Foreign Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) required for Skilled Worker Immigration to Canada

As per the new rules for Skilled Immigration to Canada, Educational Credential is a must. This new rules are in place from May, 2013.

These Educational Credentials must be done by one of the four designated organizations.

If you want to apply for Immigration to Canada as a Skilled worker, you must complete the process. Below I have added the organizations along with there links. Just click on them to go to their website.

Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) organizations and their links

1. Comparative Education Service: University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies
2. International Credential Assessment Service of Canada
3. World Education Services
4. Medical Council of Canada

Go to the corresponding website and follow their instructions.

The last one is for International medical graduates (IMGs). Though they are not in the occupation list, it is provided for the ones who are already in Canada.

Hope you find your Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) done within a very short time and may submit your application for Skilled Worker Immigration Visa in your occupation before reaching the CAP.


 

Canada Immigration as Skilled Worker, May 2013 update: New Occupation list

Skilled Worker Immigration is just about to start from May, 2013. According to CIC website, there is significant change in the procedure, which includes a new eligible occupation list.

There is a cap for each occupation which is 300 and a grand cap of 5000 application. That means they will accept a total of 5000 application adding application of all the occupation. In the same time there will be no more than 300 application in a single occupation. 

No doubt, there is major change in the list. The medicine men are removed from the list. Instead technical hands in the area such as medical technologist, sonologist are included in the list. The list is as follows (number in the left hand side is the NOC code of 2011 for that occupation):

New eligible occupation list for Skilled Worker Immigration to Canada:

    0211 Engineering managers
    1112 Financial and investment analysts
    2113 Geoscientists and oceanographers
    2131 Civil engineers
    2132 Mechanical engineers
    2134 Chemical engineers
    2143 Mining engineers
    2144 Geological engineers
    2145 Petroleum engineers
    2146 Aerospace engineers
    2147 Computer engineers (except software engineers/designers)
    2154 Land surveyors
    2174 Computer programmers and interactive media developers
    2243 Industrial instrument technicians and mechanics
    2263 Inspectors in public and environmental health and occupational health and safety
    3141 Audiologists and speech-language pathologists
    3142 Physiotherapists
    3143 Occupational Therapists
    3211 Medical laboratory technologists
    3212 Medical laboratory technicians and pathologists' assistants
    3214 Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists
    3215 Medical radiation technologists
    3216 Medical sonographers
    3217 Cardiology technicians and electrophysiological diagnostic technologists, n.e.c. (not elsewhere classified)

New rule for Canada Skilled Worker immigration, May 2013: Bad news for doctors (medical graduates)

Canada Skilled Worker immigration is just about to start at 4th May, 2013.

However, those doctors/ physicians all around the world, who were waiting for the moment, it is a big disappointment. Canada is not going to take Physicians as Skilled Worker Immigrants to their country.

Canada Immigration has published the list of occupations who will get the chance to submit their application, starting from 4 May, 2013. Unfortunately both General Practitioner are Specialist Physicians has lost their space in the list.

To see the list click here.

Canada skilled worker program about to restart on May, 2013

According to CIC, they are going to restart immigration process for skilled worker on May, 2013.

Some changes of rule are expected in the requirements in the new Canada skilled worker program which is about to be employed from May, 2013.

New list of occupation list for immigration will be in place for restarted process for skilled worker. 

For expected changes in rule please click here.

Validity of medical examination for Canada immigration

It is the time when many of the people are getting medical requests forms for Canada immigration. A question may arise about the validity of the medical examination for Canada immigration. You may want to complete all the businesses in your homeland before you start a new life in Canada, and the process may take months.
The maximum valid time for medical examination for Canada immigration is one year. You will have to land in Canada within this twelve months.
As far as I have understood, after medical examination, there is a security check. This may cause a delay, specially, if the applicants been to a lot of places (countries) before. This may take more than one year. If it takes that long, chances are more that CIC will ask for another medical.
If you have failed to land in Canada within one year of medical examination, I am not sure what they will do. You can mail them in the case specific inquiry explaining cause of your delay (click here to know how to place a case specific inquiry). If CIC finds the reason to be valid probably they will send you new Medical Request forms, or at least show you the way. 

