₦airaland Forum

eniola1010:
Mimi please i just DM you. I particularly have some questions to ask you concerning rmb/yuan business. I am hoping if we can rub minds concerning chinese importation.

relocationhub:
Thank you so much, and God bless you for this response. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain this.

For the years before my business was officially registered, I was hoping to provide supporting evidence such as bank statements, customer transactions, conversations with customers, and reference letters from customers, shipping companies, suppliers, and business partners.

I also have records from the RMB foreign exchange platform I used for making payments for my purchases, delivery apps, and platforms like GIG as well as records of website orders. Additionally, I was hoping to use my Instagram and WhatsApp conversations with customers, my social media presence, and other available business records to demonstrate that I was actively running the business during those years.

My intention is to provide as much verifiable evidence as possible to establish that I was genuinely carrying out the business activities before its formal registration in 2024.

Thank you once again for your response and for clarifying this. I truly appreciate it.


Good morning. Yes, self-employment carried out before formal business registration may be considered under the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP). Registering the business in 2024 does not automatically invalidate genuine work performed before registration.

However, there is an important distinction between proving that your business was operating and proving that your experience qualifies for immigration purposes.

Your bank statements, transaction records, invoices, receipts, delivery records, customer communications and reference letters could collectively help establish that the business was active before registration. Independent evidence from shipping companies, suppliers and business partners may be particularly useful when it confirms the dates and nature of your transactions.

You would also need to demonstrate your personal duties, remuneration, working hours and the relevant NOC classification. For FSWP eligibility, the experience must satisfy the program's requirements, including at least one year of continuous, paid, qualifying skilled work experience in your primary occupation. The applicable NOC duties must also be established.

One important caution: qualifying for FSWP work experience does not automatically mean that the same self-employment qualifies for CRS foreign-work-experience points. The CRS has separate requirements that must be checked before claiming those points.

I would recommend organising your evidence chronologically, linking invoices and orders to corresponding payments and delivery records, and obtaining detailed, verifiable letters from independent business contacts.

You should also explain why registration occurred in 2024 and accurately describe the business arrangement that existed beforehand. Your own statement can explain the timeline, but it should not be the sole evidence supporting the claim.

In summary, the pre-registration period is not automatically disqualified, but the documents listed cannot guarantee acceptance.

The outcome depends on the applicable immigration criteria and the strength of the evidence.

You can consult IRCC's official guidance here:

- Federal Skilled Worker Program: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/who-can-apply/federal-skilled-workers.html
- CRS criteria: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/check-score/crs-criteria.html

walenden:
A 6 month Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management from Twinm Institute, Nigeria, via EduQual UK, can get you a Canadian equivalency of a one-year postgraduate diploma through WES, as shown

relocationhub:
Thank you for providing more details.

From what you've shared, your case sounds much stronger than someone who simply says, "I ran a business."

The fact that you have:

* CAC registration
* Tax records
* Client records
* Business transactions
* Plans to obtain reference letters

means you already have several of the documents IRCC typically expects when assessing self-employed foreign work experience.

One point I'd encourage you to look into carefully is the timeline.

You mentioned operating informally from 2020 but officially registering the business in 2024.

The 2024 registration certainly strengthens your evidence because it establishes the business as a legally recognized entity. However, that doesn't automatically mean your pre-2024 experience cannot be considered. If you have credible evidence showing you were genuinely operating the business before registration, such as invoices, payment records, bank statements, supplier communications, contracts, or other third-party documentation-it may still be relevant.

The key is whether you can substantiate the experience.

The next thing to consider is your NOC.

IRCC doesn't assess your application based on the fact that you owned a skincare business. They assess whether your main duties match those of a skilled occupation under the National Occupational Classification (NOC).

From your description, your responsibilities included:

* Product sourcing
* Market research
* Customer relationship management
* Business operations
* Sales and marketing
* Social media management

The challenge is identifying which skilled NOC best reflects the duties you performed for most of your working time. That is often more important than the name of the business itself.

Also, make sure your reference letters do more than confirm you owned a business. They should describe:

* The services you provided.
* Your main duties.
* The period you worked.
* Whether the work was paid.
* The approximate hours worked.
* The relationship between the referee and your business.

