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Canada's Start-up Visa

cic.gc.ca

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Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#221

Post by anovikov »

mjn wrote: post #183
anovikov wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess is that trying Amsterdam, or Berlin is a safer bet. Apart from mature startup culture, for you as an Indian, these places also have an advantage of being relatively close, timezone-wise, to both U.S. (at least East Coast) which will be most probably your main market, and India where you will probably hire people.

I don't have a large sample size, but my small set of second-hand reports suggests that trying to live-and-work in Berlin can be problematic if you don't speak at least passable German. Not for the startup scene itself, where everyone speaks English, but for practicalities like interacting with the civil service, health-care system, housing, and banks, where German is expected. (This is a difference from Copenhagen,…

True. There are very few places in the world where you can go without local language. It is a pleasure to see how this improves over years, pace of the change is dramatic, but we are far from there as far as Central and Eastern Europe is concerned.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#222

Post by mook »

gabemart wrote: post #131
potatolicious wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Skilled immigration is a popular track for immigration to Canada. How easy it is depends on how highly you score based on the government's criteria: http://www.workpermit.com/canada/points_calculator.htm The primary contributors to points is education background, linguistic ability (English and/or French), work experience, and age. It takes a fair amount of time (compared to H-1B or other US work visas), since this i…

Unless I'm reading the form incorrectly, it looks as if an eligibility requirement is 1 year of work experience in a very limited range of fields, given here: http://www.workpermit.com/canada/employee_list.htm Am I correct in thinking that if you don't have experience in one of these fields, you're not eligible to even apply?

Note that that list differs from the list on the official web site, which appears to be current as of May 2013: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-who-ins... (Also see the top of that page for differently phrased instructions that might be clearer.)

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#223

Post by bdamm »

scott_karana wrote: post #86
Achshar wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually want to set up a startup. But undecided on location, my current location will not do. I really want to go to valley, ideally get into YC itself, but the barrier to entry is high. How would you say is the startup culture over there in canada? How does it stack up against places like valley, london or NYC? Other and more accessible option for me is Banglore, no visa required (I am from India).

Ask yourself this: if you've never heard of startup culture in Canada, what is that indicative of? :) (Saying this sadly, as I'm a Canadian)

Ever heard of Flickr?

They did quite well.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#224

Post by LeonidBugaev »

anovikov wrote: post #164
Achshar wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually want to set up a startup. But undecided on location, my current location will not do. I really want to go to valley, ideally get into YC itself, but the barrier to entry is high. How would you say is the startup culture over there in canada? How does it stack up against places like valley, london or NYC? Other and more accessible option for me is Banglore, no visa required (I am from India).

My guess is that trying Amsterdam, or Berlin is a safer bet. Apart from mature startup culture, for you as an Indian, these places also have an advantage of being relatively close, timezone-wise, to both U.S. (at least East Coast) which will be most probably your main market, and India where you will probably hire people.

But what about Visa? From what i know there is no alternative like Europe Startup Visa.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#225

Post by levosmetalo »

goatforce5 wrote: post #40
mjn wrote: post #16

Summary of the conditions: - Secure $75k in angel funding or $200k in venture funding, from a list of designated Canadian funders. - Score relatively highly on a language test in either English or French, for both verbal and written ability (note that everyone must take this test, even those coming from English- or French-speaking countries). - Have satisfactorily completed at least one year of higher education (no d…

I had to do the English test as part of my Canadian permanent residency and it was oddly terrifying. English is my first (and only) language. Luckily it turns out I can speak the English reel gud. I now have a certificate to prove it! There were other people in my test group who couldn't follow basic instructions that were given out before the test ("Please wait over there", etc.). I imagine they didn't do so well.

As someone that speaks English "reel gud" I can understand that the test was "reeli harrd". It's amazing how many people have problems with tests of their own first language just for the fact that they have never learned grammatical rules and that they can't distinguish between "standard" language and a local dialect they are used to. After all, it's native speakers that are guilty of "their" and "there's" confusion.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#226

Post by anovikov »

LeonidBugaev wrote: post #224
anovikov wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess is that trying Amsterdam, or Berlin is a safer bet. Apart from mature startup culture, for you as an Indian, these places also have an advantage of being relatively close, timezone-wise, to both U.S. (at least East Coast) which will be most probably your main market, and India where you will probably hire people.

But what about Visa? From what i know there is no alternative like Europe Startup Visa.

You can always open a company and apply as a company manager. Also, you can get a Blue Card if you pay yourself at least 1.5x the average salary in a given country, which in the case of a funded startup should not be a problem. German immigration system is very kind to tech founders.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#227

Post by rullopat »

mjn wrote: post #16

Summary of the conditions: - Secure $75k in angel funding or $200k in venture funding, from a list of designated Canadian funders. - Score relatively highly on a language test in either English or French, for both verbal and written ability (note that everyone must take this test, even those coming from English- or French-speaking countries). - Have satisfactorily completed at least one year of higher education (no d…

I don't get why you need to complete at least one year of higher education. You need to prove that you are a college dropout?

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#228

Post by zerr »

hpagey wrote: post #76
nell wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, a H1B holder working for an employer can start a company if they hold a small equity?

Yes, in US anyone can start a company, but the catch is, you can't work for it without proper work authorization. So, practically, this means you can't start a company if you are going to take an active operating role within the company.

Any reasoning behind it?

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#229

Post by tokenizer »

randomdata wrote: post #49
tokenizer wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't mention any particular reason for the education on the website. I'm at least a little glad it isn't a requirement to hold a degree or diploma. I'm assuming this is simply an empty requirement to weed out people during application. That said, if a few very intelligent hacker types who never went to college had successfully achieved all of the other three requirements, then I'd see no reason to deny that app…

> I'm pretty sure this rule also extends from my countries intense fascination with secondary education. That was my takeaway. A way to save face with the strong "education or else" group of people in the country, while acknowledging that formal education is not all that relevant to the program.

Exactly. While it's a compromise, I feel like they missed the point. As someone who has completed one year of college, but opted to drop out and start working, I would rather drop outs be given a chance.

I mean, if I have 12,000$ in the bank, a VC in Canada willing to invest, and can speak French and English, then that should be enough. My main criticism of this Visa is that it isn't inclusive enough. If we could even get 10 more accepted applicants by dropping the educational requirement then it would be worth it in my opinion.

Re: Canada's Start-up Visa

#230

Post by techsupporter »

danudey wrote: post #135
zaatar wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One key thing to note is that Canadian Citizenship Law does not require the applicant to be present physically on Canadian soil while the application is being processed, nor does it require "proof of intent to live in Canada" for award of Citizenship. What this means is that in theory, someone could land as a PR one Day 1, file the application exactly 3 years and 1 day later, and then leave Canada and go sit in a hut…

I'm not sure what benefit this gets them though, other than being able to travel on a Canadian passport and receive help from Canadian embassies when abroad. It's not as though one gets access to Canadian social programs when overseas.

Possible reasons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadians_of_convenience

(Having no dog in this hunt as I'm not Canadian nor do I have any claim on Canadian citizenship or permanent residence, much as I'd like to.)

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