Add newborn child to application of Canada immigration for skilled workers

The processing of application of immigration to Canada as skilled worker takes some time. However, it does not stop flow of life, specially birth of child will never stop. I guess adding newborn child is the most common update the Canada immigration has to face.

Now the question is how will you add your newborn child to your application.

One thing you must know that, you need to inform the visa office about your newborn child within 60 days of birth. Best way to do that sending updated forms with supportive documents. If you can not send the papers, at least you can inform them using your case specific inquiry option and letting them know the cause of your failure to submit the documents in time. I hope they will understand.

To inform them you may use the "Case specific inquiry" option listed on your visa office website. For details about case specific inquiry, click here. Follow their instruction, if they give you some.

The procedure as far I have understood from the web is different at different visa offices. But the core theme is the same. You need to submit the fee and relevant documents.

You need to fill up the following forms:

1. Generic Application Form for Canada (IMM 0008), including the details of your newborn in the dependent section.

2. Schedule A: Background / Declaration (IMM 5669), for you and your spouse with updated information.
3. Fee Payment Form – Application for Permanent Residence (IMM 5620), completeonly for the amount you are paying,
4. Documents providing proof of your settlement fund. Your required fund is now higher as your family size has increased. If you need to know your required amount of settlement fund for Canada immigration click here.
5. Photograph of your baby: give as many copies as required by your visa office (the number of photos that you submitted of your own during submission of application).
6. Attested photocopies of your child's  birth certificate and passport.

And do not forget to put a cover letter explaining the relevance of each of the documents.

If you still face problems to add your newborn child to your application of Canada skilled worker immigration, do not, I repeat, do not hesitate to contact you visa office (prefer to use case specific inquiry as I have mentioned).

Good luck, hope the information helps you.

Update July 2012: Temporary pause in Canada Immigration system for Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and federal Immigrant Investor Program (IIP)

According to the latest update, Canada immigration system will be paused for Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and federal Immigrant Investor Program (IIP).

This pause will be effective from 1st July, 2012 and continue for next six months.

In this time Canada Immigration will not accept any application for Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and federal Immigrant Investor Program (IIP).

It is expected that they will resume accepting applications for Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and federal Immigrant Investor Program (IIP) from 1st January 2013.

UPDATE:
Skilled worker immigration is about to be started one again on May, 2013. Click here to learn more.

New forms for Canada Skilled Worker immigration

A whole new set of forms are in place.
I have already discussed about how to fill up the "Generic application form." This is the one that have major changes. Click here to learn about filling up the form.
The other have also some changes. I shall try to bring them up shortly.

All the form are available at CIC website. Click here to go to download area. 

Canada Immigration: Possible ways

Canada is a nice place to live. It offers the opportunity of immigration to people throughout the world. But one have to understand, they will prefer the people who will be useful to them. That is why they have developed a system for immigration which gives only certain options to qualified persons for Canada immigration.

Canada Immigration: Possible ways

According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada website, there are five ways one can migrate to Canada. These are:

1. Skilled workers and professionals: For people who want to settle and work in Canada (outside of Quebec). Only 29 classified occupations are acceptable. In current year 2011-2012, 10000 applications will be accepted in this category. A maximum of 500 application will be accepted per occupation.

2. Quebec selected skilled workers: For people selected by the Quebec government to settle and work in Quebec. French is the official language of Quebec. If you are thinking of picking up this option, you should know that french is the official language of Quebec.

3. Canadian Experience Class: For people who have recent Canadian work experience or have graduated and recently worked in Canada. This option is targeted to the person who have temporary permit to work or study in Canada. With this option they can convert their temporary permit to permanent one.

4. Investors, entrepreneurs and self-employed people: For people who want to start a business in Canada. Business immigrants are expected to make a C$800,000 investment or to own and manage businesses in Canada, and must meet certain experience and/or net worth criteria.

5. Provincial nominees: One of Canada's provinces or territories can nominate you to settle and work there. Each province has their own requirement and thus their program varies. At this moment Alberta, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Yukon are Northwest Territories offering the scope. Their requirements are available in the respective website.

