Frequently Asked Questions about Investment and Self-employment Immigration To Canada

Part One: Overview Of The Investment Immigration

  1. Q: What is investment immigration?
    A: Every year, Canada welcomes investment immigrants from other countries according to the requirement of the nation's economic growth, and this policy has been carried out for many years. The basic principles of this policy are as follows:

  2. Q: What requirements are needed for the investment immigration?
    A:

  • Q: How much money do I need to deposit in Canada? For how long? Is there any interest?
    A: Currently you must deposit $CDN 350,000 ($US 270,000) for a duration of 5 years, and you will get interest which varies according to the financial market. If you do not have $US 270,000, you can deposit $US 135,000, or $US 90,000, or at least $US 53,000 ($CDN 70,000). But you must get a loan for the rest of the amount from a Canadian bank. You will need to pay interest on the loan.

  • Q: Do we get any insurance on the deposit?
    A: Yes. Your deposit is insured by world renowned banks. Many years of experience have shown that there is not only insurance on the capital, but also good interest return. As a result, the amount of investment immigrants to Canada increases every year. In particular, people from Taiwan and Hongkong have made Canada their number one choice for investment immigration, instead of the United States. Therefore, as you can see, if there had been losses on investment deposit, this increase in investment immigrants would have never occurred.

    • Part Two: Investment Immigration Process & Fees

    1. Q: What is the process for investment immigration?
      A: The whole process is as follows:
      1. You fill in a preliminary application questionnaire, and send it to us with your resume, by fax or email. (The questionnaire is also available on our Web site.) Doing so will greatly accelerates the application process.
      2. Our lawyers, the financial institute and Canadian Immigration will make an evaluation of your application. This evaluation is free of charge.
      3. After you pass the evaluation, you sign an agreement with us, and an investment agreement with the financial institute.
      4. At the guidance of our lawyers, you make a formal application and submit it with other required documents. These documents will be looked at and compiled by our lawyers and be submitted to the Canadian Immigration Centre.
      5. After the approval from Canadian Immigration Centre, you will be notified for an interview. Before the interview, our lawyer will provide interview training. Our lawyer will also accompany you to the interview.
      6. Once you pass the interview and your application is approved, you will need to transfer money to a Canadian bank. (If needed, Canadian Immigration, our firm or the bank will send you an invitation to come to Canada for a investment perspective study.)
      7. Once your money is received, Canadian Immigration will issue the landing certificate.
      8. The whole process completes once you and your family arrives in Canada. As you might have seen, only after your application is approved by the immigration officer, you are allowed to transfer money to Canada. This shows that Canadian government is very careful with managing your investment.

    2. Q: Where do I make the application? Where do the interview and the physical examination take place? How long does the whole process take?
      A: You can make the application anywhere in the world, including China (PRC), Taiwan and Hongkong. The physical examination can be done at a hospital nearest to you. The interview place can be arranged at Beijing, Hongkong, USA, or another place according to your request. From the time all documents are received until you receive the immigration certificate, the process takes about half a year.

    3. Q: What if I still intend to do business in my country after the immigration process?
      A: After the immigration process, you may stay in your country for ten months or so (from the date of the physical examination). According to the immigration law, you must land in Canada within certain dates. But after you have landed in Canada, you may return to your country immediately and stay there for half a year. After that, you must live in Canada for half a year every year in order to retain your immigrant status. However, with a good reason (such as to complete your education or contract, etc.), you may apply to waive the requirement of this half a year stay in Canada. The most effective way is to register a company in Canada and have this company to send you back to your country to expand the business. Thus, from the time you receive the immigration certificate, you have about two years to stay in your country to manage your own business. Thereafter, under the pretext of communication and management, you may come and go freely between your country and Canada. Moreover, after you receive your immigration status, you are allowed to travel to the U.S. This gives you a much greater opportunity for activities.

    4. Q: How long would it take before I can apply for the Canadian citizenship?
      A: You need to live in Canada for three years to become a Canadian citizen. However, the policy varies recently; some investment immigrants only lived in Canada for a hundred days out of four years to become citizens. When you apply to waive the required stay in Canada, half of the time is accumulated towards your credit. After you become a citizen, there will be no limit on how much you stay in Canada.

