CanadaRat

Hi All,

my partner and myself have after much consideration made the decision that we want to emigrate to Canada, in particular British Columbia province, and we are looking at how to best get our journey started. We obviously appreciate it will be potentially a 2-3 year journey, but are looking for advise from ex-pats who have already made this journey.

We are both skilled workers and believe we fall into category A as a minimum, but most likely category 0 of the skilled workers list. We believe therefore this would entitle us to apply for the express entry route. We have gone through the eligibility test on the Canadian immigration website and have passed, but its not clear to us what the next step should be.

We have given consideration to whether we should engage with a local BC immigration lawyer in the first instance. They advise they will do a lot of the application work for you, act as legal representative etc. but this of course presents the risk of forking over a substantial amount of money and not knowing if they are best fit for purpose, despite any research around the firm.

Really, I would very much appreciate any feedback anyone might be able to offer;

1. Now that we have made the decision, what is the next best step to formally get the ball rolling?
2. Did you hire a lawyer as part of your immigration process? If so, what recommendations can you make about making a good selection?
3. What is the best way to start searching for work? Are there any recommendations on specialist agencies who will help you in this process?

Thank you everyone in advance for any help.

Former Lancastrian

Why 2 to 3 years? If you are on the ball it could be done in less than 12 months.
You say you have done the eligibility test so either 1 or both of you score 67 or over on the 1st part. Now did you complete the 2nd part the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) as outlined in this link?

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...ng-system.html

If you have scored over 470 then chances are you would be invited.

No need for a lawyer or consultant.

Not knowing what you have done then do the Julie Andrews thing (Lets start at the very beginning) and use this link

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...ess-entry.html

We need more details once you can tell us what either of you score on the CRS and what NOC codes you might fall under.

CanadaRat

Thank you for your feedback and quick response. I have provided some additional information.

In regards to 2-3 years, to be honest, this was just purely based on a guesstimate. I have family members that have emigrated to other countries and this seemed to be the typical time frame. Nothing concrete, it was just a best guess. But if it can legitimately be done in 12 months, this is quite an exciting (no doubt daunting) prospect!

We both performed an eligibility test from the same canada.ca website. found here:

https : // www (dot) canada (dot) ca /en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/come-canada-tool-immigration-express-entry.html (sorry, unable to post URLs yet, new member!)

Based on the information provided, we both had a response back stating we looked eligible. Of course at this stage, its just a carrot on a string. We need to obviously get a proper score and determine if indeed we can go through the express entry route. The eligibility test provides a reference code to then sign up and apply. I am a little hesitant to do this at the moment as there are a series of documents that are required which we do not as yet have i.e. ECA assessment to validate our educational equivalence, and no job offer currently (plus we are curious if we might have a chance to apply for BCPNP).

Its a bit of a chicken and egg scenario - if we apply without some of these documents readily available, does the clock start ticking? Do we apply in order to get our official score? Or should we get all of these documents in place first, as some of them (ECA for example) state they could take 2-3 months.

Thanks again.

Former Lancastrian

You don't need a job offer under Federal Skilled Worker. Give your self maximum points for Language even though you haven't taken the test. Pretend you have the ECA.

Use this link for more info. There is a way of finding out your CRS score without formally applying under EE

https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpce...pic.asp?top=29

Normally I don't advocate non official sites but this website albeit belonging to a lawyer has very useful info on it and I can verify they exist

<snip>

Siouxie

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...ess-entry.html is the official website of the Govt. of Canada - no carrot necessary as thousands apply each year, most people 'qualify' to apply - but it depends on your CRS points as to whether you get an invite from the Express Entry Pool.

Please use the CRS calculator - https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigr...d/crs-tool.asp and assume for the calculator purpose that you have a) taken IELTS English test and scored top marks and b) that you have had your education assessed. Once you have done it, please post your points - taking it in turns to be the lead applicant to determine which of you has the highest score.

What is it you both do for a living - and in what decade of your lives are you?

rivingtonpike

As everyone has said, the 67 points to be eligible to apply are pretty easy to achieve. It is the CRS score that is crucial to success. If you can give people an idea of that score, it's easier to advise on best route for you. We all got here with very different stories so more details will make it easier for people to help.

CanadaRat

Thanks for the responses everyone. Really very helpful!

The CRS test has been taken by both myself and my partner. My score came out at 390, my age going against me quite significantly (40). My partners score was significantly better, with both an education grade 1 higher than myself (masters v's Bachelors) , speaking French and English, and also age (31). Score benchmark of about 530.