To bring non-immigrant family of a permanent resident (for example, newly married spouse) to Canada, the permanent resident can sponsor his/ her spouse. This could be considered as another way to migrate to Canada.

Each program has separate requirements and paperworks. If you are planning for Canada Immigration, you'll have to follow one of the above mentioned possible ways and prepare accordingly.

Canada immigration: Language test is valid for two years

I have seen the following notice in the CIC website (maybe I have missed it previously) which says that language test is valid for two years for the applicants of Canada immigration. I think they should keep extending the time with their ever extending processing time.

"EFFECTIVE December 23, 2010: If you are submitting a language test with your application, the results are now valid for 2 years from the time you took the test, instead of 1 year. This change applies to Federal skilled worker, Canadian Experience Class and Business Class Immigrants (investors, entrepreneurs and self-employed people)."

As per the notice results of language test is valid for two years which means IELTS or TOEFL or French Language tests needs not to be retaken within the defined period. 

Canada Visa Lottery

According to CIC webpage and all other sources, there is no Visa Lottery for Canada.
If somebody want to get immigrated to Canada, he will have to go through any of the immigration visa options available, for example, skilled worker visa.

CAIP note: Another way to know status of your application

CAIP notes/ CAIP file: Can help you know your file status

If you have submitted you immigration application long time ago and wondering why it is not processed yet while other are flying for Canada, you can use this CAIP service. You can also use it to get prepared for your interview as it may contain valuable information about the objective of your interview.
But be judicious about using the service as it may cause further delay of your application file processing.

What is CAIP notes:
CAIP stands for 'Computer Assisted Immigration Processing System'. It is the computer system used by Canada immigration to process visa applications, and holds all the information on the current status of every immigration application being processed by overseas offices (i.e. those outside of Canada).
For new applications the CAIP is replaced by the 'GCMS' system.
To know more about CAIP, FOSS and GCMS, click here.

Can an applicant apply for CAIP notes:
CAIP notes is available to citizens, immigrants of persons living in Canada. So, most of the time an Immigration applicant has no access to the system.
But he can use somebody else living in Canada to avail the service for him. There are also some service providers that will get the CAIP notes for you. If you want, you can Google for that.

How to process:

1. fill up consent form IMM 5475 and signed by me and my spouse.
------- I did it and send scanned copy to my friend through mail.
2. Person in Canada has to fill up formal request form (IMM 5563).
3. Person in Canada has to send both these form with a $5.00 cheque (in favor of Receiver General of Canada) to
              Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator
              Narono Building
              360 Laurier Avenue West, 10th floor
              Ottawa, Ontario
              K1A 1L1
4. Wait for few weeks to get the print out.

Form fill up for Skilled Worker category: Generic Application Form for Canada (IMM 0008) - Part 4

This is the continuity of the part - 3. To go to the previous part, click here.

DEPENDENT (S)

Note: 
You must include all your family members details here whether they will accompany you to Canada or not.
If you have put family member in the first section more than one, then you will already get required places to fill up here for one dependent. Then you will have to click on the button "Add Dependent" to add additional dependents.
You shall be able to fill it up for up to five dependents. If you have more than five (5) family members, you must complete the Additional Dependants/Declaration (IMM 0008DEP) form for each additional family member in order to include everyone in your application.


DEPENDANT’S PERSONAL DETAILS

1 to 9 are identical to the questions you answered for yourself and fill it up as you did for yourself.

10. Relationship to principal applicant:
10- a) From the list, select your dependant‘s relationship to you. If the list does not cover your relationship, then fill up the "10- b) Other" section.

11. Will accompany the principal applicant to Canada:
    a) Check the box for Yes/No.
    b) If you have selected "No" then fill it mentioning the cause

12. Select the type of dependent from the drop down menu following the rule:
                Type A = Child with age below 22 years and single
                Type B = The child has been continuously enrolled in and in attendance as a full-time student at a post-secondary institution accredited by the relevant government authority and has depended substantially on the financial support of a parent either:since before the age of 22, or since marrying or entering into a common-law relationship
                Type C = The child is 22 years of age or older, has depended substantially on the financial support of a parent since before the age of 22, and is unable to provide for himself or herself because of a medical condition.


