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Sobirovs Law Firm

From C-11 to Canadian Permanent Residency as an Immigrant Entrepreneur

Mariam Jammal Mariam Jammal Senior Business Immigration Lawyer Last updated: 4 mins read

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Client Background

Background of the Case

Our client is an accomplished entrepreneur from Turkey. Before coming to Canada as a business owner, she had owned and operated multiple shawarma chain stores in Australia and Turkey. In 2020, she retained our team to assist her with business investment and immigration to Canada. Our client intended to buy a small retail store in Toronto, Ontario. After almost 4 months of searching, she purchased a convenience store located in downtown Toronto for around $145,000. We assisted our client in applying for a C-11 work permit to come to Canada as an entrepreneur. Her application for a C-11 work permit was approved in September 2020, and she received a 2-year work permit to go to Canada with her family as an entrepreneur. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, our client had to close her convenience store for almost 4 months after her arrival. Her store did not do well due to the limited foot traffic in downtown Toronto due to the shift to remote work during the pandemic.

Express Entry Journey

Permanent Residency Application Process

Since our client was an entrepreneur in Canada, we advised our client to apply for permanent residence using the Express Entry program, Federal Skilled Worker stream. By August 2022, our client had completed all the eligibility requirements for this program and obtained her English language test results and all the necessary documents. Her application details can be found below:

  • Express Entry profile completed: November 2022
  • Express Entry score: 510 (with an additional 200 points she received for the job offer from her company in Canada)
  • ITA received: November 2022
  • Application submitted: December 2022
  • Biometrics completed: March 2023
  • Application approved: May 23, 2023

We advised our client to go through the Express Entry program for our client because she could get her permanent residence application processed in a speedy manner without the need to wait 1-2 years for the outcome. Nevertheless, her application under the Express Entry program had several complexities, including:

  1. She was disadvantaged in the Express Entry pool, losing significant points due to her age. Her original score (without the 200 points that came from a job offer) was 310.
  2. Her C-11 work permit had expired while she was waiting for her permanent residence application to be finalized, and she had an “implied status in Canada”.
  3. Her business was struggling in terms of revenue generation and profitability.

Our team successfully navigated these complexities and achieved a successful outcome for our client. We know how complicated and intimidating this final journey is for our clients, and we are happy that this was a relatively short waiting time for this client.

Congratulations to our client! We wish her tremendous success in Canada!

Our Services

How We Can Help

Are you an ambitious global entrepreneur looking to expand your business operations to Canada? Look no further! We invite you to get in touch with us, as we specialize in assisting international entrepreneurs like you in establishing their businesses in Canada and ensuring their success. Canada offers a vibrant and diverse market, robust infrastructure, a skilled workforce, and a business-friendly environment that attracts entrepreneurs from around the world. By partnering with us, you can access a wealth of knowledge, resources, and support to navigate the Canadian business landscape. With us, you can benefit from our extensive experience, industry knowledge, and established networks, giving you a competitive advantage as you establish and grow your business in Canada.

About the author

Mariam Jammal
Mariam Jammal

Mariam Jammal is a Senior Business Immigration Lawyer at Sobirovs Law Firm specializing in multi-program immigration strategies for entrepreneurs and skilled professionals. With deep expertise in combining C-11 Entrepreneur Work Permits with Express Entry pathways, Mariam has successfully guided over 100 business owners toward permanent residency through strategic planning and points optimization. Her approach uniquely addresses the challenges many entrepreneurs face—balancing business establishment with immigration timelines, overcoming age-related points disadvantages, and navigating permit extensions during PR processing. Mariam excels at identifying creative solutions, such as leveraging job offer bonuses from self-owned companies to maximize Express Entry scores, enabling clients to achieve PR approval despite business challenges or initial points constraints.

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