Intra-company transfer

[four coconuts]

Hi Everyone,
I'm looking at moving to Canada with my family. We own a small business in Australia and want to open a Canadian subsidiary to expand our N.American operations. Want to apply for a work permit as an intra-company transfer. My question is:

1. What are the requirements for our Canadian business? Do we have to employ 3rd party Canadians to qualify, does the business have to be a certain size/turnover?
2. Is it worth getting an immigration lawyer to handle our application?

If anyone has any other comments/suggestions regarding our application, I would appreciate your input.

Thanks in advance,

 

[scylla]

The scenario you are describing won't allow you to obtain an intra-company transfer. Intra-company transfers are for situations where a company already has well established operations in Canada and you are being moved from a role outside of Canada to a role inside of Canada. Wanting to start a Canadian branch of your own business definitely won't qualify.

In most cases you need Canadian ownership / partners to start a business in Canada. And even once you've established the business, this doesn't mean you will be able to use this company to move to Canada yourself or immigrate. I'd recommend you either spend more time researching the logistics of what you're trying to do or hire an immigration lawyer to assist you. You may also want to look into the Start Up Visa program:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/business/start-up/index.asp?utm_source=slash-startup&utm_medium=short-url&utm_campaign=generic

But forget about the intra-company transfer. Again, it doesn't apply to your situation and you won't be approved.