ThisisRobbo

Hi all,
I've just lost a couple of hours reading through some of the most helpful posts I've read so far looking into Canadian immigration - invaluable!

We're currently having our degrees assessed by WES and are booked in for IELTS next month. We were looking into EE and the Nova Scotian Nomination Programme, but as we're both self employed writers, I guess the self employed immigration programme makes the most sense 😁

The only thing putting me off is the current estimate of a 22 month wait.

Has anyone else gone through this programme? If so, how accurate did you find the processing times?

Apologies if this is a daft question

Siouxie

Hello and welcome to BE!

Self Employed is one of the longest processes for Permanent Residency, so if you have an alternate option I would choose that!

We have had a few threads on the subject - here's some to be going on with, for your perusal

Federal Self Employed Visa
Moving to Canada as self employed with online business
self - employed docs to submit after ITA
Self Employed stream
Immigration via EE or self Employed?
Permanent Residency Application Form - Help Needed (Self Employed!)
Self Employed Visa Timings

There's no doubt other threads, but those are the most recent with 'self employed' in their titles! You may be able to find more information about the processing times by clicking on the username (in the left hand column) of the posts and selecting ' Find more posts by xyz' - to see if they have posted any further information since their initial threads.

If you haven't already found it, we have a wonderful wiki full of great information - https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Quick...an_Immigration - together with a superb member base who are always happy to help if they can!

Good luck with your research - do shout if you have any questions.. no question is daft if it's something you need the answer to

ThisisRobbo

Hey Siouxie,

This is super helpful - thanks! Looks like I've got a lot of reading to get through...

I read on another forum that the processing time is an average (fingers crossed) and that some cases can be quicker.

I'm sure I'll be back with more daft questions soon enough.

Cheers!

Siouxie

Yes, it's the average - for the self employed route it's the time it took to process most applications in the past 12 months
Have you checked to see what your CRS score might be - in case you could apply through Express Entry? http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigra...d/crs-tool.asp


https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...ing-times.htmlBe thankful it's not 5 years ago - when the self employed route could take 97 months on average! (with the wayback machine, you can find out so much 'stuff' that's no longer available online )

ThisisRobbo

97 months! 😳😳😳

We're looking at EE but would need to provincial nomination to top up our points as we estimate we're at the 400 level.

To be honest, both being writers (my wife is a published author) and self-employed for 5+ years, the SE route probably offers us the best chance.

Fingers crossed anyway!

Siouxie

400 seems a little on the low side - could you give a breakdown of your points, perhaps? Assume you have top marks for IELTS and that you have had any education assessed...

Being writers is not insurmountable for EE or gaining a job in writing - you don't have to stay in the job forever, just long enough to get PR and show establishment in the Province / intent to remain... think of it as a means to an end. Are either of you under 31 (or under 35 if Irish) by any chance? If so, an IEC 2 year work permit might be a way of getting your feet in the door and some Canadian experience to get more points - or even Provincial Nomination.

Oh here's another thought - if you have sufficient funds to get set up - could you start a writers camp or something similar perhaps - there are routes for 'new business' start ups which also give you a work permit whilst you are getting established, plus places like BC also have Regional PNP for Entrepreneurs.. https://www.welcomebc.ca/Immigrate-t...Regional-Pilot (thinking outside of the box) and Ontario and Nova Scotia also have Entrepreneur streams..

For jobs - have a look at some of the links: https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/jobsearch/jobsearch?fn=5121
https://www.google.ca/search?q=NOC+5...cr%3DcountryCA

ThisisRobbo

Ha! Writing retreats are part of the future plans, as we look to start afresh! Hadn't thought about exploring that as an immigration route in... Thanks for the tip!

I'll check our points again and post them up later. We're both on the wrong side of 40, which doesn't help, but maybe I've missed something...

ThisisRobbo

Hey,
So, we applyed through the Self Employment programme at the turn of the year and this morning we received our invitation for Pre-Arrival services. Having googled it, there appears to be mixed opinions as to whether this is a good thing or simply a standard email.

Does anyone know what the next stage is or how far through the process we are? The timeline still suggests December 2021 until completion.

Many thanks all

Siouxie

Hi and welcome back! Glad to hear you found a route in the end.