13. to 17.
  Fill the areas with the information of your dependents as you did for yourself.



PASSPORT:

Fill it up as you did for yourself in previous sections.


NATIONAL IDENTITY DOCUMENT
Fill it up as you did for yourself in previous sections.

EDUCATION/OCCUPATION DETAIL
Fill it up as you did for yourself in previous sections.




LANGUAGE DETAIL

Fill it up as you did for yourself in previous sections.



CONSENT AND DECLARATION OF APPLICANT
In the last page there is a space for sign and below is a Yes/No check box. After checking the box, please validate the form by pressing the "Validate" button. It will help you see in you have left are of the spaces.

And Don't forget to 
1. Get your name written in the specified area in the last page
2. Sign 
3. Write the date
You can get your name handwritten in the area.

And that is it. Form fill up for Skilled Worker category: Generic Application Form for Canada (IMM 0008) is finished.

If I can I'll post a demo video sometimes. Till then, good luck with the immigration process.

Form fill up for Skilled Worker category: Generic Application Form for Canada (IMM 0008) - Part 3

This post is a continuation of Form fill up for Skilled Worker category: Generic Application Form for Canada (IMM 0008) - Part 2. Click here to go to that post.

CONTACT INFORMATION

1. Current mailing address: Full up all the spaces under the heading for P.O.box; Apt./Unit; Street no; City/Town; Country;  Province/ State; Postal code; District.
  Note - Mail from the immigration office will be sent to this address. So be very careful while filling the section.
           - If your country has no province/state, the option will be automatically disabled after selecting the
              country from drop down list.

2. Residential address: First click on the checkbox confirming that whether it is same as your mailing address or not. If it is different, then check "No" and fill up the remaining accordingly.

3. Telephone no: First check the box for "Canada/US" or "Other". Then from the list in the type heading, select the type of telephone : Residence (home)/Cellular (cell/mobile)/Business (work).
Note- If you have an extension number, indicate it after your phone number under "Ext."

4. Alternate Telephone no: If you have alternate number then fill this.

5. Fax no: Check the appropriate box to indicate if the facsimile (fax) number is from Canada and United States or Other (any other country). If applicable, indicate your facsimile (fax) number, including country code, area/regional codes, etc.

6. Email address: Write your email address here if you have any. Remember if you have put email address here, CIC will send mail to this address. So give the mail address you are using or will be using.

PASSPORT

You should be able to fill this part without any problem.

NATIONAL IDENTITY DOCUMENT

Fill up this part as you have done for PASSPORT part

EDUCATION/OCCUPATION DETAIL

1. From the drop down list, select your highest level of education.

2. Write down the total number of years of formal education that you have completed.

3. Put your current occupation here.

4. Write down your intended occupation in Canada here.

LANGUAGE DETAIL

1. 

a) From the drop down list, select your first (native) language.

b) If your native language is not English or French, select from the drop down list which one you would most likely use.

2. Select the language you are able to communicate. As you are reading this post, you are at least able to communicate in English. 

Please click here to go to the last part. 

Form fill up for Skilled Worker category: Generic Application Form for Canada (IMM 0008) - Part 2

This is the continuity of the post Form fill up for Skilled Worker category: Generic Application Form for Canada (IMM 0008) - Part 1. Please click here if you want to go back (and I recommend if you are here in first visit) to the previous post (Part-1)


