At some point in the selection process, you will be called upon to provide documentation to help prove to the visa officer that you do meet the entrepreneur definition. Proof of a successful business management background will help establish that you have the ability to set up and operate a business venture in
Canada. You should be prepared to provide business and personal income tax records, audited financial statements, business records, official company organization charts and other documents of this nature. You must also satisfy the visa officer that you have sufficient assets available for your business venture and to establish yourself and your dependents in
Canada, for example, bank statements, property and business valuations, share certificates and other documents of this nature. The visa office will tell you what documents to provide and when to submit them. You may be asked to explain any ambiguities, inconsistencies, shortcomings or gaps in these documents in a personal interview with a visa officer.
As permanent residents, you and your dependents have the right to live, study and work indefinitely in Canada. Your permanent resident status gives you the right to apply for Canadian citizenship, and to hold a Canadian passport, once you have met citizenship requirements. Meanwhile, as a permanent resident you are entitled to all social benefits accorded to Canadian citizens. You are obligated as a resident to pay Canadian income tax on your worldwide earnings. There are very few limitations imposed on you in Canada by virtue of your permanent resident status. You may be unable to vote in certain Canadian elections or ineligible for certain jobs requiring high-level security clearance. You may be deported if you or your dependents commit serious crimes while you are permanent residents. You may also be deported if you were issued a conditional immigrant visa and have failed to abide by the terms and conditions of that visa. Your permanent resident status is in effect until you become a Canadian citizen or until you abandon Canada as your place of permanent residence. Short trips outside Canada for business reasons will not normally affect your permanent resident status. However, if your absences are frequent and/or lengthy enough to indicate that you are living somewhere other than Canada, you may be deemed by law to have abandoned Canada and will lose your permanent resident status. Traveling to Canada to present your visas for landing and then returning to live in your home country (or elsewhere) indefinitely will, except in the few exceptional and specific circumstances permitted by law, result in loss of Canadian permanent resident status.
Among the most common reasons for refusal are failure to meet the following requirements of Canada immigration law:
- You are unable to prove to the visa officer that you meet the immigration criteria;
- you and/or your dependents fail to meet the prescribed medical standards
- You and/or your dependents do not pass criminal or security checks.
If your application is refused, a visa officer will advise you in writing by of the reasons for the refusal. You are free to apply again for immigration to Canada anytime. The fact that they have previously refused you will not affect your subsequent application. However, you must show that you have overcome the reasons why they refused your first application.
The validity of a visa cannot be extended. If your visa expires before you present it at a Canadian port of entry, it is void. If you are still interested in immigrating to Canada, you must: • return your unused visas to the visa office and make a new application.
Applications are processed on a first-come, first-served basis. The duration depends on the number of applications ahead of you at the visa office where you apply, and any complications which may arise during the processing of your application. Generally speaking, it usually takes between 6 and 18 months from the time an immigration application is submitted to finalize the case and issue visas.