Overall, based on the information you've shared, I wouldn't dismiss your self-employed experience simply because it was a business in Nigeria. The stronger your third-party evidence and the better your duties align with an appropriate skilled NOC, the stronger your position will be under the Federal Skilled Worker Program.

I wish you the very best with your application.

Ghaliz:
Thanks for clarifying, it is theoretically possible to do this but in practice it is usually unwieldy and should be backed by a LoE.

If you're not on Reddit join the r/canadaexpressentry and r/Canada immigration. Claiming to study full-time while working full-time attracts a high degree of scrutiny and the attendant ADR&PFL but if all your documents are in order not only payments to your bank accounts but payments to yourself, audits, taxes and all. Congratulations you've kept a perfect book perhaps more than 90% of Nigeria small business owners in which case there's absolutely nothing stopping you.

On a totally unrelated note, they verify this tax documents extensively and if you pay back taxes not on time but paid as some sort of remediation, you should absolutely make sure your paper trail is intact and again a LoE. Goodluck

Ghaliz:
You intend to claim full-time work experience while you were enrolled in the University probably full-time simply by having a "registered business"? that'd be fun to watch, Goodluck with that.


If you like take the ChatGPT answer from the agent with vested interests below he's just trying to make a buck or 150,000 as the case may be, you'd only have yourself to blame. The evidentiary record required for NOC 60020 (Retail and Wholesale Trade Managers) requires Third party letters, invoices, audits, business address,bank activity showing consistent deposits and finally *Corporate Tax Records* . Even if it is for highly skilled services like freelance software engineer, data analyst you need your portfolio, website, GitHub , completed projects and exhaustive taxed financial proof

When you get hit with the eventual PFL for this histrionics all in the name of trying to max out CRS scores, it tends to elicit regret.

You can claim whatever to claim whatever to gain points but remember you eventually have to provide exhaustive proof. They are highly skeptical of Nigerian documents, the starting point is to consider them fake. Use your tongue to count your teeth

https://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/country-information/rir/Pages/index.aspx?doc=457580

relocationhub:
The travel agency is only partly correct.

The answer depends on where the self-employed work experience was gained and which immigration program you're applying under.

If your business was registered and operated in Nigeria, that experience can count as foreign skilled work experience for the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and may contribute to your CRS score, provided it meets IRCC's requirements.

Since you mentioned running the business while you were still in university, it's worth clearing up another common misconception.

Work experience gained while studying "outside Canada" can still be claimed for CRS points, provided it was paid, met the required work hours (generally at least 15 hours per week), and qualifies as skilled work.

This is different from the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), where work experience gained while studying "in Canada" generally does not count toward CEC eligibility.

However, simply owning a registered business isn't enough. You must be able to prove that you genuinely operated the business and performed skilled work.

IRCC may ask for evidence such as:

* Business registration documents.
* Tax records or bank statements showing business income.
* Invoices, contracts, or payment records.
* Reference letters from clients describing the services you provided.
* Evidence that your duties align with a skilled NOC (TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3).

Another important point is that, under the current rules for category-based selection (such as Healthcare, STEM, or Trades), applicants generally need to demonstrate at least 12 months of continuous full-time skilled work experience (or the equivalent in part-time work) within the previous three years to qualify for those specific draws.

So, if your business was in Nigeria, the work was genuine, paid, properly documented, and aligns with a skilled NOC, you may be able to claim it.

The key question isn't whether you were self-employed, it's whether you can provide sufficient evidence that the experience meets IRCC's requirements.

If you don't mind sharing the nature of your business and the services you provided, I can help you determine whether it is likely to qualify as skilled work under the NOC system.

walenden:
A 6 month Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management from Twinm Institute, Nigeria, via EduQual UK, can get you a Canadian equivalency of a one-year postgraduate diploma through WES, as shown

Ontarioo:
Use the one from the government.

Ghaliz:
I looked it up for you UK Ofqual Level 7 Diplomas via LSIB. You can take it in a field tangential to your profession. While it takes a year, it can be compressed to 6 months. Look it up online for further information.

kennybelle:
Hi, good evening.
SLT is a pure science course, there will be no exemptions.

For past questions visit www.ciinigeria.org. Navigate to publications, chief examiner's reports. There you'll find past questions across all levels in the past 3yrs, at least.