Brief context: someone who trade in equity and future market via third party broker (ex. Tastytrade, Interactive Brokers, etc) with a criminal record (no prison time and enough has lapsed since the conviction so there's no rule that forces me to stay in Canada as long as the country I'm going into is fine with my record (or haven't asked hence no issue). It's indictable offense concerning property damage... similar to felony offense in USA. Personal capital is roughly about 300k USD with roughly 700k USD from LOC/mortgage from Canadian bank borrowed and entrusted by my partner + few 5 figure personal savings. I have no marriage ties in Canada and do not own any property except my car.
Goal is to apply to get freelance visa by using my 1 year or so trade performances and portfolio and show I have good standing with the bank and use that to get residency visa. Getting investment visa by purchasing property could also work as well, but I'm trying to put my capital in my investment as much as possible so I want to minimize any upfront cost. My understanding is that criminal record check is not an issue as long as you are clean in Dubai legal issue wise.
- Freelance permit and have residency visa (and renew them before the deadline ofc).
- Find a relatively reasonable property to rent. I hear 1 year lease is the norm, but I'm hoping to get 6 months lease so I can travel for half of the year (and perhaps escape the Dubai summer heat). Similar dilemma with the car. I'm tempted to buy a car seeing that I will most likely use Dubai as a tax resident for a longterm (10 years before my record is purged, and opens more options elsewhere if I desire).
- Bank a personal (and if necessary commercial bank account). Investments and trades only require a good dedicated internet connection and a decent computer + phone and VPN (for my sanity's sake... also was told to get VPN prior to moving in Dubai for simplicity but not sure how true that is). I'd be using third party discount broker to hold much of my capital in investment/trades but will have to withdraw sizable amount per year for my own living expenses and other business expenses like paying my partner (biz partner, not marriage partner). Proving cash flow should be very easy by providing statements and trade transactions from the third party broker.
- Receive tax certificate
- Figure out how long I have to stay in Dubai after first 180-183 days required to get tax certificate as I want to spend some time traveling to countries that do not require visa + occasionally visiting Canada
Questions:
- Hire an expensive offshore accounting firms in Canada for consult, or try to find CPAs and consult firm in Dubai? Former is more professional in Canada and more versatile, but Dubai counterparts have advantage when it comes to Dubai affairs specifically (and probably a lot cheaper... offshore Canadian accounting seem to cost 400-500 CAD/hr).
- How to move 7 figure capital from Canadian bank to Dubai bank safely? I can't make Dubai bank account until permit and visa are finalized. It seems generally straight-forward but I'm cautiously pessimistic when it comes to actual processing time.
- Any wisdom on where to live, what accommodation to rent, where to get car lease (if required), where to spend time and how to mingle socially with expats (and locals if possible). Fortunately, a lot of laws seem to relax by the time I come there. Most recently the law relaxed to allow people with different genders and no marriage ties can share the place... which is a big perks for me.
- After staying 180-183 days initially to get tax certificate, what is my obligation to maintain that status exactly? I'd like to leave half of the year elsewhere and ideally avoid Dubai summer heat.
- Other questions I should be asking that I'm too naive and inexperienced to think about lol.
Goal is to apply to get freelance visa by using my 1 year or so trade performances and portfolio and show I have good standing with the bank and use that to get residency visa. Getting investment visa by purchasing property could also work as well, but I'm trying to put my capital in my investment as much as possible so I want to minimize any upfront cost. My understanding is that criminal record check is not an issue as long as you are clean in Dubai legal issue wise.
- Freelance permit and have residency visa (and renew them before the deadline ofc).
- Find a relatively reasonable property to rent. I hear 1 year lease is the norm, but I'm hoping to get 6 months lease so I can travel for half of the year (and perhaps escape the Dubai summer heat). Similar dilemma with the car. I'm tempted to buy a car seeing that I will most likely use Dubai as a tax resident for a longterm (10 years before my record is purged, and opens more options elsewhere if I desire).
- Bank a personal (and if necessary commercial bank account). Investments and trades only require a good dedicated internet connection and a decent computer + phone and VPN (for my sanity's sake... also was told to get VPN prior to moving in Dubai for simplicity but not sure how true that is). I'd be using third party discount broker to hold much of my capital in investment/trades but will have to withdraw sizable amount per year for my own living expenses and other business expenses like paying my partner (biz partner, not marriage partner). Proving cash flow should be very easy by providing statements and trade transactions from the third party broker.
- Receive tax certificate
- Figure out how long I have to stay in Dubai after first 180-183 days required to get tax certificate as I want to spend some time traveling to countries that do not require visa + occasionally visiting Canada
Questions:
- Hire an expensive offshore accounting firms in Canada for consult, or try to find CPAs and consult firm in Dubai? Former is more professional in Canada and more versatile, but Dubai counterparts have advantage when it comes to Dubai affairs specifically (and probably a lot cheaper... offshore Canadian accounting seem to cost 400-500 CAD/hr).
- How to move 7 figure capital from Canadian bank to Dubai bank safely? I can't make Dubai bank account until permit and visa are finalized. It seems generally straight-forward but I'm cautiously pessimistic when it comes to actual processing time.
- Any wisdom on where to live, what accommodation to rent, where to get car lease (if required), where to spend time and how to mingle socially with expats (and locals if possible). Fortunately, a lot of laws seem to relax by the time I come there. Most recently the law relaxed to allow people with different genders and no marriage ties can share the place... which is a big perks for me.
- After staying 180-183 days initially to get tax certificate, what is my obligation to maintain that status exactly? I'd like to leave half of the year elsewhere and ideally avoid Dubai summer heat.
- Other questions I should be asking that I'm too naive and inexperienced to think about lol.
