Facelessman

Hi all,

My girlfriend and I are interested in trying to get visas under the FSW program. I have 68 points but my girlfriend, who is a registered nurse in Ireland, has 63 points at the moment.

Our plan is to include basic French in her application to get her a further two points. She got an A grade in the Irish Junior Cert (GCSE equivalent) and a good B grade in French in the Irish Leaving Cert (A level equivalent). From what I heard yesterday at the Work Abroad Expo in Dublin, a detailed submission explaining her language proficiency with accompanying exam results documentation may suffice. If the TEF exam is requested, she could do this too. I would hope with her only claiming 2 points for basic proficiency, this would not be required. Maybe I am being too hopeful on that front?

However, even with basic French, she is still on 65. We thought that if we could use the years worth of experience she gained as a final year nursing student working full time of the wards then this would get her up to 67. I asked the lady from the Canadian High Commission in London at the Work Abroad Expo yesterday and she seemed to think it would be ok. She said that it depends more on the duties you perform per the NOC guidelines than anything else. She said that if my girlfriend performed 'most' of these duties as a student nurse then it is okay to claim the years worth of experience once she has a letter from her employer to substantiate her claim.

I have searched the web for someone in a similar situation with no luck. Has anyone had a similar experience to my girlfriend? Any advice would be gratefully received.....

David

Reghuraj

I dont think the experience gained as a student can be counted as work experience towards gaining points.

I think i have read somewhere that work experience should be "full time work experience or equivelent, that you have been paid for". you should be able to prove with payslips and bank statements and referance letters.

regs

christmasoompa

It will depend on how many hours she worked. You say she worked full-time for a year? That may well count then. Exactly how many hours a week did she work?

And the TEF exam would definitely be required if she wanted to claim points for French - be warned, it's much harder than you think! She'll need to be able to converse in French quite well even to claim basic points.

destinationnovascotia

When you say "girlfriend". do you mean live in girlfriend? If you cohabit then her points may not matter as she would be on your application.

If you are each applying independently then her best bet would be to get her qualification recognized in the Province you wish to move to and get a job offer - for a nurse. probably a quicker and easier option than learning French.

She should take a look at the nursing WIKI for more info http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Nursing-Canada

Facelessman

Thanks for all the advice guys!

We do not live together so that would not help us.

The work was full time (37.5 hours/week) but even then it might be touch and go. Given her profession, it may be easier to do the Canadian nursing exam and get a job before immigrating alright.