okay i don't mean to be rude, but i'm actually a startup founder looking to score this exact visa for myself soon. i was under the impression you couldn't just "create a company and receive a visa", but rather you need the endorsement of some kind of incubator or accredited investor. is that not true?
You can come to Canada with $1m and get a visa, with the promise that you'll invest $1m in business. This was used by rich people from HongKong. The window of opportunity has closed but still possible in provinces like Québec. When people say "create a company and receive a visa", they refer to this program.
Another kind of visa is the start-up visa. You create a startup and get investment through selected incubators and VCs. You can then get a visa.
What's also interesting and easy are work visas. You apply for a job requiring good talent. It's then straightforward to get a work visa. Usually the startup takes care of the paperwork. When you come and stay for a few months, you then decide if you want to apply for permanent residentship.
> What's also interesting and easy are work visas. You apply for a job requiring good talent. It's then straightforward to get a work visa. Usually the startup takes care of the paperwork. When you come and stay for a few months, you then decide if you want to apply for permanent residentship.
This is very far from my experience. Even large companies (AMD in my case) dread the 8month process of getting a work permit in Canada.
Calling it straight forward is not entirely accurate:
- Apply for jobs with the handicap of a 8 month hiring wait and the associated lawyer costs (no you can't realistically do this yourself).
- Have your employer to be initiate work permit application process (you can't initiate this process), which is actually two separate (and serial) applications.
- Traverse the layer cake of incompetence and bureaucracy that is the CIC (Citizenship and Immigration).
- Maybe come out with a work permit on the other side.
- Your new work permit is bound to your current employer.
- Stick around and renew your work permit for 3 years.
Still more accessible than applying for permanent residentship. Immigration is lengthy, you never know how much time it takes, requires you to have a big sum of money in your bank account, and there's the stress of even not knowing if you will find a job when moving.
Going with a work visa can be a pain, but still a more viable plan for a programmer than going through the permanent immigration route.
If you have money, create a company and receive a Visa. Never has it been clearer how people who are well off are treated differently.