christmasoompa

Receiving an invite is purely based on your CRS score, so at that level you’d get an invite in the next FSW draw.

You will need more to prove you’re common-law though, him having bank statements and payslips with that address on doesn’t prove anything other than that he lives there - he could be your lodger! You need to prove you’re in a marriage like relationship and have ‘combined your affairs’. So if you don’t have bills in both names, you could use things like joint bank account, wills or life insurance naming each other as beneficiaries, being named drivers on car insurance, joint house insurance etc, etc.

Best of luck.

CanadaRat

Thanks for the feedback all. The concerns are valid about the common-law proof but not impossible. It is a little worrying, but we feel quite confident we have everything we would need to evidence a long term relationship. The one thing that I do know we have that would hopefully be the most significant is as you say Christmasommpa, we have named each other as beneficiaries in our work insurance payouts.

Thanks for the well wishes

Siouxie

You may wish to peruse these for some extra help on proving your 'common law' status. https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpce...num=347&top=14
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...ationship.html

It's not cut and dried, they require concrete proof that you have cohabited 'as if married' for a minimum of 12 months - not just showing a long term relationship. Joint bank account.. Wills naming each other as beneficiary... Rent or mortgage agreement in both names... Utlity bills in both names... pet purchase in both names... Insurance policies naming each other as the beneficiary.. plus proof of your ongoing relationship - affidavits from friends and family.. photos of you both with family at significant occasions.. things addressed to both of you.. in other words things that a married couple would most likely have but that two people 'sharing a flat' wouldn't !! It's worth making sure that you have the necessary documentation before submission.

Do remember that in order to gain the points for being bilingual, your partner will need to take the French Assessment tests as well as English ..

Personally I wouldn't have wasted all that money on using an Immigration Consultant - as you are the ones who will fill out all the forms - give all the information - obtain your IELTS, your Education Assessments, your Police certificates and undergo your medicals -- the only thing they will do is check it and receive any communications instead of you. I hope that you have checked that they are members in good standing
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...nsultants.html

scilly

As Siouxie says, YOU do all the hard work in getting together everything for your application ............... they do nothing except sit in an office, then go over everything that you send them

............ and charge several thousand pounds for really doing nothing.

It will NOT save you any time, so that negates your main reason for using them.

Plus ............ all the help you need is available for free from the wonderful people on this site.

Please do listen to them.

It is going to cost you enough to pay for everything before hand, then money for moving. And ......... you are moving to one of the most expensive places in Canada, as I assume you are wanting to live in the Lower Mainland.

Better save the money you are spending on a lawyer, who after all cannot not guarantee that you will be accepted any more than I could.

crofty82

As has been said, unless you have very complicated circumstances, using a lawyer or consultant is money down the toilet.

CanadaRat

Hey everyone,

sorry its been a while. We have been very busy sorting out all our documents, certifications, language tests etc.. for our application. I am pleased to say that we met and went beyond the scores required and submitted our application last week. Since doing so, we have received 3x PNP express entry nomination emails in particular to Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, and Ontario. This process in itself is a little confusing and looking for some advice.

Ontario for us is a very good choice (we originally had it as a top option along with BC) given our IT backgrounds. We just are not sure about the EEHCS we have received in terms of wording and wondering if anyone else having been through the experience could provide feedback.

In the first instance, it states that Ontario is interested in "considering" nominating us for a PNP, so the offer to do so is not actually there yet. We are invited to apply to the OINP but this looks to carry a $1500 processing fee. If we receive the PNP however, it adds 600 points to our CRS score.

First and foremost, is this processing fee normal? It seems to vary on each of the "potential" PNP programs i.e. $300 for PEI in comparison.
We currently have a solicitor working for us and each of these emails are advising us that we look eligible for the PNP program in each province. However, the Ontario email is actually an email from the Ontario Government via our solictor. This seems the most promising.

Whilst we accept that applying to the PNP program does not in itself guarantee us an invite via the EE program, we would anticipate it improving our changes significantly. Has anyone else gone through similar and can share with us a PNP process? We understand that in accepting a PNP program, we will be removed from the pool and other provinces will no longer be able ot see our profile yet the PNP still does not guarantee an invite. We want to make the best decision.

