(Vol 1) Immigrate to Canada - The ultimate playbook [Express Entry part 1] PDF

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University of Law and the applied studies for the enhancement of the students in building a great career.
University of Law and the applied studies for the enhancement of the students in building a great career....

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TA BLE OF CONTENTS TAB Intr Introdu odu oducti cti ction on About the e-book series and why does it exist?..................4 Who is this for?.................................................................5 Free resources complimenting this e-book series…………...6

Expre Express ss Entr Entry y Pr Pro ocess (P (Part art 1) Where do I start? The 15 golden steps………………………7 Step 1: Am I eligible for Express Entry…………………… …8

o 6 selection factors o How many points do I need to be eligible? Step 2: Education Credential Assessment (ECA)…………...12

o What is it? o How do I get my ECA and what it costs / timelines? o Steps to follow Step 3: IELTS test (English Language)……………………….15

o o o o o o

What should you expect from the test? How do I go about scheduling it? What’s the cost? Should I go for paper based or computer based? How much do I need to score in IELTS? How to prepare? Are paid online courses worth it?

CONTENTSS (CONT…) TABLE OF CONTENT Step 4: Calculate CRS………………………......................24

• What is it, and how much do I need? • I have a low CRS score, Is there any scope to improve? Step 5: Make your express entry profile…………………..26

o How to and important tip Step 6: Wait for the draw…………………………………..27

o Draw schedules, useful links and tips Step 7: Invitation to apply………………………………….28

o What is it and what to do next? o Introduction to volume 2 (ITA to PR)

More help Want some more help? Phone a friend for Canada..........29

AB OUT THI OK ABOUT THISS E E--BO BOO Potato Talkies (www.potatotalkies.com) is an initiative by a young couple from India (Navjot & Simran) who applied for their Canadian PR in 2019 and moved to Toronto in March 2020. In this e-book series, you will get unfiltered information about everything there is to know about immigrating to Canada starting from eligibility to getting the PR stamped on your passport. WHY DID WE MAKE THIS E-BOOK SERI SERIES? ES? When we thought about moving to Canada in 2018, we had no idea where to start. The information is scattered across different forums, YouTube videos and Canada’s official website and there is no structure to anything – which left us with 2 options:

1. Do our own research and file the application on our own – make mistakes, correct them and move on. 2. Hire a consultant to do it for us. We went with Option 1 (thankfully!), and soon realized that option 2 is a total scam. Once you get your PR, you realize that the process isn’t as complicated and giving USD 1000-3000 to consultants is a total waste of time and money! So the purpose of this e-book series is to put everything in one place and get these silly and useless consultants go out of business! ;-)

Who should go thr ough this e -boo k? through e-boo -book? Simple! People who are serious about moving to Canada and change their lives forever. This book is most relevant to people who have no or only intermediate knowledge about ways to immigrate. It would equip you with almost everything there is to know about moving to your Dream Country (at least that’s what it is for us)

Who is this NOT for? Lazy heads, who want to move to Canada but are not willing to put the work into it! In the last 18 months, I have met so many people who spent a shit load of money on consultants and yet got their applications rejected. Moving to Ca Canada nada is probably the most im import port portant ant st step ep you would take in your lif life! e! How can you leave this to th thee mercy of a con conssul ultant tant who has nothing to do with whet whether her you live or die?

Therefore, if you are not willing to invest time into your application, do not waste your time here – close this e-book and hire a consultant (no offense).

More than an e-book! My name is Navjot, and I am the chief author of this e-book. I have a passion for writing and hope to author a mainstream book someday J I have poured my passion into this series and I will continue to make at least quarterly updates (if not monthly) to provide you with the most recent immigration information. But my passion and this e-book doesn’t stop here.

Our Yo You u-Tube channel

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With this e-book, we launched our you-tube channel has a 3part series about Immigration to Canada. Both Simran & I host this channel. We have some amazing content and tried to make it as entertaining as we can J This is our first attempt at YouTube, but we are quick learners and strive to provide the best quality content to you.