PERSONAL DETAILS
1. Full Name: In the first part put your family name and in the second part given names. If you have middle names put all of them here.
2. Have you ever used any other name (e.g. Nickname, maiden name alias, etc): This part is self explanatory. Check the Yes/No check box first.
Then if you changed your maiden name and included the family name of yout spuce, put your previous family name in the first part. If your were given any other names like nickname, put it in the second part.
3. UCI: If this is your first application, then leave this place blank. If it is not, then put your Universal Client Identification number (UCI) or Client Identification number (Client ID), if known (8-digit number).
4. Sex: Choose your sex from the drop down menu.
5. Height: Put you height here in centimeter in the place marked as "cm" of write in the next area for feet and inch.
6. Eye color: Choose the one from the drop down menu.
7. Date of birth: Write down your date of birth following the indicated pattern (i.e. birth year in four digits in the first part).
8. Place of birth: Write the name of the city/town of your birth at the given place. Remember, it should correlate your birth certificate.
9. Citizenships: 1) From the list, select your country of citizenship.
                          2) If you are a citizen of more than one country, select your other country of citizenship, otherwise leave it blank.
10. Current country of residence:
    From the list, select the appropriate information to indicate:
       - The name of your current country of residence. Your country of residence is the country in which you are residing, provided that you have been lawfully admitted to that country.
       - Your immigration status in that country - Choose it from the drop down menu.
11. You should not be able to fill this part
12. Previous countries of residence: Check the box to indicate whether you have lived in any country other than your country of citizenship or your current country of residence for more than six (6) months in the past five (5) years.
If you checked "Yes", from the list select the appropriate information to indicate the following:
 - The name of the country you lived in
 - Your immigration status for the time you were in that country: Choose it from the drop down menu
 - Other: This section must be completed if you selected ―Other‖ as a status
 - The dates (From – To) you were living in that country.
13. Your current marital status:
      a) Choose it from the drop down menu.
      b) If you have choose "yes", then you must put your marriage date here in the recommended format.
      c) Put the name of your spouse in the first part and given name in the second part.
14. Have you previously married or in a common-law relationship? :
      Check the box No/Yes accordingly
      If you had one, then fill up the following areas accordingly.

Please click here to continue to part - 3.

Form fill up for Skilled Worker category: Generic Application Form for Canada (IMM 0008) - Part 1

 CIC Canada has introduced a new generic application form for immigration purpose (IMM 0008). All immigration applicants including Skilled Worker category can fill the form from 18th July 2011. Older version of the form will still be accepted till 31st March, 2012. However, it is better to use the new one for the persons who are going to apply from now on.
The good thing about the new generic application form (IMM 0008) is that many of the fields have drop down lists that will prevent silly mistakes and reduce undue delay.

Now let us start reviewing the form. How a person would Fill up/ Complete the form to apply as Skilled Worker
First of all you'll have to download the form. Click here to download it.
First notice there are two buttons at top labeled as "Validate" and "Clear form". I am sure that you are not going to click the later one till you are completely messed up. But click on the first one after completing the form. It will bring notice of any blank fields.

Note that the form is divided into sections with heading (blue marking in the above picture). Each of the divisions are again subdivided, each subdivision having a number (red marking in the above picture). I shall discuss the form using these headings and their numbers. Before that I need to beg pardon for awful marking on the form above. You know, I am not a very good trainer of a mouse (just kidding).

Remember I am helping out only the Skilled Workers to complete the generic form (IMM 0008).




APPLICATION DETAILS
1. Program under which you are applying - Choose "Economic" from the drop down menu.
2. Category under which you are applying - Choose "Skilled Worker" from the drop down menu.
3. How many family members, including you, are in this application (see instruction guide)? - Put the number of your family member whether they are accompanying you or not. The family will include a spouse, a common-law partner, dependent children, and dependent child of a dependent child.
4. Immigration Office requested for the processing of your application - Indicate the name of tThe Immigration Office which serves your country of nationality/ the country in which you are residing, provided that you have been lawfully admitted to that country for at least one year.
You'll get the visa office that serves you form here.
For example applicants of people of Afghanistan as Skilled Worker, they'll have to put Islamabad at the place.
5. Language preference - From the drop down menu select the desired language for the parts

                                                      a) correspondence
                                                      b) interview and
                                                      c) interpreter requested (if applicable)
6. Where do you intend to live in Canada? - From the drop down list first select the Province/Territory (a) and then, City/Town (b).
Example: For Toronto  select as follows:
               a) Province/Territory - select "ON" from drop down menu
               b) City/Town - select "Toronto" from drop down menu

7. Have you received your Certificat de Sélection du Québec (CSQ)? -
This area should be inaccessible to you.

To continue, please click here.

