EmBr

Hi everyone,

I'm a complete newbie on the website! I have tried to search the forum and have found a few comments in different posts here and there but I couldn't find a post specifically about this with a case similar to ours. Sorry if there is one and I missed it, feel free to point me in the right direction, any info is much appreciated.

My husband and I are looking to move to Calgary from UK via the Federal Worker Express Entry. I'm 31, my husband 29. We don't have any serious illnesses thankfully or crime records, so from what I understand this means our case won't be a complex one.

We were thinking of using Visa Place as immigration lawyers to help us move but we're now considering doing it on our own as they really are expensive! How do-able would you think that is?

We have a CRS score of approx 480.

As a general rule, do people usually attempt it on their own? We talked to Visa Place who of course said that if we did it ourselves and made an error our file might be rejected etc, but I'm hoping that's just "sales" talk and it isn't quite like that and that the whole thing isn't as complicated as they insinuated?

What did you all think if you did it on your own? In hindsight would you have used an immigration lawyer? Did you do it yourselves, get refused and then have to have another go via an immigration lawyer?

Thanks a lot for any info you can give me, we'll be so grateful!

christmasoompa

Hi, and welcome to BE.

Absolutely do-able, particularly now you've found this forum! The vast majority of people do it themselves, unless you have complicated circumstances there's just no need to pay somebody to do it for you, particularly as you still have to do the paperwork gathering and a lot of the legwork yourself.

If you search the forum for 'consultant', you'll find that the general advice is always to just crack on and do it yourself.

Your CRS score is very high, so that's great and you should get an invite shortly after applying (if they're back to inviting FSW applicants by then). Is that a guesstimate or have you already taken IELTS and got ECA's?

EmBr

Thanks a lot for your answer!

ahhh thanks for that I didn't type consultant that might be why I didn't find the correct threads!

so we had a consultation with a visa place immigration lawyer and that score was her estimation. We haven't done the language tests or gotten ECAs yet. I'm hoping her guesstimate was accurate!

It's a great forum! I actually hadn't realised how little annual leave there is in Canada compared to the UK. I had done so much research but it never crossed my mind to research that, I'm not sure why! Have you found that to be a pb?

thanks again for your answer!

Siouxie

Hello and welcome to BE!

With regards to 'Visa Place' they appear to be an agency, they 'introduce' you to independant Immigration Consultants or Lawyers in good standing - they don't appear to undertake the work themselves. See their 'Refund Policy' for details: https://www.visaplace.com/refund-policy/ They mention 'forms' on their website but Express Entry is an online application - as are many others.

You certainly should be able to submit an application yourself without using an Immigration Consultant - but if you decide to use one, please ensure they are on the approved list and do some due diligence, check their reviews. An Immigration Consultant can't magic up points you don't have; nor can they speed any of the process up (quite the opposite sometimes)... and you will have to supply all the information, get your IELTS,ECA's and police checks for them to submit.

The wiki may be of help in deciding which route to take.. https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Quick...an_Immigration -

What is it each of you do for a living? Perhaps give a breakdown of your points here...

+1!

christmasoompa

Ah, ok. Do double check it yourself using the official calculator (say yes to IELTs and ECA's - assume max points for IELTS for now as native speakers). https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigr...d/crs-tool.asp

It was never a problem for me, as my husband transferred with his work and so kept his 6 weeks holiday, and I worked for myself so took as much as I wanted! If we had only had 2 weeks though I'd have hated it. I know people say you can do stuff at weekends but we love to travel and have several foreign holidays a year, so 2 weeks would have been a nightmare for us personally. First world problems and all that……...


Ah, that would explain why their website is so out of date then. No mention of the CRS points on there at all, and still says students are eligible for CEC so clearly hasn't been updated for at least 5 years.

EmBr

Ohh thanks for the links! I did look up the immigration lawyer we talked to and she was on the accredited list which is good.

