Hi everyone,
Glad to get here – the final step of this series, you can read the previous blog posts here and here. They contain a lot of important information that I believe is key for you on this journey to Canadian Permanent Residence.
Today, I’ll like to share the documentation, submission and final approval process.
DOCUMENTATION
I uploaded the following documents when applying for my PR. Note that all documents must be in PDF form and scanned to fit the dimensions provided on the application site.
IELTS
You have to upload your IELTS result.
Proof of studies
The evaluation done by WES has to be uploaded as well along with proof of educational credentials for which points are being claimed. The more the merrier. (certificates, diplomas or degrees, transcripts)
Employer reference
If you claimed that you were working and got points for it, you’ll be required to prove that by uploading an employer reference letter.
Birth certificate
it is a requirement for the applicants and also for dependent children, including non-accompanying.
Proof of funds
You will need to upload documents showing you have funds to cover your expenses for the first few months of arrival. You can find the necessary amount needed here. We uploaded a bank statement. My sister used treasury bills. I guess the shortcoming of using a bank statement is that the money was idle (haha that is the financial analyst talking) but we wanted it to be as clear as possible with no room for confusion or assumption and that trumped our need for interest.
Police certificate/report
You need to get this from your country police force. If you’ve resided in other countries in the last ten years for 6 months or more in a row, then you also need reports from those countries. This is was a challenge for me because I had stayed outside the country and it took a while to get it done and sent to Nigeria. So if you’re in this category, I advise you to work on it ASAP to avoid delay.
International Passport
Please ensure your passport is valid for more than six months after your intended travel date to avoid stories that touch. If it is close to expiry, you should commence renewing it.
Marriage certificate
If married, you need to upload the registry certificate as proof of your marital claims.
Digital photos
This is a requirement for every individual including children traveling. There are a professional standard and dimension that you can easily get from most photography studios.
Letter of explanation
This is essential if you have something in your application you need to clarify. I know people with treasury bills or gift deeds tend to clarify things here.
Once you have all these documents, you can enter the pool and await the draw. If your score is above the minimum score, you will receive an invitation to apply (popularly known as ITA) in about 24 hours or less. You can click here for updates on the rounds of invitations. After entering the pool, we also got an invitation from Ontario to apply for their provincial nomination (accepting this requires you make certain payments), but we didn’t because we knew our score was good enough for the general draw and indeed we got invited at the next draw.
I can vividly remember buying suya at Glover court after a very long day at work when my sister called that a draw was done earlier in the day and I should have received an invitation.
I got home, saw the invitation, and had an amazing weekend. LOL.
Once you are invited to apply, you have about 60 days to fill the online forms and upload the aforementioned documents. If for some reason you can’t get all your documents, you are allowed to reject the invitation. But try as much as possible to get it ready before entering the pool.
Medical examination confirmation
Once I got the Invitation to Apply mail, I was able to use this document to secure a date for my medical examinations. You can click here to see a list of hospitals available in your country. All you have to do is select your country. When you complete the medical tests, an upfront medical report form is issued and this should be uploaded alongside the previously mentioned documents.
Documents checked and complete? Now you are set to accept the invitation, upload all your documentation, pay the application fee, and apply. You can find the application fee here.
We got a mail for biometrics shortly after applying and It is a pretty straight forward process. (All details are stated in the mail sent to you)
The official waiting game starts after you’re done with biometrics. Your six months start to counts immediately you apply, there will be a countdown bar on your profile indicating how far along you are in the process.
Although, I didn’t hear from them till the final mail (READY FOR VISA) there are times they request more information from people or you are asked to attend an interview. Ensure your application is as clear as possible and explain anything ambiguous in your letter of explanation if you can.
We got the “golden mail” on a Thursday morning (Wednesday night but I was sleeping) To be honest, I did no work the entire day at the office. I was beyond elated. Once you get this mail, you are to submit your passport for evaluation and visa stamping. This takes approx. two/three weeks (more or less). At this point, you might as well call yourself a Canadian permanent residence holder.
You will receive a notification once your passport is ready for collection. In it will be the visa issued from Canada which will have an expiry date (which is usually a year from the date you did medicals), ensure you travel before that date.
WELCOME TO CANADA!!!! HAHA.
