Self employed experience with Express Entry

[seswe]

Hi to all,

I started my own company (incorporated in the US) back in 2019, and I've been receiving a salary from it from 2020 to now.

I own 50% of the company, and I have one cofounder who owns 50% who lives in the US.

I don't live in the US but all of the work I do is performed remotely in my home country.

The company is completely bootstrapped, so there's no equity investment or anything like that.

It's a software as a service (SaaS) company, and my main responsibilities involve writing code for new features, bug fixes, maintenance, setting up servers and handling customer support queries.

Since it's all self serve plans, users can just sign up, enter their credit card information and they receive a receipt.

For the most part, they never interact directly with me (except in some cases for customer support).

The company does have some enterprise clients, so I'd be able to get 2 of those clients to attest to my experience, but the work done for those clients specifically is about 6-8 months worth of work.

My co-founder would obviously be willing to attest to my experience as well.

I can provide receipts, tax returns, articles of incorporation etc to prove that I own the company, and that the company has actual clients & revenue.

But my main concern is how I can prove what experience I actually have.

Is there a way for me to use this experience towards Express Entry?

If so, how exactly would I prove this work experience?

 

[CanGoldDigger]

It's very hard to prove self employment.

Collect all the proofs that you can, references, paystubs, taxes, registrations, certificates, accountant books.

 

[seswe]

It's very hard to prove self employment.

Collect all the proofs that you can, references, paystubs, taxes, registrations, certificates, accountant books.

Appreciate you taking the time to reply.

Do you know if a reference letter from my co-founder would help? That's probably my best chance of detailing my responsibilities 100% accurately.

 

[CanGoldDigger]

Appreciate you taking the time to reply.

Do you know if a reference letter from my co-founder would help? That's probably my best chance of detailing my responsibilities 100% accurately.

Yes, everything will help. Try to attach as much as possible. Self-employed experience is not that straightforward to prove.

 

[kallisti]

The documents you mentioned as well as a reference letter are all great ideas. Like you said, you'll want to make sure the reference letter mentions duties that match up with your NOC.

While not at all the same industry, I work self-employed as a sole proprietor mental health therapist. You can imagine how difficult this could be to prove, especially given I cannot ask actual clients to write a reference for me. I sent a letter of explanation as well as tax documentation from field-relevant software, copies of the first page of my office lease, and a letter of reference from a fellow therapist whom I’ve known professionally for the duration of my career. They were able to attest to my work, since we’ve presented together, referred to and gotten feedback about each other, and collaborated on client work. I honestly might have even forgotten to send a copy of my license. Nonetheless, my work experience was accepted.