I am very tempted to give it a go ourselves! Thanks for the link! From the NOC list, my husband is in category A and I am in category B (or 0) I'm not too sure to be fair! I'm B for event manager but I have also been a client relationship manager and consequently I'm not sure if I could be a NOC 0 ? I didn't manage a team but I did manage a large portfolio of clients and the immigration lawyer seemed to think that would be enough - would this experience be one of the following NOC? : 0114 Other administrative services managers or 0125 Other business services managers 0651 or Managers in customer and personal services, n.e.c.?

Using the calculator on this website: www.cic.gc.ca --- it actually gives us a score of 539 (but this is purely guessing scores for language tests as we havent done those and dont have ECAs yet)

Core/Human capital factors

• Age = 90
• Level of education = 119
• Official Languages = 150
  • First Official Language = 128
  • Second Official Language = 22
• Canadian work experience = 0

Subtotal - Core/Human capital factors = 359

Spouse factors

• Level of education = 10
• First Official Languages = 20
• Canadian work experience = 0

Subtotal - Spouse factors = 30

Skill transferability factors

Education (to a maximum of 50 points)

• A) Official Language proficiency and education = 50
• B) Canadian work experience and education = 0

Subtotal = 50

Foreign work experience (to a maximum of 50 points)

• A) Official Language proficiency and foreign work experience = 50
• B) Canadian and foreign work experience = 0

Subtotal = 50

Certificate of qualification = 0

Subtotal Skill transferability factors = 100

Additional points (to a maximum of 600 points)

Provincial nomination = 0

Job offer = 0

Study in Canada = 0

Sibling in Canada = 0

French-language skills = 50

Subtotal Additional points = 50
Comprehensive Ranking System formula grand total = 539


Thanks for yoru answer!!

EmBr

@christmasoompa - Thanks for the link! Have done, it says 539 which seems very different from what they told me, weird!

oh that's great for your about the holiday! definitely something to think about, we'd have to be quite specific in companies we apply to I guess. As we would want to come home to UK to see family a couple times a year!

Siouxie

Re NOC -- You need to look at each NOC code and see which of the 'main duties' you do the most of, and determine which would be the best NOC code for you. To be able to claim the NOC code you'll need to prove you do at least half of the 'main duties', and meet the criteria in the opening paragraph; if there is another NOC that fits your duties better your application could be refused.

How have you determined that you should be able to claim 119 points for education (i.e. 2 degrees or a degree and a post degree diploma or similar), or is this something you were told?
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...stem/grid.html

Do you have at minimum 'A level' French ability, to be able to pass TEF Canada, do you think? https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...e-testing.html

EmBr

Ahhh I'll have a look at the NOC bit thanks for that!! How do they ask you to prove the tasks you did? Is it just that they contact your previous employers?

regarding the French - I'm French and British Grew up in France so fully bilingual so i guessed the tests results, assuming that being a French national I would get good grades, fingers crossed! French is my first language so I'm assuming I'd do ok.

Then with regards to the studies I looked at this bit: Two or more certificates, diplomas, or degrees. One must be for a program of three or more years
I have a bachelors degree in Business and management (3 years) and I'm currently completing a set of 6 web development certificates (I only have one out of 6 so far). So 1 certificate and 1 degree of more than 3 years.

You're completely correct though I did make an error! I put the number of years I had worked, not the number of years I had worked in a specific NOC job. As I'm unsure for NOC I have changed it to "none" for the years experience and that gives me a score of 489 - which seems more inline with what the immigration agency said!

christmasoompa

You'll need to provide written proof as part of your application - references, and an employment contract that list the duties are the usual things.

Afraid your web development certs won't count I don't think, professional or vocational qualification don't count for points purposes, only academic ones do. But you'll still get good points with the degree.

It's work in any skilled job, so presumably max points for that.

Sounds to me like you'll be in a good place points wise, so double check it but then you could get your language certs and ECA's applied for.

Best of luck!

EmBr

thank you VERY much for all your help!!

christmasoompa

De rien.

Lichisadave

Hi and welcome, we have just done ours ourselves after a few discussions with my husbands work immigration lawyers I was reluctant to pay $$$$ when it’s basically a tick list. As long as you don’t have any difficult circumstances and are comfortable filling out forms then 100 % it’s do able especially with the help of the amazing people on here too.My friend has used a lawyer and she basically had to gather all the information anyway. Good luck