Settlement services is usually indicative that you should be getting your Passport request soon or that COPR is going to be issued in the not too distant future... but if your timeline is still showing Dec 2021, who knows!
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...igibility.html

ThisisRobbo

Thanks Siouxie! It does sound like a good thing then. At the very least it's good to hear/see some progress 🤞

Siouxie

do keep us updated - will be interesting to see if the present Covid situation will impact the timeline (perhaps for the better).

tajdeol

Hey Robbo

Sorry to revamp an old thread - but I’m looking to do exactly what you’ve done - Self Employed Immigration. I’m reading the form and it’s making me go cross eyed so if you don’t mind helping another fellow freelancer (I’m a video editor) to get it all sent in I would majorly appreciate it! Where are you in your progress with the application if you don’t mind me asking? What’s the latest?

Thanks!

Siouxie

Just a reminder that we ask that any questions or help requests that are immigration related are only posted on the forum - and not by private messages etc., this is to protect our members, because even with the best of intentions it's easy to inadvertently give incorrect or ambiguous information - immigration regulations and programs change quickly - and what applies to one person may not apply to someone else. It's also useful for the anyone else who might be going down that route - much like yourself.

If these things are posted on the forum it's easy for someone else to spot it and correct as or if necessary. Thanks for understanding

What parts of the forms are you having issues with? We've a few members on here who have been down the self employment route - and even some professional who can offer advice

ThisisRobbo

Hey,

Not sure how much help I can be as it's dependent on your personal circumstances, but what I will say is that we double-checked, triple-checked and then checked again each time we filled out a section on the form. It's actually pretty straightforward if you work through it methodically. We probably took longer than we needed to compiling it, but we wanted to make sure we didn't miss anything as it's pretty much our best opportunity to make the move.

We submitted our form in the new year before the knock on effects of Covid and completed our medicals end of October. As far as I can tell it's now a waiting game...

​​​​​​Happy to answer any questions on here that I can.

Cheers!

tajdeol

Hey Robbo

Thanks for your reply. The form does seem straightforward in a sense but then at times I'm not sure what to send with the application. One of my big concerns is that you just have to pay the fees when you send the forms without the chance to see if you're even likely to be accepted and I'm assuming - unless someone corrects me - that if we were to apply and be told we weren't successful, that we'd lose the fees? £3000 is a small price to pay for our dream move but at the same time, spending it without knowing about likelihood of a good result is quite a leap of faith. Does anyone know of a good solution (other than how you've checked and triple checked etc) to checking that I've got a good chance?

Some questions if I may:

The Business section - Form Schedule 6A, Question 11D - First off, when they say business, do they mean the limited company that I work through or do they mean a self employed business? Or either one? It's very vague on the guide. I ask as I have experience in both (working through my own limited company and also as a PAYE freelancer for several of my clients.

Same section - what did you supply to show your business Net worth, book value etc? I might ask my accountant but would be very helpful to know what to ask him for as I have a feeling he won't be familiar with it.

Same section - would business debt count against me in any way? I ask as we've made use of the Coronavirus Bounce Back Loan scheme as my business was hit directly by the pandemic and hit very hard, but thing are getting better now. Have you disclosed info about business loans / debts?

When they say foreign exchange rate for the personal bank account section are they asking for current balances in CAD?

And for the business experience section in the Document Checklist, they say:

"Proof of your relevant experience during the 5 years before application submission" and that "The onus is on you to produce documentation to support your experience in one of these areas". My initial thought is to provide a letter-headed signed statement from all of my clients that says the duties I have carried out for them, how long I've worked for them for and the rate of pay. Am I missing anything there? What else did you provide? And any further suggestions from others about what else to send?

When it came to copies of things, did you just get a "professional" person to certify them or does have to be a solicitor (the closest thing to a notary I can find for UK)?

And actually - while I think of it - does anyone know if putting a certain province as the intended one will count for / against me? I ask as I know some provinces are not interested in people like me (i.e. Saskachewan) but others are.

Also - does anyone know where we can see statistics from IRCC regarding the self employed immigration program? i.e. how many people apply / have applied / are waiting for a result / get accepted / get declined etc - like they do for EE? Or do they not publish these?

I'm sure I will have some more questions but would be most grateful for any help!

Thanks.

Taj.