Our Mobile app

Wa Wattch DEMO

Just like writing is my passion, coding is Simran’s passion – yup, my wife is a nerd J Do download the app “CanGuide” from play store. It has some very useful (free) tools including eligibility, CRS calculators, PNPsuggest tool (super cool) and more! J

Get a peak into our lives And finally, get to know us behind the scenes and LIVE updates about our life in Canada. Follow us on Instagram @potatotalkies and get to know who Simran & Navjot are J

This icon is on every page Will bring back to this page

So re do I st art? So,, whe where start? The first step is to understand the end-end process. The most common and fastest way to enter Canada is via “Express Entry” Fed dera rall Ski Skilled lled Wo Worrker (F (FSW) SW) pr program ogram (there are other under Fe ways as well; we will talk about them separately in volume 3) Below is the flowchart of all the activities involved. It is a little complicated, but if you click on each activity, it will take you to individual details about each step J STEP 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

Check if you are eligible for Express Entry

Education Credential Assessment (ECA)

Sit for English Language test (IELTS)

STEP 6

STEP 5

STEP 4

Wait for the draw that happens twice a month

Create your express entry profile

Receive results of ECA, IELTS & calculate CRS

STEP 7

STEP 8

STEP 9

Receive Invitation to Apply (ITA)

Arrange Police Clearance Certificate (PCC)

Get your medical test done

STEP 12

STEP 11

STEP 10

Upload all documents in your application & pay

Arrange proof of funds (POF) to settle in Canada

Arrange proof of work-ex / experience letters

STEP 13

STEP 14

STEP 15

Medical exam passed & request for Biometrics

Schedule Biometric appointment

Get PR and submit your passport for stamping

STEP 1

ligible Express Entry? ligi ble for Ex press Entr y? There are 6 selection factor points that add up to 100 points. Don’t worry about calculating the eligibility for now. We will get to that at the end of the section. 1. LANGUAGE SKILL POINTS (MAX 28 POINTS) • It is important to be able to communicate in Canada’s official languages – English or French in order to get a good job in Canada. • The points are distributed based on your ability to listen, read, write and speak in one or both languages • Out of 28 points, 24 are for the first official language (English or French) and the remaining 4 points for secondary official language. • For example, if you only understand English and have no knowledge of French, the maximum points you can achieve is 24 / 28. • We will talk about language testing later in the book. 2. EDUCA EDUCAT TION (MAX 25 POINTS) • The more educated you are, the more points you get. • If you went to a school in Canada, you are GOLD J and have an edge over others who didn’t (like me L). 3. WOR WORK K EXPER EXPERIENCE IENCE (MAX 15 POIN POINTS) TS) • Again, the more work experience you carry, the more points you get. If you have worked in Canada, you are gold and score additional points. • If you have over 6 years of experience, you get the full 15 points. However…. Please turn to the next page J

expe erience is equ equal al al.. You need a minimum of 11-year year • Not all exp cont contiinuou ouss ex exp perience in order to be eligible to come to Canada. For example, if you have worked in 2 jobs for 11 months and 10 months respectively, you are not eligible because none of them is continuous 12 months.

• The experience should be: 1. At least 30 hours per week (if it’s a part time job of say 15 hours per week, then you need a minimum of 2 years experience in order to qualify) 2. It should be paid (and you should have the proof for it) 3. It should be skilled. • But how do you know if your exp exp erience is skilled? • There are 3 skilled job groups that are eligible for express entry – Skill type 0, Skill level A, Skill level B. • Each job group has a set of NOC codes (NOC stands for National Occupational Classification) basically a code for each job type. Like software engineer is 2173 (Skill A) and so on… • To know where you belong, click on this link and search code e for your job title – and it will give you your NOC cod along with the skill type. • Remember, you should be either Skill level 0, A or B to be eligible for express entry to Canada. • This eligibility criteria was a long one… J But super important.

4. AGE (M (Maxim axim aximum um 12 p poi oi oints) nts)

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This one is straight-forward. You get the full 12 points if you are between the age group 18-35. It reduces by 1 point every year after the age of 35. So 36 will be 11 points, 37 will be 10 points and so on till age 47 you get 0 points. So the earlier you apply, the better it is!

