Citizenship and Immigration Canada has announced that the Immigrant Investor Program, which since June 26 has not accepted any applications, will re-open on December 1st.
The Immigrant Investor Program is a government initiative aimed at helping business investors and their families gain entry into Canada. A qualified applicant has typically owned and/or managed an active trade or business. Over 34,400 immigrants have used the Immigrant Investor Program since its inception to immigrate to Canada.
People that qualify for the program and their immediate family can obtain Permanent Resident Visas by investing CAD $800,000 for five years under the Federal Program. The Canadian government guarantees the $800,000, which it will reimburse in full, without interest, after five years.
The general requirements of the program include:
•Having a minimum of two years business experience. This can include either;
•
◦Managing and controlling a percentage of equity of the qualifying business for at least two years in the period beginning five years before the date of application; or
•
◦Managing the equivalent of at least five full-time employees per year in a business for at least two years in the period beginning five years before the date of application; or
•A combination of one year of experience described in the first point and one year of experience described in the second point.
•Having a legally obtained net worth of at least CDN $800,000; and
•Indicating in writing to an officer that they intend to make or have made a $800,000 investment.
Under the previous program, applicants generally obtained financing for their investment. This required an non-refundable deposit from between $80-120,000 depending on which financial intermediary was used, and what the lawyer’s practice was regarding commissions.
As of writing, it is unknown what the financing for the new program will be.
http://www.smeurrens.com/2010/11/immigrant-investor-program-to-re-open-december-1/
The Immigrant Investor Program is a government initiative aimed at helping business investors and their families gain entry into Canada. A qualified applicant has typically owned and/or managed an active trade or business. Over 34,400 immigrants have used the Immigrant Investor Program since its inception to immigrate to Canada.
People that qualify for the program and their immediate family can obtain Permanent Resident Visas by investing CAD $800,000 for five years under the Federal Program. The Canadian government guarantees the $800,000, which it will reimburse in full, without interest, after five years.
The general requirements of the program include:
•Having a minimum of two years business experience. This can include either;
•
◦Managing and controlling a percentage of equity of the qualifying business for at least two years in the period beginning five years before the date of application; or
•
◦Managing the equivalent of at least five full-time employees per year in a business for at least two years in the period beginning five years before the date of application; or
•A combination of one year of experience described in the first point and one year of experience described in the second point.
•Having a legally obtained net worth of at least CDN $800,000; and
•Indicating in writing to an officer that they intend to make or have made a $800,000 investment.
Under the previous program, applicants generally obtained financing for their investment. This required an non-refundable deposit from between $80-120,000 depending on which financial intermediary was used, and what the lawyer’s practice was regarding commissions.
As of writing, it is unknown what the financing for the new program will be.
http://www.smeurrens.com/2010/11/immigrant-investor-program-to-re-open-december-1/
