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Any advice for my situation?

12/4/2021 04:17 EST

My spouse and I are retired and hope to move to Canada, either part-time or full time, since things have gotten so crazy in the USA (We are US citizens).

I've read a lot on here and also on the Canadian government's immigration site but still have lots of questions.

We are comfortably self-supporting and would accept only living in Canada for half of each year as tourists, if that's the best we can do. But if possible, of course we would prefer to get legal permanent residency.

The best hope I see of us being able to become permanent residents is to "immigrate as a self-employed person," though even that seems quite iffy.

1) Can we buy a small condo in Canada without being residents of Canada and just leave it empty for half the year? (We would pay cash).

We are thinking about Calgary because it seems not huge or uber expensive but still large enough that there would be plenty to do.

We have not even been to Canada yet but plan to visit this summer, if the Canadian pandemic restrictions allow for it.

We also have grown children who might follow our lead so we'd like to be somewhere large enough for them to have a good chance at finding employment, if they decide to try for it. Calgary has 1.5 million people so it seems large enough. (It's also heavy on oil and gas, which is my grown kids' field here).

2) Any thoughts on Calgary for our situation?

3) As far as the possible "immigrating as a self-employed person" it says you must "have relevant experience in cultural activities or athletics and
be willing and able to make a significant contribution to the cultural or athletic life of Canada."

I am a fiction author but thus far, do not make nearly enough with it to support us. It's possible I could improve on those earnings over the next couple of years just by putting in more time with it and maybe approach a "real" salary with it rather than just hobby money... maybe.

4) Does anyone know if there's a minimum amount you have to earn to be considered "self employed?"

5) Does anyone know what counts as "a significant cultural contribution?"

For ex. if in addition to working more on my writing, if I also spent the next couple of years volunteering to teach writing at a school or prison or something like that part-time, would that count as the kind of "cultural contribution" they're looking for?

Or are they only talking about the merits, level of publication etc. of my written work itself? With the point system for that type of visa, I didn't see any points for any kind of "cultural" work in the community so I wonder if I'm just misunderstanding what they're talking about.

6) Or does anyone know who I could get solid advice from? Would calling the immigration office suffice or do you think it's better to pay an immigration attorney for detailed advice?

Sorry so long. Any help is much appreciated!

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