5. ARRANGED EMPL EMPLO OYMENT IN CANADA (MAX 10 POINTS)

This one is difficult to achieve, but why not! Nothing is impossible J • A valid offer has to be: o For continuous, paid, full-time work (minimum of 30 hours/week) that is: ü Not seasonal ü For at least 1 year o In an occupation listed as Skill Type 0 or Skill Level A or B of the NOC (Know the NOC here). • There are a few other conditions that need to be satisfied and you can get that information here. •

6. ADAP ADAPT TABILITY (M (MAX AX 10 POINTS)

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Get 5 poi points nts if your spouse also gets a decent score in English or French language test. Get 5 poi points nts if you and / or your spouse have studied in Canada (at least 2 years). 10 points if you both studied in Canada. There is more… please turn to the next page! J

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10 points if you have worked for over 1-year full time, paid in Canada (Skill level 0, A, B) 5 points if your spouse has worked for over 1-year full time, paid in Canada (Skill level 0, A, B) 5 points for getting an arranged employment in Canada 5 points if you have a blood relative living in Canada (min age 18 years and is Canadian Citizen or PR holder) – incl parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, blood sibling, blood aunt or uncle, blood niece or nephew

NO NOTE TE: you can only claim a maximum of 10 poin points ts for adaptability. So even if you score 20 points on adaptability, you will get only 10. Awwww…. J

How many points do I need out of 100? Minimum 67, else you won’t be eligible to apply via express entry and skip to volume 3 for alternate ways of immigrating. To Too o much inf informat ormat ormation? ion? Let’s make your life simple J

Download the app “CanGuide” from Play Store, answer a few questions and check your eligibility. Get these things before checking the eligibility: 1. Your NOC code 2. Your language Score – if you don’t have one, just assume an average of 8,7,7,7 in listening, reading, writing and speaking respectively.

STEP 2

(ECA) ion Credential Assessment (EC A) If your highest education has been done in Canada, you are GOLD and you need not bother about this step. However, most people are like me, who have their degrees from outside Canada. An Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) is used to verify that your foreign degree, diploma, or certificate (or other proof of your credential) is valid and equal to a Canadian one. In most cases, you only need an assessment for your highest degree. To understand if you need your bachelors evaluated, you can either refer to the official WES link or watch our video. The education qualifications that fetch points are (from highest to lowest points): 1. Doctoral level (Phd) 2. Master’s degree or professional degree 3. Two (or more) certificates, diplomas or degrees. One of them must be 3 or more years 4. Bachelors’ degree (3 or more years) 5. Two-year program at a university, college or institute 6. One-year program at a university, college or institute 7. Secondary diploma (12th Standard) 8. None, or less than secondary / high school IMPORTANT ANT:: FO IMPORT ANT FOR R NUMBER (3), YOU NEED TO GE GET T ALL DEGR EGRE EES ASSES ASSESSED SED SED,, and not just your highest degree.

How do I get my EC ECA? A? There are 5 agencies accredited by Canadian immigration that would do your ECA: Worrld Education The most popular, least expensive and fastest is Wo Ser Services vices (W (WES). ES). Time ttak ak aken en by WE WESS: 2-3 months Cost of EEvaluat valuat valuation ion: USD 227

IMPORT IMPORTANT ANT TIP Initiate this as soon as possible as it’s the most time-consuming step, even when you are not 100% sure of moving. It is valid till 5 years! So no harm J

Dra Drawba wba wback ck o off us using ing W WES ES • If you have done a 2-year PGDM in Management, they will assess it as 1-year diploma (and not Masters) • If you have done a 2-year Masters degree – they may assess it as 1-year diploma / 3-year bachelors (and not masters)

Basically, as per WES, your master's degree has to be 3 years or more, else it’s not MASTERS J In these cases, there are 2 more agencies that you can go for assessment – IQAS and CES Both these are likely (not 100% guaranteed though) to give you a masters equivalency for 2-year PGDM and 2-year masters degree. They are slightly more expensive and take more time (up to 4-6 months). CES is faster than IQAS. So go for IQAS and CES only if it’s absolutely necessary to get those additional points.

