Self Employed Visa Requirements

[ParuMani]

National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2011
Introduction

• 5 - Occupations in art, culture, recreation and sport
• 52 - Technical occupations in art, culture, recreation and sport
• 524 - Creative designers and craftspersons

5244 - Artisans and craftspersons
This unit group includes those who use manual and artistic skills to design and make ornamental objects, pottery, stained glass, jewellery, rugs, blankets, other handicrafts and artistic floral arrangements. Makers of musical instruments are also included in this unit group. Most craftspersons are self-employed. Artistic floral arrangers are usually employed in florist shops and floral departments of retail establishments, or may be self-employed. Craft instructors are also included in this unit group and are employed by artisan guilds, colleges, private studios and recreational organizations.

• Illustrative example(s)
  • artistic floral arranger
  • carver
  • craft instructor (except education)
  • craftsperson
  • glass blower
  • lace weaver - arts and crafts
  • leather worker
  • metal arts worker
  • potter
  • screen printing artisan
  • silversmith
  • stained glass artist
  • stringed instrument maker
  • totem pole carver
  • weaver - arts and crafts
• All examples
• Exclusion(s)
  • Cabinetmakers (7272)
  • Fabric-making occupations in manufacturing (See 9442 Weavers, knitters and other fabric making occupations)
  • Jewellers, jewellery and watch repairers and related occupations (6344)
  • Painters, sculptors and other visual artists (5136)
• Main duties
  The following is a summary of main duties for some occupations in this unit group:
  • Carvers use hand tools and woodworking machines to produce carvings from wood, stone and other materials and to carve ornamental designs into wooden furniture and other objects.
  • Glass blowers design and create glass objects using blowpipes and artisan's hand tools and equipment.
  • Metal arts workers design metal jewellery, utensils, implements, wall hangings and other objects and create them from gold, silver, copper, pewter and other metals.
  • Potters design ornamental and ceramic functional earthenware pieces and create them using clay, moulds, potter's wheels and other equipment, glazing materials and kilns.
  • Stained glass artists design stained glass windows, lampshades and other objects and cut, paint, fire and assemble pieces of stained glass to create such products.
  • Instrument makers construct instruments applying their knowledge of wood, ebonite, metal properties and other materials and instrument design using hand and power tools.
  • Weavers use hands or loom to interlace strips of flexible material such as wool, cotton, silk, grasses, bark and rawhide to make baskets, wreaths, wall hangings, clothing, rugs, blankets and other objects.
  • Craft instructors prepare craftmaking lessons, gather the required working materials and demonstrate and teach craftmaking techniques.
  • Artistic floral arrangers design bouquets, corsages, sprays, wreaths and other floral arrangements and select natural and artificial flowers, foliage and decorative accessories to create arrangements or other floral items to suit customers' requirements.
• Employment requirements
  • Skills are often learned through apprenticeship with a master craftsperson.
  • Training programs are offered by artisan guilds, colleges and private studios.
  • Creative ability and talent, as demonstrated by a portfolio of work, and knowledge of safe handling of material, tools and equipment are required.
  • A college diploma in fine craft techniques may be required.

 

[Dr.Pjmn]

My main carrier has been inventing and applying for 5+ years that includes finding solution for specific problem designing and making prototype to evaluate the solution, developing if needed and writing application for each invention in international format accompanied with drawings provided by 3d software . Samples indicating patentability are published and applicable.
Does it meet eligibility for self-employment?
It seems that "INVENTING" is a neglected carrier.
I tried to find a way to ask officials but I didn't find any. Please Give me a way except call to ask officials if the answer is not clear .
Regards

 

[Dr.Pjmn]

I even asked NOC national Occupational Classification the question and they referred me to help center that wouldn't be useful because help center forms are for people that have application or profile only.

 

[21Goose]

My main carrier has been inventing and applying for 5+ years that includes finding solution for specific problem designing and making prototype to evaluate the solution, developing if needed and writing application for each invention in international format accompanied with drawings provided by 3d software . Samples indicating patentability are published and applicable.
Does it meet eligibility for self-employment?
It seems that "INVENTING" is a neglected carrier.
I tried to find a way to ask officials but I didn't find any. Please Give me a way except call to ask officials if the answer is not clear .
Regards

Did you get paid for these solutions? If yes, it may qualify under self-employed for the purposes of Express Entry (FSW) but it won't qualify under the Self Employed Visa class as "inventing" will not fall under "cultural activities" or "athletics"

 

[Dr.Pjmn]

Thank you for helpful comment

 

[pathak2016]

Is business plan mandatory for the self employed person immigration stream? It seems business plan is quite costly. Have any one applied without the business plan? Also I would like to know when we need show the proof of fund, at the time of application or after getting the ITA sort of thing? I don't know whether there is any ITA for self employed person immigration program.

 

[ParuMani]

Is business plan mandatory for the self employed person immigration stream? It seems business plan is quite costly. Have any one applied without the business plan? Also I would like to know when we need show the proof of fund, at the time of application or after getting the ITA sort of thing? I don't know whether there is any ITA for self employed person immigration program.

