Owner-Operator Immigration: A Four-Year Journey to PR
Visa refusals, a battle over NOC codes, a Federal Court appeal, and parallel strategies that ultimately delivered 800 Express Entry points
An instructive case that provides a detailed look at how the owner-operator immigration pathway works in practice. The defining feature of this case was a prolonged battle over the NOC code needed to earn 200 additional Express Entry points through an LMIA. There were setbacks and victories along the way, and while the LMIA with the desired NOC was eventually obtained, by that point it was no longer the critical factor.
First Attempt: Visitor Visa
In 2019, Nathan – who was not yet our client at the time – applied for a temporary visitor visa on his own. His reason for visiting Canada was compelling: Amazon wanted to meet him in person before extending a job offer for a senior position.
In July 2019, the visa application was refused. After the refusal, Nathan entrusted the process to us.
Second Attempt
In situations like this, a second attempt at a visitor visa is entirely justified – self-prepared applications typically have significant shortcomings that inevitably affect the outcome. The plan was to address those weaknesses and prepare a new application of the highest possible quality.
The risk of another refusal was considerable, but a refusal on a strong application is easier to challenge later.
Nevertheless, in October 2019, the second application was also refused. A request for reconsideration likewise produced no result.
The Owner-Operator Pathway
After assessing the situation, the decision was made to pursue immigration to Canada through the owner-operator route. Nathan would need to incorporate a company in Canada, build it into an active business, and then receive a job offer from his own corporation – an offer that would ultimately enable him to apply for permanent residence.
The corporation was established in December 2019. Immediately after incorporation, all of the contracts Nathan had been executing as an IT freelancer were transferred to the new corporation, which thus began conducting active business operations in Canada.
LMIA
In January 2021, an LMIA application was submitted. In this application, the corporation demonstrated its intent to hire Nathan for a managerial position (NOC 0013). If successful, this would give Nathan 200 additional points in his Express Entry profile, making it possible to receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) and file for permanent residence.
In April 2021, the LMIA application was approved – but with one significant adjustment: the authorities did not accept the argument for NOC 0013 and assigned NOC 0213 instead. As a result, Nathan could claim only 50 additional points rather than 200, which was not yet enough.
Judicial Review
In July 2021, a notice of application for judicial review at the Federal Court was filed. The subject of the appeal was the authorities' decision to change the NOC from 0013 to 0213.
Court proceedings take time, and several months passed before the next step – filing the application record. This was submitted in October 2021.
In parallel, in September 2021, the corporation filed a second LMIA application with additional justification in support of NOC 0013.
As of October 2021, both matters – the court appeal and the second LMIA application – were in the early stages of processing.
Provincial Nomination (OINP)
It was precisely in October 2021 that Nathan received a notification from the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) inviting him to apply for a provincial nomination.
The invitation was accepted, and in December 2021 the nomination application was submitted to Ontario's provincial authorities for review.
The Outcome
From this point on, the parallel processes that had been set in motion began to converge:
- December 2021 – the second LMIA application was approved, awarding Nathan 200 Express Entry points.
- February 2022 – Nathan received the Ontario provincial nomination.
- March 2022 – Nathan received an ITA (Invitation to Apply for permanent residence).
- April 2022 – the Federal Court accepted the appeal for hearing; Nathan filed his PR application.
- July 2022 – the court dismissed the appeal and upheld the authorities' decision on the first LMIA.
- October 2022 – Nathan received two additional requests in connection with his PR application, after which the file went silent for a long time.
- August 2023 – a formal demand letter was sent to the visa office requiring prompt processing of the application.
- November 2023 – the process concluded. Nathan received permanent resident status in Canada.
The entire process took four years. Throughout that time, Nathan continued his primary work through his Canadian corporation and had no way to enter Canada (after two visa refusals, the chances of approval were effectively nil).
Looking at the individual stages in isolation, the picture might seem discouraging: visa refusals, an LMIA adjusted against Nathan's interests, a lost court appeal. As in any contest, legal processes bring both victories and defeats. But despite the setbacks, a positive result was achieved: Nathan was able to secure 600 additional points for the provincial nomination and 200 additional points for the LMIA.
Nathan's own role in the process cannot be overstated – he never gave up, never abandoned the fight, listened carefully to advice and followed it diligently. Without effective two-way collaboration, the outcome could have been very different.
Lawpoint Immigration guides clients through the owner-operator pathway, LMIA applications, provincial nominations, and Federal Court proceedings.