Canada is one of the most favourite choice of immigration destination countries for Hongkongers based upon their family links and high quality of life and children education. A few of the Canadian cities including Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary have been ranked among the Top 10 Most Liveable Cities in the World 2020 Report.  

Canada Immigration and Citizenship

There are about 80 different visa types for foreigners to make entry into Canada based upon their purpose of visit, study, work, and/or live temporarily or permanently in Canada. There are 3 main streams of immigration visas types: 1. Federal (Work, Skilled, Self-Employed, Start-up, Family) 2. Provincial Nomination (Work, Skilled, Entrepreneur) 3. Quebec (Work, Skilled, Investor, Entrepreneur, Self-employed, Family) To become a Canadian citizen, you must be a permanent resident and have lived in Canada for 3 out of the last 5 years.  Depending on your situation, there may be additional requirements.  

Self-Employed Persons

Canada’s Self-Employed Persons Federal Visa Program allows the eligible self-employed foreign nationals with relevant experience in cultural activities or athletics to establish themselves in Canada as permanent residents. Main applicants must have the relevant self-employed work experience, intention and ability to make a contribution to the cultural life or sports in Canada. He / she must meet both the eligibility requirements and achieve at minimum a passing mark of 35 under the program’s selection criteria in order to be considered for immigration as a self-employed person. The selection criteria include age, education, relevant work experience (at least 2 years), language ability and adaptability. Under the Self-Employed Persons Program, eligible occupations within Canada’s artistic, cultural and athletic fields range from National Occupational Classification (NOC)  Occupation Code from 5111 Librarians to 5254 Program Leaders and Instructors in Recreation, Sport and Fitness.  

Benefits

• No minimum net worth requirement, however, the main applicant must have sufficient funds for settlement and finance the self-employed work he has selected.
• You can live and work anywhere in Canada.
• Direct route to Canada permanent residence.
• Relative short processing time of about 21 months

John Hu Migration Consulting has been processing successfully this Self-employed Persons visa for many of our Hong Kong local artists and athletics since 2013. We have lots of unique competitive strengths in advising our clients in collating their supporting documents for their visa application and setting up their self-employed work in Canada. Please view our clients’ testimonials for your reference e.g. Mr. Tse and Mr. Lau, both of them are music composers.  

Interested in applying for Canada federal Self-employed Persons visa if you are a musician, director, artist or athletic? Please contact us today to learn more.