crofty82

Hello, first time posting here. My wife and I are hoping to emigrate to Canada next year or early 2019 via EE. I score 72 points on the FSW assessment and would be the lead applicant because my occupation is more in demand than my wife’s, but on the CRS we only score 410.

From my reading up on here and having spoken to a couple of immigration lawyers I believe anything less than 420 puts you at a great disadvantage. Does anybody on here have any experience of, or know of anybody that has successfully received an RTA with less than 420 points please?

Also would like some advice on going solo vs paying for the services of an immigration lawyer. Obviously a lawyer can’t boost your score, but from my research opinion seems to be split into two camps:

a) It’s worth the huge sum of money because they know tricks of the trade and ensure all of your documents are written and submitted correctly.

OR

b) They add no real value and are not worth the money because you can get a complete list of what documents you need online, and it is simply a case of writing your profile and submitting those documents to be eligible for the pool.

Any and all advice greatly welcomed.

christmasoompa

You can check for yourself to see the previous points levels for all draws, I think the lowest it's ever gone to is 415 for a FSW applicant. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...-previous.html At 410 it's definitely worth applying just in case the points level drops, but be prepared to not get an ITA and to have to find a job offer to get your points up.

And I'm in the (b) camp. I worked for an immi consultant for years but still wouldn't recommend them unless you have complicated circumstances or aren't comfortable with official paperwork. Particularly now you've found BE!

HTH and welcome to the forum.

Former Lancastrian

Its your money so you decide to spend it on a lawyer or a registered consultant who might be cheaper or DIY.

Last draw on 6 Dec 2017 lowest score 452

List of previous rounds found in this link
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...-previous.html

Ministerial Instructions respecting invitations to apply for permanent residence under the Express Entry system – December 6, 2017

No program specified

See full text of Ministerial Instruction

Number of invitations issued: 2,750Footnote *

Rank required to be invited to apply: 2,750th or above

Date and time of round: December 6, 2017 at 14:00:00 UTC

CRS score of lowest-ranked candidate invited: 452

christmasoompa

P.S. your occupation being more in demand shouldn't make a difference to an EE FSW app, just go with whoever scores the most. And when will you lose points for age, is that a way off or imminent?

crofty82

Thanks for the help guys. It may actually be worth my wife becoming the lead applicant in that case as she is 32 and I'm 35. Thanks for the tips about the previous results too!

christmasoompa

If she scores more then yes, absolutely. Your job has no bearing other than to give you points so even if she's in a low demand profession like teaching, she'd still get you both PR if she's scoring enough.

So do check both your points scores carefully and just go with whoever scores higher.

Good luck.