Canada Immigration new form (IMM 0008) for permanent resident applications as Skilled worker

As of July 18, 2011, applicants for Permanent Residence are requested to use the new Generic Application Form for Canada (IMM 0008). 
The older form will also be accepted, but only till March 31, 2012. 
You can get the new form from here. Remember you will need to have Adobe Reader 8.1 or higher to see the new application form (IMM 0008). 
This new application form is a generic one and should be used by everybody applying as Skilled Worker.
The main feature of the new application form for Canada is many of the fields have drop down list that minimize the chance of error and undue delay of procession of immigration as skilled worker.   
From now on everybody should use the new application form to apply for Canadian Immigration. 


If you want to know how to fill the new form, click here.

Visa processing time for Skilled worker application to Canada

If you are planning to submit your application for immigration to Canada as skilled worker, you might want to know visa processing time for Skilled worker application to Canada. Knowing the visa processing time for Skilled worker application to Canada will help you plan ahead.
To know visa processing time for Skilled worker application to Canada, click here. In the table click on "View by country" under the heading of "Federal (other than Quebec)". In the next page find out your visa specific office and you'll see the visa processing time for Skilled worker application to Canada for your visa office.
One thing I must add, visa processing time for Skilled worker application to Canada, which is available in the above link is actually the average time required for processing in last few months.

Online application for study permit in Canada

If someone desires to study in Canada, he/she must have study permit except for few occasions like short term military training. 

There is an process of online application for study permit in Canada. 

You may apply online for study permit in Canada if you fulfill the following criteria: 

• your field of study does not require a medical examination;
• you are over the age of sixteen;
• you have no accompanying family members; and
• you live in and are a citizen of the following countries: Australia, Barbados, Denmark, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Sweden and USA.

If you want to give it a try, click here to see if you are eligible for online application for study permit in Canada. 

Application form for Canada Immigration- Tips for IMM008

Application for Permanent Residence in Canada [IMM 0008]is the first form to be filled up. Remember, you can not save the PDF format of Application for Permanent Residence in Canada [IMM 0008]after filling the spaces. You need to take print out before you close the file after filling up. No changes can be saved in Application for Permanent Residence in Canada [IMM 0008]. So be careful when you fill up this form and take a print out. If there is a mistake you see after closing the PDF file, you'll have fill it again from the starting.

1. Check mark the under which category under you are applying (most likely Skilled worker if you are an IMG).
2. Then put the number of you family member in the allocated space.
3. Now choose the language you are going to communicate or if there is an interview, you would like to use for conversation. Check both for correspondence and interview.
4. Now fill the space asking for "Visa office requested for the process of your application" (it is the space next to the words).
You will have to go to
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/offices/apply-where.asp
and find out your country and its corresponding visa office from the chart. For example, from Afganistan the visa office for processing Applications for Permanent Resident Visas would be Islamabad.
5. Now fill up the areas for "Your full name", "Your sex" , "Date of birth" , "Your country of citizenship" , "Your country of residence" , "Your native language" , "Your height" , "Color of your eyes" , "Your current marital status" , "Have you been previously married or in a common-law relationship?" and "Your knowledge of English and French"
Don't forget to follow your passport to fill up the above mentioned areas, where applicable.
6. Now comes some tricky parts of the Application for Permanent Residence in Canada [IMM 0008] . That is the "years of education" is Education area. Put the years that are mentioned in your papers - certificate or syllabus or course description. Do not put the years that you have used, only the years that your papers say the course have. For example in our country a B.Sc. usually requires 4 years of study. Some person may not be able to complete by 4 years. He may need 5 years. But still he,ll count it as 4 years.
7. Put your current occupation and mailing address in the respective areas (number 13 & 14 of Application for Permanent Residence in Canada [IMM 0008])
8. Put your residential address only if it is something else than your mailing address (number 15 of Application for Permanent Residence in Canada [IMM 0008]). Otherwise, write "Not applicable" in the area.
9. Now fill up the remaining areas of Application for Permanent Residence in Canada [IMM 0008].

If you have provided an ID card number (no 19 of the Application for Permanent Residence in Canada [IMM 0008] form), you'll have to send a photocopy of it with the application papers.

According to CIC.ca, a new form is in place. Please click here to know more about the form.
If you want to know how to fill the form, click here.