In terms of careers, I am currently a Cyber Security Manager with 15+ years experience in my field of IT architecture and design and numerous supporting industry qualifications. My partner is a Software Engineer, 3 years experience, masters degree, French citizen but living with me in the UK, speaking fluent French and English.

My assumption is that we would just apply once through my partner, with myself as a common-law partner. We have already applied now to sit our IETLS English exam and are now looking at getting our documents assessed through the ECA, although it is unclear to me that if I were applying as a partner rather than independently, if I would need to get this same assessment done of my certificates of education. I'd assume its better to apply as a unit, but would this set me back for example when trying to look for work, presuming that its possible to improve this score with a job offer before even reaching Canada?

Thank you! We had found this site as well, so glad to know we are looking in the right places

This is the only bit I am unsure of sorry. Is the score 67 based on a CRS score sorry or another metric? I have only so far found the CRS system, so not sure what this is value is based on.

Thanks everyone for the support so far. Really very useful information.

rivingtonpike

The 67 score is the initial test set by the Canadian immigration bods to establish if you are eligible to apply for immigration. I think it's largely based on age and education (can't honestly remember!). If your partner is scoring 530 on the CRS assessment, I would think your application would be extremely strong.

Siouxie

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...nada-tool.html

https://onlineservices-servicesenlig...ca/c2c/eapp.do

CanadaRat

Thanks everyone for your help! We have booked our IETLS exam and are starting the ball rolling on getting our ECA completed. We spoke this evening with an attorney in Canada and understand a lot more now. Based on my partners score, we will be applying through him and with a score of 524 we are assured this is above average and puts us in good stead.

So.. here's to exciting times ahead and to what we hope will be a smooth process.

timd927

Congratulations, I’ve been reading this thread and found it very informative indeed a question I have is , where didn’t you book the test and how much did you pay?
thank you

CanadaRat

Hi Tim, we booked it through the British Council website. I am still under 5 posts so cannot post the link, but it is broken format below:

https :// takeielts (dot) britishcouncil (dot) org/united-kingdom

The exam cost is £170. You can find a few samples on the same website. The ECA process will cost us both around £200 each. We are going to complete this tomorrow evening. The lead time for this is about 2-3 months. This is then the time we will be able to complete our application.

Siouxie

There really is little need to appoint an Immigration Consultant unless you have a complex background - criminal or medical issues. Express Entry is a simple process which you will complete the forms online, supply the information, certification, police certificates and confirm all the information submitted is truthful. No need to pay someone thousands of dollars that could be used for the move!

Follow the guide on the Official website and ask any questions here - one or more of our experts will help you free of charge!

Can you give a breakdown on your scores - they seem quite high. Regarding IELTS - your partner will also need to take the French tests if you are hoping to utilise that for additional points. On the subject of partners, you will only qualify as 'common law partners' if you have resided together 'as if married' for a minimum of 12 months consecutively and can prove so. (we have a section in our wiki if you need help on how to prove it). You would be a dependent on your partners application, not a separate application, if you qualify as such.. if your partner scores highly enough then you wouldn't need to have your education or language skills tested.

It may be worth looking at the Tech pilot for BC as your backgrounds are in IT... although you don't need any extra points, it could speed the process up for you.
https://www.welcomebc.ca/Immigrate-t...PNP-Tech-Pilot
https://www.welcomebc.ca/getmedia/2b...rkers.pdf.aspx

CanadaRat

Hi Siouxie,

thanks for your feedback and suggestions. We decided in the end either way to appoint an attorney just to make life a lot easier. We both have very busy schedules with work, so feel this is going to just be a bit of a relief. We completed our WES yesterday and some bits of that were a little bit of a headache just due to there being unclear messages from the European education authority as to what my partners degree was legitimately seen as. Thankfully, after much digging, we confirmed it was definitely a masters, so all good!

With regards to the score break down, this is predominantly coming from the fact that my partner is fluent in English and French, has a Masters degree, as his partner, I also have similar minus the French speaking part, which adds to his score. Having spoken to the attorney, we have from his perspective very good prospects of being invited on EE relatively quickly, although I still anticipate this taking a little while. We shall see! Common-law will not be a problem for us to evidence as he has payslips and bank statements at my address, albeit after 6 years, we still do not have anything in joint names! I guess we never got around to it.

Thank you for the links. We have dug into the PNP options as well and its something I have already discussed now with the attorney. I definitely feel we will be fortunate in regards to our industry backgrounds and this will hopefully help us secure jobs relatively quickly once we are 'visible' to recruiters.

Former Lancastrian

I am so glad you think Common Law won't be a problem to evidence as payslips and bank statements with your address on them are not proof. I hope you have something like life insurance policies, wills, other bills in joint names otherwise it might not be as easy as you think.