Foreign Work Experience Express Entry

[nitikasharma1988]

Hello Guys!

I have received my IELTS score and now my CRS is 472 I had been working from 2016 to August2020 in my startup which eventually got dissolved. I surrendered the directorship in 2019. Since then I am working in an IT firm as a Senior Software Engineer. For my foreign work experience I am planning to show my experience working in my own firm with genuine documents and the current documents of this organization where I am working. Will that be a problem? The idea is to avoid any unnecessary documents in case I show myself as an entrepreneur.

Please advice the best way forward to attract minimum questions.

Cheers!

 

[harsimranjot]

Hello Guys!

I have received my IELTS score and now my CRS is 472 I had been working from 2016 to August2020 in my startup which eventually got dissolved. I surrendered the directorship in 2019. Since then I am working in an IT firm as a Senior Software Engineer. For my foreign work experience I am planning to show my experience working in my own firm with genuine documents and the current documents of this organization where I am working. Will that be a problem? The idea is to avoid any unnecessary documents in case I show myself as an entrepreneur.

Please advice the best way forward to attract minimum questions.

Cheers!

You will need following for your experience in startup:
1. Reference letter signed by some partner or managerial level employee mentioning your designation, job responsibilities. Also, provide contact details of that person. Mention in the LOE that startup is now dissolved. Try to get reference letter having NOC same as your current job to avoid confusion.
2. Your appointment letter
3. Last Salary Certificate

Same docs will be required for current job as well.

If these things can be arranged, you will be good to go without any issues.

 

[nitikasharma1988]

Thanks for your response. For my startup I was planning to show it as my experience as I was not the director of the company for which I am claiming the experience as I transferred the directorship on my mother's name in 2019. Will that be a problem if I show I was an employee with the right paper work and a similar NOC?

 

[harsimranjot]

Thanks for your response. For my startup I was planning to show it as my experience as I was not the director of the company for which I am claiming the experience as I transferred the directorship on my mother's name in 2019. Will that be a problem if I show I was an employee with the right paper work and a similar NOC?

First, you need to have clarity of thought. There are 2 options from which you can choose:

1. If your self employeed experience is more than 3 years, then you can simply show your experience as director. In this case, you will need to provide proof of incorporation, your income tax returns of those years, your bank statements of those years, aggreement with some client as well as reference letter from some client and business card etc.

Here is the requirement mentioned for self employeed people by IRCC:

• if the applicant is self-employed, articles of incorporation or other evidence of business ownership, evidence of self-employment income and documentation from third-party individuals indicating the service provided along with payment details (self-declared main duties or affidavits are not acceptable proof of self-employed work experience).

If you think that these things are all genuine and readily available, then go ahead with self employeed experience.

2. If you feel that you will not be able to arrange documents mentioned above, then you are only left with option of showing up as an employee. There is no problem in showing yourself as an employee although you were the owner as well.This is easier option if you can arrange appointment letter, salary slips, reference letter.

Now, this reference letter cant be signed by your mother or some relative. It must be provided by some managerial level employee.

If your startup didnt have any employee in managerial level position, then simply go for self employeed experience mentioned in point 1.

More inputs can be provided if you can explain thoroughly about your startup, business field, number of employees, method of maintining accounts and other dara pertaining to startup.

 

[nitikasharma1988]

We were working with foreign clients and getting IT based projects using multiple online platforms like Guru, Upwork, etc. The company had 8 persons in total including me. The market was quite competitive and during the pandemic we were not getting enough work so we thought to retain the profiles and let go the people associated in the company as it was difficult to provide them salaries. Since then I moved into ITSM and have given the accounts to my friend and getting a fixed percentage out of the closed projects. It would be easy for me to provide all such documents and a managerial level employee to validate my candidature with the company. The only concern I have is if they look for physical verification of the office as the company got dissolved and there is no office now. Do they do physical verification for office?

 

[harsimranjot]

We were working with foreign clients and getting IT based projects using multiple online platforms like Guru, Upwork, etc. The company had 8 persons in total including me. The market was quite competitive and during the pandemic we were not getting enough work so we thought to retain the profiles and let go the people associated in the company as it was difficult to provide them salaries. Since then I moved into ITSM and have given the accounts to my friend and getting a fixed percentage out of the closed projects. It would be easy for me to provide all such documents and a managerial level employee to validate my candidature with the company. The only concern I have is if they look for physical verification of the office as the company got dissolved and there is no office now. Do they do physical verification for office?

Whether you go for self employed experience or showing up as an employee, they can opt for physical checks in either case. Although, chances of a physical check are quite small but to eradicate any risk, you should clearly mention in LOE ( Letter of explanation) that the company is now dissolved. In that case, they will simply contact the person who will be signing your reference letter. It would be better to get reference letter from a company employee as well as from a client. Also, provide contact details and other relevant information about those persons like their current job etc.

So, if you are able to provide documemtation as above, you will be fine. You can use NOC 0013 - Senior managers - financial, communications and other business services. In this way, you will be producing all genuine documents.


On the other hand, if you feel that there will be any discrepancy in providing self employed documents, then also, you can go for same NOC but then you will need to produce appointment letter, salary slips and a reference letter. Also, in that case your account statement will not reflect your salaries as you never received monthly salaries in that period.

All in all, the best bet for you is to put some efforts to gather documents related to self employment from ex employees and clients as that would be more genuine scenario.