acrylicus

Hi all,

It's time for the quarterly "can I come to Canada" dig.

Basically I am 397 points with no post-secondary education points, as I have 3 A-Levels and one BTEC Level 3.

However I've been reading around and some people seem to think that a BTEC might score me some points; BUT mine is a Level 3 Subsidiary diploma, and no-one online seems to have talked about this.

In short - does anyone have any insight into whether a BTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in IT done at a Sixth Form College over 2 years will score me any points.

If it's a maybe, I'll get the ECA, if not then I will go back to moping in England.

Thanks,
Josh

Vulcanoid

According to UCAS, BTEC Level 3 is equivalent to A levels, so that's high school equivalent (https://www.ucas.com/ucas/16-18-choi.../btec-diplomas).

acrylicus

In short - I won't get any points then

Stuck on 397 and worried since I have been back in England for 2.5yrs now (since doing IEC skilled work for 2yrs 2013-2015).

Vulcanoid

I know nothing about this field - but if you could find a post-secondary college qualification which lasts a year or more, that could get you more than another 50 points - wouldn't be as much as a degree, but would certainly put you in contention (unless you start losing points rapidly due to age). Worth thinking about.

I presume she said no/you decided not to ask?

acrylicus

I am 24 - so am in the green there, I am more worried about the "work in the last 3 years, within Canada" as that is due to expire within 6 months (as I am coming up to my 3 years back in England mark).

The girl and I didn't work out (she was young, not ready for that level of commitment).

The way I see it, I have 3 options:

- *somehow* boost my points
- LMIA (5+ years experience, but it's computer networking so will have competition)
- Study visa (but I will need considerable savings for this)

If you have any other ideas, please do let me know, I'd donate both my legs to get back

christmasoompa

Why not just apply for the ECA and see what you get? I might be missing something, but if there's a possibility of getting more points than you think you currently have, surely it's worth spending the money to check and know for sure?

acrylicus

Would anyone happen to know if a Certificate of Higher Education, a full time 12 month course, from the Open university would qualify?

I would expect so...

Currently this is plan A; and I have 9 days to register! Any insight would be HUGELY appreciated.

Cheers,
Josh

christmasoompa

I would think it would, but as I said above if I were you I'd just apply for the EXA with everything you've got and see what comes back. We can all speculate but I think it's worth spending the relatively small amount of money so that you get a definitive answer.

What do you mean 9 days to register? For what?

acrylicus

According to this thread:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/immig...uation-856022/

CES consider a lvl 3 BTEC a valid 2 year course, although mine isn't a National Diploma, rather a Subsidiary Diploma... All I need is 1 year, so I will give it a go via CES (After I give them a call on Thursday, when they open).

The registration for the course closes in 9 days

Also... I was worried that I left Canada 2.5 years ago, and one of the questions is "how much work experience do you have in Canada in the last 3 years" - but all the CRS calculators, including the one on CIC, say 10 years and not 3.

If that's the case, it's a huge load of pressure off me. Does anyone know for certain if it's within 3 or 10 years?

Cheers!
Josh

christmasoompa

Ah, I see, so it's not a qualification you've got already?

The 3 years/10 years thing depends on what you're looking at it for as both are valid - the 3 years is relevant to CEC applications (to be eligible for that program, you must have at least one year's skilled experience in Canada in the past three years), but the 10 years is for points purposes on the CRS.

HTH.

acrylicus

I have the BTEC, I am planing on doing a new certification (for which registration closes in 8 days) if I can't ride the BTEC to Canada.

You mention the CEC, I thought that was retired? The fact that they stopped doing that was the reason I couldn't stay in Canada in the first place. Did EE not kill it?

Vulcanoid

No, EE is the blanket term for Federal employment-based economic immigration. It has subparts - Federal Skilled Worker is probably the most talked about (67 points, then 410-450 points, etc), CEC is another one (at least 12 months skilled work experience in Canada).

acrylicus

So FSW is what I am going for now I suppose, given that I will have 489 points if I can get 1yrs post-secondary approved via ECA then.

Sorry for my ignorance, but what is the "67 points" aspect of all this?

Thanks for all the help

Vulcanoid

If you want to apply through Federal Skilled Worker, you need to enter the pool. That takes 67 FSW points, as assessed at https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...d-workers.html.

You then need a different number of Comprehensive Ranking System points - the lowest it's ever gone is about 420, normally hovers around 450ish, sometimes as high as 800, to get drawn out of the pool. CRS points can be assessed in the grid at https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...stem/grid.html.

acrylicus

OK so I only have 64 points on FSW... I was not aware of these "subclasses"...

I left Canada June 2015, after working there for 24 months since 2013. If I were to apply before CEC June this year, would that count? Or have I missed the boat on that?