Thanks in advance. Your help is very much appreciated.

CanadaRat

Hi Sioxie,

Thanks for the link re. the common law status. This is appreciated.

As for the solitor fees, we accepted it was a gamble, but for the sake of the money, we felt it was worth the risk. I do concur I haven't been massively impressed with what value they are currently bringing, although I do have to say that their portal for tracking our progress and checking off our documentation has been useful.

Do you know what is involved in the medical btw? I have fears of some exhaustive training program XD However, I assume it is likely just bloods and general check up?

Cheers.

Siouxie

You are most welcome!

Not a solicitor - an Immigration Consultant of a lawyer in good standing... I truly hope you have checked they are authorised - if they aren't your application could be rejected! https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...uthorized.html
As for a portal for checking your progress - you mean like the one that is on the Immigration and Citizenship Canada site? (that's the official site) for Express Entry applications?

You will be doing all the work to gather the infomation, Express Entry is one of the easiest applications - basically follow the guidelines, fill out the forms online, supply the documentation required...... then wait!

Don't have the medical or police checks until you have been invited to apply, by the way - they have limited validity.
Medical - yes, you can check what is required here, it's not just bloods and a general check up - you will undergo chest xrays, urinalysis, eyesight, mental awareness test, etc., https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...de.html#sec1.5

christmasoompa

Yes, that fee is normal and you'd have to pay it for Ontario PNP. What was your final CRS score though? Above you said around 530, so I can't see any reason why you'd need to apply via a PNP, as if you are at that level (or close to it), you'll get an ITA in the next draw anyway.

So to save $1500, plus a lot more paperwork, and to give you PR via a Federal program (meaning you won't be tied to Ontario and could go anywhere you want), personally I'd wait for an ITA via EE.

christmasoompa

Just checking, when exactly did you submit your application? There was a draw 3 days ago, so you should have had an ITA in that if you applied last week?

jordanleanne

Hi CanadaRat!

I can't be of much help to you, but it sounds like you are in the same situation as me and my husband. We have decided we want to emigrate (to Alberta for us), and had estimated the 2-3 years, so we have been thinking to that expectation. Since having discussions on here though, it seems everyone recommends putting an application in as soon as, and that it won't take as long as we thought, but we now have a 3-year-plan in our heads and for family/saving time.
We have done the express entry and CRS quizzes though with 'guessed' results where necessary and that hasn't been any kind of hinderance. We are now just wondering when to start any official application and don't want to jump in too soon and get caught up in not having paperwork ready, and how/when to tie in selling our home.
I'll be following your thread for any tips that come up, good luck in your application!

christmasoompa

As said, the recommendation is usually to apply as soon as you can, this is because things change so often in immigration and you never know if you'll still be eligible in a year or two. An example of that is when CIC introduced the list of eligible occupations a few years ago, and it went from anybody that scored enough being eligible as a skilled worker, to only those working in 29 very specific occupations being eligible. I'd hate the same thing to happen again and for people to miss out so I always say apply now if you score enough (minimum 460 on the CRS). That's particularly true of anybody heading towards 30, or over 30, as then points start dropping due to age.

Remember too that once you have PR (which can take a year or so to obtain if you drag things out a bit), you then have a further few years before you actually *have* to move, so again another reason to apply when eligible, you don't actually have to move straight away when PR is granted.

As for the house, I'd always recommend waiting until you have PR in hand before doing something like selling your house, just in case. So you get PR, go to Canada to 'land' and activate it within the year of your medical as required (assuming Covid restrictions aren't in place by then of course), then you return to the UK to sell your house and wrap things up, before moving permanently a year or two later (or however long suits).

HTH, good luck to both of you.

jordanleanne

Thank you so much for this comment, it was the timings of these stages that had us thinking we should wait to apply. I had thought the 90 days after receiving ITA meant we had to have everything in order to actually accept the invite, and that felt like quite a rush and risk if we didn't have something quite ready (eg. listing, selling and clearing the funds of a house move would be almost imporssible with 90 days notice!) but now I understand this we're looking at booking out IELTS before the end of the year and putting in to apply ASAP. Thanks!