By: Evelyn Ackah, Immigration Lawyer 

The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration announced that effective March 10, 2018, there will be a moratorium on new applications under the Federal Self-Employed Persons Class for the Farm Management Stream.

To apply for permanent residency under the self-employed person class, the self-employed person must:

• have relevant experience
• intend and be able to be self-employed in Canada
• meet the selection criteria for self-employed people and
• meet medical, security and other conditions.

The previous relevant experience for this category requires that the applicant must have had at least two years of experience in:

• cultural activities,
• athletics; or
• buying and managing a farm, with at least one – two years of experience in managing a farm.

This requirement has been amended to state that, the experience is relevant if the person has:

• taken part in cultural activities or athletics at a world-class level or
• been self-employed in cultural activities or athletics.

Applications for permanent residence under the Federal Self-Employed Persons Class by applicants whose relevant experience is in farm management that were received by Immigration Refugee Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) on or after March 10, 2018, will be returned along with the processing fee.

Potential applicants who were interested in obtaining permanent residency under the Self-Employed Persons Class under the Farm Management Category may still be able to apply under a provincial nominee program, such as the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program Self-Employed Farmer Stream.

This temporary moratorium will remain in place until otherwise indicated in a future Ministerial Instruction.

Evelyn Ackah is the Founder and Managing Lawyer at Ackah Business Immigration Law. She has been practicing law since 1999 and brings her passion and knowledge for immigration law to her corporate and individual clients from all over the world. 

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