Canada Express entry - Startup?

Amazon
eeffoc

Go to company page Amazon

eeffoc
Aug 4, 2017 25 Comments

Has anyone gone through Canada's express entry recently and could share their experience?
I am thinking of moving to Canada and start a startup that I have been planning for few years now. If I understand correctly, Canada's express entry is their permanent residency process and people getting through them could move in as permanent residents and start businesses immediately if they want to (or is there a waiting period/any gotchas here?).

If you know, please shed some light on startup culture in Canada, are there better places for a tech startup that makes a difference?

I and my spouse came to the US in 2007 for our Masters and both been waiting for our greencards since 2011 on EB2 India queue. It doesn't look like we are going to get it anytime soon with current country-cap crap. LOL would be lucky if we even get it in our working lifetime. Add to that the anxiety of being on a visa that you need to renew periodically and being on visa where you can't even take a break or do something other than your assigned job.
We have been working on a startup idea for last 3 years, and launched in India with a friend and been seeing good results and refining it. We feel it is more suited for the US market and ready to launch/expand here, but being on H1 we can't.
Thankfully we both been in tech for all these years and have saved enough (+good investments) now that we don't care about working & saving any more, but really want to go try to build something ourselves before we are too old for this.

Any experience with express entry or starting a startup in Canada would be really helpful. Thanks!

Edit: Someone suggested EB5 route with 500K+ investment - we would rather put that money into our startup or AWS credit than in "investments" tailored for EB5. We have paid much more than that just in taxes already, this shouldn't be like this just because where I was born.

comments

Want to comment? LOG IN or SIGN UP
TOP 25 Comments
  • Cisco
    francisco

    Go to company page Cisco

    francisco
    If you are even thinking of doing it in the next two years, you better get your IELTS test and degree evaluation done from WES and apply for police verification from FBI. These things can take upto 3months(and valid for two years) and then you can dig further if you really want to move or not.
    Aug 4, 2017 5
    • Cisco
      francisco

      Go to company page Cisco

      francisco
      Imo, you can do channeler based only if you are US citizen or maybe even green card holder. I am a part of fb group for canada express entry and people say it is taking them more than 2 months to get it.
      Aug 5, 2017
    • PayPal
      tullu

      Go to company page PayPal

      tullu
      Can someone elaborate how's this related to OP's post ?
      Aug 6, 2017
  • Amazon
    Kellogg

    Go to company page Amazon

    Kellogg
    I did express entry recently -very straightforward and simple process -I didn't pursue it as amazon has very few teams in Canada
    Aug 4, 2017 3
    • Cisco
      francisco

      Go to company page Cisco

      francisco
      To get extra points, you will need a job that is LMI approved. Otherwise no extra points. It might help you application with proof of funds if you dont have enough cash(13k cad). If you have a Masters and more than 1 yeR of exp, i think you have a decent chance of making it to ITA
      Aug 5, 2017
    • Amazon
      Madagasca

      Go to company page Amazon

      Madagasca
      I have a masters degree and three years exp-got the invite on my own without a job offer -if you have a job offer your points will shoot up and you will breeze through (extra 200 points).I did not pursue as there are no roles for what I am looking for in amazon Canada .In general I found tech jobs in Canada to be no where close to the US
      Aug 5, 2017
  • @op check out unshakeled ventures . They are VC firm for folks who are on H1B . That said there is no harm applying for Canadian PR. There are some positive immigration changes that might happen this year in US.
    Aug 4, 2017 1
    • Amazon
      eeffoc

      Go to company page Amazon

      eeffoc
      OP
      I wouldn't bet on positive changes to immigration anytime soon. I have seen many bills that come, make news and die, year after year.
      Thanks for pointing to VCs that might help, will check them out. One concern would be given you are on visa, VCs would be in strong position for negotiations and we could get shafted easily. And we also prefer to bootstrap it ourselves initially so we have complete control on the direction we take.
      Aug 4, 2017
  • Amazon / Mgmt
    timer

    Go to company page Amazon Mgmt

    timer
    Since you mentioned it's getting good traction in India and you don't care too much about money, why don't you move to India and drive from their. Vcs won't invest giving the complexity in US.
    Aug 4, 2017 7
  • Cisco / Product
    axeiscomin

    Go to company page Cisco Product

    PRE
    Amazon, Apple, Fitbit, Google, Cisco
    axeiscomin
    I dont have a job offer but interested in applying.. did u apply visa yourself? Other than IELTS what else do you need? Please help 😊
    Aug 14, 2017 2