    5. Q: What are the fees like?
      A: There are three types of fees:
      1. When you submit your application you'd need to pay to the government: $CDN 850.00 for the principle applicant and $CDN 100.00 for your spouse.
      2. After the immigrant status is granted, government charges a small amount of fee.
      3. Service fee to the immigration service firm, which usually ranges from $US 8,000.00 to $US 30,000.00 per family. Our lawyers charge fairly depending on the location and the difficulty. Fee ranges from $US 5,000.00 to $US 8,000.00. The preliminary evaluation is free of charge. You pay a small amount of deposit after signing the agreement, and you pay another small amount when Canadian Immigration verifies your qualifications and notifies you for an interview. The rest is paid after your immigrant status is granted.

    Part Three: About Business Immigration

    1. Q: What is business immigration and what qualifications are required?
      A: For this type of immigration you need to start an enterprise in Canada. The basic qualifications are:
      1. Personal asset of $CDN 200,000 (about $US 160,000).
      2. Two or more years of experience in business management.
      3. Basic English ability.

    2. Q: What is the procedure like? Do I need to invest in Canada?
      A: You do not need to invest in Canada. But you must make a realistic and practical investment plan. This plan must be concise. Our lawyer will assist you in the plan making according to the Canadian economic growth situation. Once this plan is approved by Canadian government, your whole family will receive the immigration certificate.

    3. Q: How different is the business immigrant certificate from the investment immigrant certificate?
      A: The business immigrant certificate is "conditional". After your family immigrates to Canada, you must start an enterprise within two years. This includes that you become a share holder or buy an existing business. You must employ at least one Canadian citizen. The expense for opening a business ranges from thousands to tens of thousands dollars. After a year, you meet all conditions and you may stay in Canada unconditionally. On the other hand, an investment immigrant is not bounded by and condition, he/she has the right to live in Canada anytime.

    4. Q: How much is the service charge for business immigration?
      A: The service charge for business immigration is slightly higher than that for investment immigration, because the plan making with our lawyer is usually very time consuming.

    Part Four: Self-employment Immigration

    1. Q: What is self-employment immigration?
      A: Self-employment Immigration applies to those such as actors, artists, athletes or artisans who possess special skills and certain personal assets and have some English ability, and wish to immigrate to Canada. In such case, actors or artists are required to advertise for shows, making contracts with movie or record companies, or theaters etc. Summary For all the above three cases (investment immigration, business immigration and self-employment immigration), our lawyer will accompany the applicant to speak to the immigration officer. We guarantee the success of your application, 100%.

    Part Five: Overview Of Canada

    1. Q: What is Canada like?
      A: Canada possesses a vast land area of more than 9,900,000 km2, and a population of 26 million people. Canada is a democratic society headed by a federal government. Canada's political situation is very stable. Canada is one of the seven most advanced nations in the world, with strong industrial and agricultural background.

      2. Like many countries in Northern Europe, Canada has high social benefits, such as free education and free medication. The national living standard is on top of the world. Canada's senior and child care system surpasses that of the U.S. by far. Canada is a multicultural country and multiculturalism is strongly encouraged by the government. In general, racism is less a problem than the U.S. The province of Québec has a particular situation. The majority of this province is French speaking, who has continued the independence and sovereignty movement for many years without any success. But in general this does not affect Chinese settlers.

      In terms of population ratio, there are more Chinese immigrants in Canada than the U.S. The China towns in Vancouver and Toronto are large and well renowned. Since Canada's safety standard is higher than the U.S., and her living standard is number one in the world, recently people from Taiwan, Hongkong and China (PRC) have made Canada their first choice for immigration.

    2. Q: What is the business opportunity like in Canada?
      A: The Canadian industry and agriculture are very well developed. There are many opportunities for Chinese immigrants, including: industrial processing, cloth manufacturing, import and export, hotels, real estate, printing and publishing, food industry, plantation, and various supermarket retail sales. Moreover, Chinese immigrants also stand out in the fields of medicine, science and education etc. Recently many Chinese immigrants have earned employment in the government, and this has greatly raised our status in the political domain. The family income for Chinese settlers is higher than the national average.

    3. Q: If I meet all conditions when should I apply?
      A: The sooner the better. This is because that the Canadian immigration policy changes frequently, it is loose at times but tight at other times. Also, Canada only accepts a certain number of immigrants every year. Once this number is reached, there will be no acceptance for that year. Canadian government has suggested that you should apply as soon as possible once you meet all conditions, and do not delay at all. Canadian Immigration also warns that Canada forbids non-Canadian citizens to represent applicants in the immigration process. Therefore, when you choose an immigration service you should choose one that is located inside Canada, to avoid any possible problems. Directly authoring Canadian lawyers is an even better way to ensure your immigration success.