Tétrault: We’re Helping to Bridge the Divide between Nigeria and Canada
Mr. Julien Tétrault is the President of JTH Lawyers Inc. The company recently opened an affiliated Nigeria office to assist Nigerian high networth individuals seeking to obtain permanent residency in Canada through the Quebec Immigrant Investor Programme.
Please tell us about the Quebec Immigrant Investor Programme. What does it entail? Well, this programme was designed to offer the possibility to managers, executives, company owners to obtain unconditional permanent residence to Canada through a guaranteed investment of about CA$ 220,000 (N35 Million), regardless of their age or education. A price that may seem high at first glance even for HNWI, but that is recovered and leads to further savings already in student fee just by having two children doing their superior studies in Canada.
What are the benefits of this Investor Programme for Canada?
Most people will do it first and foremost for their children, because it is the smartest solution on all levels: on an economical level, it gives top quality education, free until college, then about 90 per cent rebate compared to foreign student fees at University. Its free health care system is amongst the best in the world. And as Canadian permanent residents (eventually citizens), they enjoy the freedom to take employment. But there is more to it: quality of life, low crime rate, social stability, affordable housing, and also excellent business opportunities. Canada is at crossroads of a generation gap that will lead to about 50 per cent SME to change hands in the next 10 years, and this is especially true in Quebec province where 25,000 businesses will be sold within the next five years. Canada is the only country in the world actively seeking for new immigrants to support the growth of its economy. With Nigeria economy being now the first African economy, and Canada economy that has continued to strive despite the world economic crisis, the ties between the two countries are to continue growing substantially, and Quebec is the best located and strategic province in Canada to elect domicile for foreign investors and their families. And besides all these advantages, we cannot ignore the security issue: our clients for example from Libya, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria that have gone through the process are so happy they took their decision to engage in the Investor Programme while there was still stability in their country, because it gives them a much-needed other option today. I am very confident in Nigerian stability, do not get me wrong on this, but no one can ignore the fact that it is intelligent planning to plant seeds today – and by this I mean submitting one’s application under the QIIP, - for having the option to later move to a safer harbour. The Quebec Immigrant Investor Programme is not a process that can be completed overnight, and people that realise that usually want to engage in the process right away.
Why are you setting up your affiliated office in Nigeria?
Only Quebec lawyers or registered Quebec immigration consultants are authorised by our government to represent immigration applicants, and we are to my knowledge the only law firm in Quebec to have focused solely on servicing applicants under the Quebec Immigrant Investor Programme. But we as lawyers have been confronted with the challenge of having Nigerian investors seeking further support in the document preparation and collection, or simply wanting to see how legitimate we were because of numerous fraudsters taking advantage of Nigerians. Hence, in order to be closer to our Nigeria HNWI clients, our Canada office has made an affiliation with a Nigerian entity called JTH Immigration Services. Our lawyers in Montreal are still taking full charge of file preparation, from identifying tailor-made solutions to investor applicants under the QIIP, to designing their file and representing them throughout the process of immigration until they obtain permanent residency in Canada, which is the first step prior to citizenship. But in order to facilitate this process, the support from JTH Immigration Services will have an added value for the customer: from assistance to document collection, guidance through the process, to after-landing services such as school registration for the children, assistance in finding a home, getting a car, and all the paper work such as getting the Canada health card, Social Insurance card, etc.
What impact does it have on the Nigerian immigrant to obtain permanent residency in Canada?
Basically, the permanent residence status in Canada leads to the Nigerian investor to enjoy same rights and privileges as Canadian citizens, except for the right to vote. Then four years after getting permanent residency, family can apply for Canadian citizenship. Canada allows dual citizenship so it will not affect the Nigerian nationality. Besides, I cannot think of any passport that has a better reputation and value than the Canadian passport and its visa-free travel possibilities throughout North America, Europe, Asia, etc.
What would you have to say to Nigerians considering applying to the Quebec Immigrant Investor Programme?
First of all, beware of fraudsters: ask for recommendation from former clients, and double-check the validity of the license since all Quebec lawyers are registered with the Quebec Bar and verification can be made by anybody online. Also, seek for experienced lawyer that knows the Nigeria environment and its challenges: ask questions and make sure you can get the assistance you need. And finally, look for added value, look for leadership: immigration process is important and must be properly done, but once landed immigrant, you will wish to be accompanied for business and investment solutions. For all these reasons, I believe we represent the best choice for Nigerian HNWI. Any last word? Every one of our client tells us the same thing: if I had really understood and realised all these advantages, I would have started this process much earlier! Every year, the Quebec Immigrant Investor Programme is getting more expensive, conditions are becoming more stringent and delays are not getting any shorter. Top managers and business owners are used to planning hence if they ever consider getting permanent residency for Canada for their family, there is no better time than right now to launch their application. And since the investment they have to make seems high, they have about one year after applying to gather the necessary liquidity, which should be more than enough with proper planning. So my advice is the following: don’t wait and contact us now! Our website is www. jthlawyers.com. What is your background? I am a Quebec lawyer, graduated from University of Montreal, born and raised in Canada. Elected by my peers as a Director of the association Québec Lawyers Abroad in 2011, I founded and acted as President of the Immigrant Investor section of Québec Lawyers Abroad.
Since I started as a private practitioner in 2002, I represented as their lawyer over 1,000 immigrant investors from over 60 countries, including of course a significant number of Nigerian families that have already relocated to the province of Quebec, Canada.