information from IRCC this year. Be ready. The processing times on the IRCC website are correct, in terms of the actual processing times we are seeing now, but what they fail to report is that it takes that long to review and decide on your PR application; the actual PR processing itself can take 6 to 12 months after as well.
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 assessment with one of our Business Immigration consultants. Fill out the form, click here.
IRCC officers inside Canada have a database of questions they ask Startup Visa applicants when they begin to review and process their applications. We have seen many of these letters and here is a list of these potential questions that you may receive. Remember that each of you will receive a different letter, and no one letter is the same for all groups or applicants. Consider this as a compilation of IRCC questions for Startup Visa (SUV) PR applications: these questions change as time goes on based on Federal court cases (i.e., appeals) for Startup Visa refusals:
1-Please provide details of your registered business in Canada
2-How do you and the other members of your team know each other? How did you come together to start the business?
3-How did you come up with the business idea?
4-Confirm any regulatory or licensing requirements to run your business in Canada.
5-Please provide proof of Intellectual Property; if applicable.
6-Describe the primary business activities you will be involved in during your stay in Canada. This includes the detailed (updated) business plan including future cash flow, market search, future insight, and all other relevant information for your business.
7-What sort of funding will you need to raise and what have you done to secure that funding?
8-Please show us what you have achieved and the work that has been accomplished so far in your business and what has been established in Canada such as location, employees, and other factors (this question could be used for applicants with work permits inside Canada). If you are outside Canada, they can just ask you “What progress have you made on your Startup Business since you applied?”
9-Please provide further clarity on the technology development roadmap. The % that has been completed and the timeline/budget for completion.
10-Are there any proposals or work being done between your business and other local Canadian companies?
11-Why did you choose Canada? Did you consider any other countries?
12-Other information they may request for updates is the applicant’s financial statements/proof of funds, family & travel information, updated police certificates, and medical examinations. In extreme cases far eastern applicants, they may request updated language exam scores (such as IELTS) if it has expired (i.e., more than 2 years this is only in extreme cases, and we have not seen this in other types of applicant correspondences)
Based on the information provided the numbers have obviously increased dramatically since 2016 and the withdrawals have increased (meaning more people are finding alternative ways to convert to PR and withdrawing their PR applications under the Startup Visa program). Please consider that 2020 data is not complete, and that actual PRs issued are less than approval since it takes anywhere from 4 to 12 months for PR processing depending on whether the applicants applied in 2016 or more recently. You need to also consider that there are more intakes than actual decisions per year, so an overflow to the next year also exists based on the information provided here. If you multiply the Jan to March 2020 intake and processing numbers, you will notice that for the whole year it will be close to 1700 applications for the intake and prorated percentage for the approvals and refusals. The percentages provided in these calculations are also based on the total number of applications processed, not the intake or PRs issued. Our expectation or prediction for 2022 processing of SUV cases is approx. 55% approval and 45% refusal. This is obviously a huge jump that we expect due to the number of bogus SUV applications stuck in the IRCC Startup Visa (SUV) backlog.
|
Year |
Total number intake |
Approved |
Refused |
Withdrawn |
PR issued |
|
2016 |
205 |
103(100%) |
0(0%) |
1 |
94 |
|
2017 |
347 |
229(80%) |
56(20%) |
7 |
196 |
|
2018 |
890 |
232(64%) |
131(36%) |
5 |
212 |
|
2019 |
1164 |
634(80%) |
162(20%) |
24 |
582 |
|
2020 (Jan-Mar) |
425 |
76(72%) |
30(28%) |
TBA |
119 |
|
Prediction for 2021 |
~1100 |
~65% |
~35% |
~6 |
~180 |
|
Prediction 2022 |
~1700 |
~55% |
~45% |
~35 |
~400 |
***Data past March 2020 has not been publicly released yet.
There you have it. The latest Startup Visa released data, IRCC internal correspondences, concerns, processing times for Startup Visa (SUV), and questions that are seen on the IRCC correspondences with applicants.
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