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Can you obtain your green card before you arrive in the US? As an investor or professional entrepreneur? Is that an option with Canada?
If your country of citizenship does not have an E-2/E-1 treaty with the US, which 3rd country is the best path to obtain E-2 treaty status for your ambitions to the US – in case you are not keen on risking US$800,000 for a conditional green card.
We will compare the key programs and why Canada can be a good third-country option for your ambitions to the US. Who has the most realistic Startup Visa program? Entrepreneur or Intra-Company Transfer program? We’ll rate them all in this article where you can expect the raw truth, and nothing less, just like the rest of our articles.
The US is a master at passive investment programs such as the EB-5. Put your money at risk, maybe the project will succeed, maybe it won’t, or maybe you’ll obtain a green card.
We all know Canadian immigration is more ‘open’ supposedly, and simpler to obtain your permanent residency, but they don’t have any serious passive investment programs like the US – except the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program which just shot itself in the foot by asking everyone to learn French before processing their PR (good luck with that!).
Let’s compare some key programs and figure out what the best programs are to get to the US and Canada – and who between these two countries takes the prize as the easiest, fastest and lowest cost program for direct permanent residency or green card.
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Canada does offer provincial Entrepreneur programs which are work permit paths to permanent residency. There are a lot of steps to the process, it’s a bit slow and does not have direct PR before your arrival (or at least it doesn’t anymore – as these programs were all shut down in 2020 onwards). Now the entrepreneur or professional has to apply for an EOI (Expression of Interest), get a net worth audit through a third-party CPA/CA firm, go through an interview, and then apply for a work permit to come and run the business for 6 to 20 months, depending on the province, before being nominated for PR. So, this entire process can take 1.5 to 3 years and, for most provinces, minimum language, net worth, management and work experience are required – Saskatchewan is the only province where proof of language is not required.
Find out more about the top PNP Investor Programs for Canada by watching our YouTube video.
Are you interested in applying for the Canada Investor Visa? At INGWE we are EXPERTS and we can support you throughout the process, we have licensed business immigration professionals ready to help. Get a FREE email assessment, click here.
In the US, the only entrepreneur program to invest in and obtain your green card, as a permanent immigration program, is the EB-5 program. You may question why we are not referring to the E-2/E-1 or L-1A visas. It’s because they are temporary programs and are not directly linked to a green card unless you make a special petition.
The EB-5 program requires the creation of 10 jobs in the US as a commercial project. The funny point is that you can’t even obtain a work permit to enter the US to start such a business, it must be all done remotely or with a partner – which is why 99.99% of all applicants just select EB-5 projects through third-party entities to invest in. This is a huge market and a big money maker for major US developers and regional centres.
The USA EB-5 investor program requires a minimum of USD$800,000 investment in one shot for the higher unemployment regions and can go up to a max of USD$1.05m. The advantages of the US program are that you obtain a conditional green card while you are overseas, and the conditions are removed after your project has successfully created the jobs. There are no language requirements or education or work experience requirements. The only requirement is proof of where the funds came from and how you accumulated them. The timelines can be anywhere from 1 year to 6 years for the EB-5 program to process your conditional green card depending on your nationality and if you are investing in a rural project in the US or one of the major metropolitan centres.
Almost all Western countries have an intra-company transfer program, similar to the US and Canada. In the US it’s called the L-1A visa to set up a branch, office, or transfer existing employees between branches overseas. In Canada it’s called the Intra-Company Transfer program using exemption codes 61,62 or 63 – for the same purposes of setting up branches, offices, subsidiaries or moving staff between existing operations overseas and in Canada.
The main differences are that depending on your nationality, it is easier to get approved in the US than Canada. Canada, unless you are going to rural regions, or have a real impressive business to start in Canada, has high refusal for smaller branches/businesses which don’t have a clear plan for significant benefit for the country. In the US, the intra-company transfer (L1-A) is not a permanent immigration program, in Canada it’s also not permanent, however, if it’s designed and planned properly it can be combined with provincial or Federal programs to convert to PR. Also, in Canada it’s possible to switch to other programs after you’ve entered the country on another specific immigration program.
If you want to find out more about the ITC program in Canada, watch our YouTube video.
If you’re planning to immigrate to Canada through the ICT program and you’re looking for some guidance and support, you’re at the right place! We are licensed and we have successfully supported applicants from more than 50 nationalities. Get a FREE email assessment, click here.
As many of you already know, or may not know, the US E-2 / E-1 visa allows professionals and entrepreneurs to come and start or run a business. It’s a temporary immigration program, and not permanent – as it does not lead to a direct green card. However, you must be a citizen of an E-2 / E-1 treaty country with the US to be able to apply for this program. It’s a very good program and has high approval rates for applicants. To give you an idea, there are over 80 countries that qualify for the USA E-2 / E-1 treaty to come in as professionals and investors to start or run a business. If you are not from one of these countries, the next best option could be to apply for citizenship in a country that has E-2 treaty status. This could be Grenada as an example, through its citizenship investment program, or Canada. In Grenada, it can cost over USD$200,000 to obtain a permanent residency while an eventual citizenship in Canada can cost around USD$100,000.
Keep in mind that Canada also has bilateral agreements with countries such as Europe, Mexico, the USA, Colombia, Chile, S. Korea, and many more countries which is equivalent to the E-1/E-2 treaty in the US – allowing easy access and approval without much effort for these nationals or residents of these listed countries.
The US’s Startup Visa program requires over US$500,000 in investment or larger figures of existing revenues, and a whole list of difficult criteria that need to be met to be approved. They are very picky about who can apply and be approved. However, in Canada, the Startup Visa program has no education, work experience, minimum investment, or other requirements like the US. Your PR can be processed within 2 years and has an optional work permit. There are some challenges with the Canadian Startup Visa program if you don’t know how to navigate it, as we don’t recommend anyone without documented work experience and not enough funds to support themselves or the business to take this route. However, it has much more flexibility than the US program and higher approval rates than the US.
We always consider the Canadian program as a stepping stone to the more stringent US program. Also, with the Canadian Startup Visa program you can have 1-5 co-founders apply together for the Canadian direct permanent residency from overseas – even including siblings, friends, work colleagues, or anyone else who may be eligible. The language requirement and the letter of support are the only real eligibility criteria, and we all know that those are both easy criteria that most people can meet.
How does IRCC handle Startup Visa (SUV) applications for Canada PR? Explore the insider information in our latest YouTube video.
We’ve provided you with a high-level comparison of the US and Canadian programs. Both countries have reasonable options for investors looking to immigrate or set up a business – however, Canada can be an easier stepping stone in certain cases to move to the US. In some cases, if you have the available funds, and no language exam, then the US’s EB-5 investor program can also be an ideal fit.
If you plan to apply for either the US EB-5 program, the Canadian Startup Visa, Intra-Company Transfer programs, or the provincial Entrepreneur streams, you can always reach out to us for a 1-on-1 consultation.
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If you’re ready to apply and would like a 1-on-1 session with me or one of immigration team members at INGWE, you can also book a session directly using this consultation link.
