Affichage des articles dont le libellé est PR. Afficher tous les articles
Affichage des articles dont le libellé est PR. Afficher tous les articles

lundi 28 septembre 2020

Canadian Permanent Residency - general notes on the Express Entry program

Started in 2019 and obtained in 2020, I describe here a few general considerations on how I organized myself to get my Canadian permanent residency work permit.

I need to thanks all the friends who helped me in the process, in particular P.W. and G.L. for their numerous advices and the time they spend answering my never ending questions :-) 

There are various immigration path, this present the step by step process of how I applied to the Express Entry program. I think that most of the considerations on how to present the documents, how to organize yourself should be consistent among the other existing path, but I haven't tested them.

This document reflects my point of view and shall not be taken as legal or immigration advices, please refer to the appropriate sources of data for consistent and up to date information.



This is how this document is organized :

  • Comprehensive Ranking System
    • Know your CRS points
    • Know the current CRS "cut-off"
  • Organize yourself / project management
    • Task organisation (how I did it with Trello)
    • Consideration on document format and signatures
    • Jobs
      • NOC NOC what am I even doing ?
      • Job offer
      • Proof past jobs
        • Proof of job experience -- template
    • Planning : a good timing is important
  • Timing considerations



Comprehensive Ranking System

Know your CRS points (Comprehensive Ranking System)

Use the online calculation tool to evaluate the number of points you can claim.

You can play with the tool (and you will have to until you get the first results... for example the language tests !) to evaluate how many points you can claim. This will allow you to understand if you are eligible at all.

When you'll actually send your file, don't over estimate yourself : you'll need to prove each and every points you claimed, but don't under estimate yourself either.
As you'll notice the CRS calculation tool doesn't need any registration so you can play with it to evaluate different hypothesis (you'll find other ressources online with advices on how to enhance your score, I didn't need it but it usually varies between completing some Canadian experience either working or studying, finishing and validating a degree, enhancing your language skills, getting a job offer letter...)

    Note on Language skills 

    You'll need to prove your language levels by passing some recognized tests. French brings a few more points than English as you can see playing with the CRS calculation tools.
    You should pass your exam before sending your file since you'll need the actual results to prove the claimed points, but for the initial CRS calculations just start by assessing yourself what you think your level is worth in either language.

    Know the current CRS "cut-off"

    There are various pages with historical data, follow the newsletters, and keep an eye on the current tendency. This is important to understand if you qualify for the express entry programs and what are your chances to be invited to submit a demand.

    With those 2 official resources you'll be able to compare the number of points you can claim with the others express entry candidates, to figure out what your chances are...
    I also registered to a few newsletters and was following a few websites to understand how this was working (I'm not sponsored for those links, and feel free to comment with other interesting ones...). It's one of the ways to keep up with the cut-off every 2 weeks.

    Organize yourself

    Task organisation (how I did it with Trello)

    Personally, I used a Trello board with the following columns, since I'm familiar with the tool.
    1. Todo
    2. Waiting External
    3. Added to the File
    4. Done !
    5. (not applicable)
    That allowed me to track all the independent documents I had to gather, and all the different processes that I needed to deal with. 

    Consideration on document, document formats, and handwritten signatures

    I was able to process everything through numeric format, and I didn't need to carry the original when doing the flagpole turn to get the actual card. Prefer PDF for any document you'll upload. 

    All signed document should be signed by hand and scanned after. Avoid signatures from a touchpad of pasted images as they are apparently refused !

    Make sure to give a recognizable name to your file (just for the proof of employments I had to submit around 40 files, and that doesn't count the revisions for the employers certificates that were missing data).
    I'm not sure how long you should keep the original paper version, but all the different files reached around 1.5 kg of paper.

    More on what to write, format and send to request the job references documents in the next section. 

    Jobs 

    NOC NOC what am I even doing ? - Job reference

    Canada has a precise description of most existing jobs on the market called National Occupational Classification (NOC)  or Classification nationale des professions (CNP) in French. This is what all of your past, current and future (in case of a job offer) work experience will be compared to. Get familiar with it and try to look for the NOC reference the closer possible to your jobs.
    As explained later, in most cases your employers won't even know the existence of this classification, and the Canadian immigration doesn't know your job, but will never the less try to match it with this classification to see where you fit regarding Canada immigration policies. 

    Job offer

    If you required a Job offer for the CRS number of points, make sure to validate the requirements :
    • you might need an LMIA (Labor Market Impact Assessment), in this case it's a bit more tricky: it takes time and requires your employer to pay some fees, do some administrative tasks properly and be willing to wait for your work-permit. Most of them will rather go for a closed work permit in this case. Also, note that employers in Canada are used to have a higher turnover than in France (it's a suggested 2 weeks resignation notice for example; they're usually filling the gaps ASAP, so waiting a few months to a year is not always 
    • so if you claim points with a job offer, try to find a "LMIA exempt" case.
    Links :

    Proof of past jobs

       You'll need to ask each of your former and current employers a certificate with the following details in mind :

    • The immigration agents will evaluate your job history, but they do not know your jobs. They will try to compare your job certificates with the NOC descriptions, that's the administrative tool they've got on hand.

    • Your past/current employers do not know the NOC (usually) but know what you've been doing, for how long, and how much you were paid, so of course, they can validate this and sign some certificates about this, but they'll most likely have other most urgent task than writing this => do you work and ask them to validate what you need on the proof of employement.