What are the steps to fo follow llow in order to get my EC ECA A fr from om W WES? ES? 1. Go to their official website and Select ECA application for IRCC 2. Fill the entire application very carefully and include all the education qualifications that you need WES to assess for you. 3. Pay the fees. • Tip: Pay just the $7 for courier of physical copies. No point of spending $85 or so for speed delivery – the hard copy is just for your record, and you just need the soft copy which is included in the original fee. 4. Now, go to your university and ask for 2 things: • Original transcripts of marksheets • Attested copy of your degree All universities have a different process of providing these 2 things to you. So just call them up and understand the process. 5. After you have these 2 documents, either your university or you will have to put them in a bag and courier it to WES (the address will be given to you by WES when you complete step Also include the WES ref refe ere ren nce number on top of th the e en envelope velope velope.. IMPORT IMPORTANT ANT ANT:: The document mus mustt be sen sentt fr from om you yourr univer university sity post of office fice ONL ONLYY (or from a pos postt of office fice with the same pin cod code) e) This is basically because many universities are lazy and while they are supposed to send the transcripts & degree directly to WES, they ask you to courier it.

STEP 3

ANGUAGE) TEST (ENGLISH LLANGU ANGU AGE) Alright! Now comes the make or break part of your application. Not trying to scare you, however this is the part where most people struggle (sometimes for months!). Like we talked in the eligibility section, IELTS exam is basically to test your ability to LISTEN, READ, WRITE & SPEAK the language that’s used the most to communicate in Canada.

Whatt should I expect fr from test? Wha om the te st? There are 4 sections: Listening, Reading, Writing & Speaking. Section 1: LISTENING (30 mins) You will listen to four recorded texts, monologues and conversations by a range of native speakers, and answer a series of 40 questions. These include questions that test your ability to understand main ideas and detailed factual information, ability to understand the opinions and attitudes of speakers, and the ability to follow the development of ideas. Each section is heard only once. Re Reco co corrding 1: A conversation between two people set in an everyday social context. Re Reco co corrding 2: A monologue set in an everyday social context, e.g. a speech about local facilities. Re Reco co corrding 3: A conversation between up to four people set in an educational or training context, e.g. a university tutor and a student discussing an assignment. Re Reco co corrding 4: A monologue on an academic subject, e.g. a university lecture.

Important tips for liste listening ning section section::

• The biggest problem that people face in this section is following the accent and speech of the native speaker! Solution:: Watching a lot of English serials help! So here’s ü Solution a free pass to binge watch at nights and weekends J Trust me, it helps! • The first section is the easiest and it gets tougher as you go towards section 4. You are given time between recordings to go through the questions (more time before the 1st 2 recordings and lesser in the next 2). Solution:: Use the time from the first 2 sections to read ü Solution through the questions of section 3 and 4 as well J You will know what I am talking about when you do your practice test! Just remember this tip – it will help you clear the section J Section 2: READING (60 mins) The Reading section consists of 40 questions. A variety of question types is used in order to test a wide range of reading skills. These include reading for gist, reading for main ideas, reading for detail, skimming, understanding logical argument and recognizing writers' opinions, attitudes and purpose. The Reading test requires test takers to read extracts from books, magazines, newspapers, notices, advertisements, company handbooks and guidelines. These are materials you are likely to encounter on a daily basis in an English-speaking environment. This is probably the easiest of the 4 sections to clear! The answers are all there J

Section 3: WRITING (60 mins) This is arguably the most difficult of the 4 sections! It’s the section that most people are confident about and also the one that’s flunked most often by the same confident people J The IELTS General Training Writing section includes two tasks which are based on topics of general interest. Ta Tassk 1 You will be presented with a situation and asked to write a letter requesting information or explaining the situation. The letter may be personal, semi-formal or formal in style. Ta Tassk 2 (Car (Carries ries more weig weight ht in sco scoring) ring) You will be asked to write an essay in response to a point of view, argument or problem. The essay can be slightly more personal in style compared to an Academic Writing task. Super Important Important:: Go through the free material available on YouTube. I would suggest IELTS Advantage and E2 IELTS. IELTS Advantage also has a free 5-day online course that can help you get the desired score.

Whether you are a master of English or you suck at it, GO THROUGH ALL THE VIDEOS! It’s non-negotiable (not that I can ever hold you to it… but do it guys, it’s loads of free content!) – the suggestions from these videos will help you clear the section easily (or at least get you closer J) If you consider yourself average or below par in writing, buy the premium courses. This is one section where it’s extremely difficult to get a feedback. The premium service will give you that feedback which would help you improve – it’s wo...