You can create your own business plan.. It need not be professional but it should have all the details you need to convey to ircc

 

[theguv]

My personal opinion (and what I did) is to avoid giving them a buttload of un-necessary paperwork to have to wade through and process.

They provide a list of the documents and evidence they NEED to process your application so only send them that. If they want more they'll ask. A business plan is, as you say, expensive to create and often a very dense document. If someone's not trained to read one then there's literally no point in putting one in front of them.

You want to make their job easier not harder. Supply only what they ask for and if they want to know your forecasted P&L for the next 5 years and all the other information that a loan officer might be interested in they'll ask.

 

[ParuMani]

You can create your own business plan.. It need not be professional but it should have all the details you need to convey to ircc

Business plan.. What is your business.. how its performing today.. future plans and how you are planning to achieve it ..
If you create a word document and explain in your own words how you want to do your business in future with all the bells and whistles, you are good to go.

 

[typeaimages]

I just wrote out what they asked for in the application: I sent along a written document (it was about 3 pages) of what I planned to do once I landed, the research I had done on the local Halifax, NS industry pertaining to my NOC, and about a 5-6 page document detailing my business history, awards, publications, etc.

 

[j708angel]

No, you don't need to be World Class to apply under this category. It's clearly stated:

• for cultural activities:
  1. 2 one-year periods being self-employed in cultural activities, OR
  2. 2 one-year periods participating at a world-class level in cultural activities, OR
  3. a combination of a one-year period described in (a), and a one-year period described in (b)
• for athletics:
  1. 2 one-year periods being self-employed in athletics, OR
  2. 2 one-year periods participating at a world class level in athletics, OR
  3. a combination of a one-year period described in (a) above, and a one-year period described in (b) above

The "OR" at the end of the statements have a specific legal meaning - they aren't just accidentally there, you know.

The Operational Manual states:

The officer must consider the following in assessing an applicant's experience, intent and ability to create their own employment in Canada: Self-employed experience in cultural activities or athletics. This will capture those traditionally applying in this category. For example, music teachers, painters, illustrators, film makers, freelance journalists. Beyond that, the category is intended to capture those people who work behind the scenes, for example, choreographers, set designers, coaches and trainers.Management experience in the world of arts and culture may also be a viable measure of self-employment; for example, theatrical or musical directors and impresarios


If you can prove this experience, it is sufficient. You don't need to be the next Scorsese or Bolt.

My Canadian lawyer who has more than 20 years of immigration experience said the same, world-class is not required, for performers, athletics, they may need to have some awards to show their achievements. Applicants like self-employed writers, illustrators, there is no such world-class competition for them and they don't have to participate in that kind of thing to prove their achievements. Their work is the best proof itself. But yes, the requirements seem easy but difficult to get approved unless the applicant is special and can stand out from others.

 

[j708angel]

While I agree broadly I was aiming to make the point that while "World Class" isn't a strict requirement it's almost certainly a major thing to consider in terms of the competition we're facing when we apply for this visa stream.

Being a self employed at something and earning a living versus someone who's been working at a world class, internationally recognised level are two totally different things and visa officers are only human; the "World Class" scale of someone's work and it's ability to "Enrich the Cultural Life of Canada" is almost certainly going to trump someone who makes and sells regionally specific trinkets or photographs local events...

I'm not saying it's right or wrong but we'd be fools if we didn't weigh up the likelihood that we're up against competition that has way more exposure and higher profile experience than us.

Not looking to demean anyone's work, more to frame the scale of the undertaking. Is it worth the cash, the time, the effort, the sleepless nights and the hunting down of old addresses and work details if your work as a freelancer doesn't really stack up as "impressive" in the eyes of someone balancing you against the competition.

World Class isn't a requirement across the board but it's something that I have no doubt that will be front of mind for a Visa Officer when looking over an application. I'm not sure there's a quota for this stream but I'd be surprised if there weren't, so given the likelihood of a limited number of places available and the potentially high operating level of applicants in your field or mine, is it really worth it? Is EE or PNP a better route?

All of this is not even including the visa officers belief that you or I are going to get off the plane and be able to establish ourselves out of the gate as a freelancer. This is much easier to achieve if you have a reputation that precedes your arrival. The "World Class-ness" of your work can be easily judged by how much of it is known or conducted outside your locale.

I'm sure that a regional theatre make up artist has been accepted to this visa before but compared with someone who's done hair and make up on internationally distributed movies and world tours for global pop stars, it's pretty easy to see which one the officer is going to favour...

Hi, I agree with you on this. Although world-class is not a strict requirement but applicants who want to optimize their chance to win should make themselves stand out. My Canadian lawyer said a similar thing to me. And "Enrich the Cultural Life of Canada ", it seems that lots of applicants here ignored the " Cultural" part, but "Cultural" could be a vital factor for this program. Or there's no difference with the expensive 6 months self-employ business program.