April 1, 2013
Applying for a Permanent Resident Visa as a Member of the Start-Up Business Class
In order to apply for a permanent resident visa as a member of the start-up business class, here are some of the key points that an applicant should know.
To be a member of the start-up business class, a foreign national must:
1. have obtained a written commitment for a total investment of at least $75,000 by one or more designated angel investor groups,
2. obtain a written commitment for a total investment of at least $200,000 by one or more designated venture capital funds,
3. have the commitments signed by a person with proper authority,
4. have attained the specified level of language proficiency,
5. have completed at least one year of high school in good standing,
6. have the appropriate funds available as designated by Statistics Canada under the Statistics Act.
It will be deemed improper purpose and a foreign national will not be considered a member of the start-up business class if they enter into a commitment as a means to gain status rather than for the purpose of engaging in the business as the commitment intended.
While the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration may lend himself to an industry association representing angel investor groups or venture capital funds to provide for any matter relation to the instructions regarding the start-up business class, such as establishing a peer review panel, neither angel investor groups nor venture capital funds are under the control of the Minister.
In cases where there is more than one applicant concerning the same business, if an applicant deemed essential to the business is refused permanent residency then the other applicants will be classified as not having met the requirements and their applications will be refused as well.
In some cases, peer reviews may be required to assess the commitment. The peer review panel is not under the Minister’s control and the officer deciding whether or not the applicant meets the requirements for the visa does not necessarily need to consider the assessment.
These regulations, as laid out by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, are in effect as of April 1st, 2013 through March 31st, 2018.
Click here to read the full list of requirements.