    • => You are the one who understands both your jobs at the time, the NOC and the immigration process.
    Advice : You should write to your former and current employers with precise data of what you want to see on the employment certificate you are requesting from them, trying to keep the job descriptions and tasks as close as possible to the NOC descriptions. 
      • for Canadian employers it even makes sense to write the NOC reference explicitly
      • for foreign employers, it does not makes sense to write the NOC ref, but you can nevertheless still describe your jobs duties to be as close as possible to the NOC tasks descriptions you found and are claiming points for !
      • one NOC reference per job. That's it. Even if it would matches 2 of them. Pick the closest match.

    • Send exactly what you need on the documents to your employers. It'll be their responsibility to check before they sign of course, but you'll save a lot of time in the process.
    Another advantage of sending precisely what you need on your documents  to all your past employers is that you'll end up with the same format for each document, which will greatly help the immigration agent dealing with your files. Following some advices I received, I sent to each of my past and current employers an e-mail stating exactly what I was expecting to see, all in the same format. The could hence verify the details, and send me back a proper scan + paper version of the document with their paper heading and details, but they mostly had to validate the data and do a copy-paste.

    example in French of employment attestation.
    This was actually a copy-paste from a previous e-mail.





    Proof of job experience / template
    • Scan all your pay-slips, contracts, contract modifications, etc. those also are proof of employment (the more, the merrier).
    • Send a template already filled with what you would like to see on the certificate to your past employers : As a minimum, you should include in your template the following informations and requests :
      • This certificate should be written on an official letterhead paper of your employer.
      • Precise start date, precise end date (or stating that this is your current employer).
      • Number of hours worked per week.
      • Positions occupied, and precise start date and end date for each position.
        • For each position, tasks that you handled.
        • Note : that's where the NOC tasks descriptions is important...
      • Annual salary, including benefits if any.
      • Employer contact 
        • address
        • phone number
        • e-mail)
      • Official HANDWRITTEN signature of your direct manager, or the official HR person in charge, with their name written clearly in capital letters. Let me insist on the handwritten : Canadian immigration do not like seeing a numerically copy-pasted signature, even if you are primarily sending your documents in PDF make sure to receive the paper version for your archives (just in case), and if in a hurry ask for the scanned PDF version right away.
      • Date of the signature 
        • Note : the date should be as close as possible to the date when you'll be sending your file after your invitation, even better if this was written after your invitation.

    For each employer I submitted the following proofs :
    • Up to date certificate (with all the details mentioned before)
    • ALL my payslips scanned
    • ALL my contracts scanned, including revisions

    Planning : a good timing is important

    Understand that if you claim a certain amount of points above the cut-off, you'll be invited soon to present your file to prove all your points. 

    This gave me 60 days (in 2019), which can be short for some procedures, so START BEFORE ! (note : you can apparently extend this period just by requesting it, but I didn't have to)

    Plan in advance, I was luckily suggested to start those before applying :
    • Language exam (takes ~ 2.5 months): finding the proper exam took 1h, booking it was online in the city where I was living at the time, and the closest date was ... 1 month later ! it then took  ~ 1.5 month to get the result
      • Make sure to select a Language exam that matches the Canadian Immigration criteria
      • Passing 2 different languages will not give you much points as you'll see in the CRS calculation link.
      • French test gives a few more points than English (7 if I recall correctly).
    • List all your residencies adresses
    • List all your travels
    • List all your education
    • List all jobs / employers  and prepare to reach them : make sure you've got the proper contacts up to date, prepare the requests you'll send them... (More on this topic on the previous section... )

    Note Date format : it's helpful to get all the dates in YYYY-MM-DD format, since this is how you'll have to enter it.

    Note Avoid gaps (not even a single day): For each of the lists with dates (residencies, educations, employers, travels), avoid gaps (if you finish on 2020-sept-13, the next should start on 2020-sept-14). 

    Note Since 18th birthday: For each of the lists with dates (residencies, educations, employers, travels), even if you're more than 28 and can theoretically declare only the last 10 years, but you can/should gather and declare everything since you were 18.

    Note Travels: For your residencies and travels, if you've been living in any country for more than 6 months you'll need to provide a police certificate issued from this country. France provides it in a few seconds (demande d'extrait de casier judiciaire), but I heard that it could be quite longer is some countries. 


           For each of your past and current jobs find the appropriate National Occupational Classification or NOC ( https://noc.esdc.gc.ca/ ) reference.
        Indeed, this is what will be used by the immigration agents to assess if your job matches the points you are claiming. 

      Timing considerations

      It took me around 1 year from the day when I decided to apply for my permanent residency through the express entry program and the day when I eventually received the PR card.

      • In parallel, before formerly applying :
        • 2.5 months for the Language Exam 
        • 6 months for the Education Assessment
        • some time to prepare the employment proofs certificates
        • some time to prepare all the data for the residencies, education, travels (!), etc.
      •  < 1 week between my application and being drawn from the PR pool
      • ~ 40 days to gather all my employers certificates, pass the medical exam and put all the data on the website.
      • ~ 4 months to get the "invitation to become PR". This is the invitation to present at the immigration agents to actually become PR. If you're already in Canada you'll need to exit the country and re-enter, aka. flagpole turn. You will need a safe mailing address in Canada to receive your car afterward.
      • ~ 1 month to get the PR card by mail



      PS : Make sure to keep all this data in your records since you'll need most of it to apply for citizenship 2 to 3 years later. 

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