Wishing everyone in the process good luck. I tried to squeeze as much information in here while trying to ensure it is not too long. If you have specific questions please drop them in the comment section below and I will do my best to answer. You can click here for more information on documentations.
Also, I will be sending out a FAQ and Answers to everyone following me. If this is something you will be interested in, please subscribe.
Thank you for reading.
As always, i will be in the comment section ready to chat with you. Let’s talk.
Love, Titi
Thank you very much for the insight. Please is there anything one can really do now taking since one can’t do IELTS because of the COVID19 pandemic.
I will prepare to nail your English exam so you can get the highest possible score. All the best. Hopefully this pandemic will be over real soon.
Hello Yunusa, If you’re in Nigeria you can now take IELTS – check out MOD IELTS
I loved reading these posts. Congratulations! I have followed you and your husband for a while on social media and its wonderful to see you win like this. I really hope Canada is all that you’ve ever hoped for and more. ♥️
Thank you so much. This means a lot. Thank you for reading.
Beautiful post and quite insightful too.
Clarifications I seek border on the following:
1. Do you gotta have the documents you listed prior to entering the pool? I mean if say I have my IELTS et al, ECA done, I can get in the pool in expectation of ITA, yeah?
2. Did you have to scan and upload physical copies of all documents? The electronic copies of the ECA report or IELTS result wouldn’t suffice?
Again, beautiful, beautiful post, T!.
Hi Paul,
Yes i had everything apart from my foreign police report, the good thing about having it ready is that you can apply almost immediately you are invited to apply.
hi. thank you for the information. i have 3 questions:
1. can i upload certificates like make up artistry and fashion designing to boost my score?
2. in applying as a skilled worker, is make up artistry or fashion designing a skill one can apply under?
3. for someone with an unfinished masters degree, can i upload my transcripts to increase my score since i dont yet have a certificate?
Hi Queen,
I know people go to UNI to study fashion and the likes so Yes, If your certificate is from a recognized school I think you should be able to, you will have to evaluate it to know for a fact what it is equivalent to. You also have to complete your masters program or any other program to be able to use it. I hope this helps. All the best.
Hi Titi,
thanks a lot for these info.
question: if i have completed coursework for a masters program (meaning i have gotten two years of complete coursework with results) i can then send transcripts of said course work to wes for verification, right?
thanks again for these tips. very helpful
Hi Titi,
Congratulations on your immigration and new job, may it be everything you hope for. How do you request for a police report/certificate from the UK? I have lived in the UK in the last 10 years but don’t know how to go about getting a police certificate from the UK while being in Nigeria. I would appreciate any help you can provide in this regard.
Hi Bisola,
Just thought to help with your question – you can get details about getting your police certificate from the UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants/guidance-on-the-application-process-for-criminal-records-checks-overseas
Awesome! I’m definitely going to bookmark this. And yes Canada suits you well.
Cheers.
Congratulations once again Titi!!!
So happy for you. I remember when we saw in January and now, here you are.
It is beautiful to watch!
Hi, thanks for this.
You stated that you received an invitation to apply by the Ontario Province. Was it random or did you apply to be invited?
Thanks
Hi Mary, It was random, I didn’t apply for it. I guess once you are above certain score they send our invitations, other times it might be related to your job field, either way, it is best to always be in the pool.
Your blog posts on your Canada immigration are superrr helpful! Thank you. I wanted to ask if you were required to evaluate your Waec results(by WES) as well(or if it’s just enough to evaluate my university degree and post graduate diploma). Also please how were you able to get a police report from the other country you stayed in(apart from Nigeria). Thank you in advance 🙂
Hi Titi,
Congratulations on your newly achieved goal, I must say the hard work paid after all . I’ll like you to please shed light on this.
I already have my transcript evaluated by WES 3 years ago for academics in the US, My question is do you think it possible to modify the transcript at WES for immigration purpose, instead of sending the same transcript they evaluated already? I also don’t know how to go about this, the little I know of WES they are difficult to interact with.
Hi Kamss, Thank you.
I didn’t evaluate WAEC, however I heard shortly after I did mine it was enforced and then later cancelled.
For my police report, I had to contact my friends still in the country to help me with it.
Hope that helps. Good luck.
Hello Titi, congrats again. I got here from your post on twitter.
Please I will like to ask what role you performed in the bank for the purpose of NOC.
Hi Jane, Thank you.
I worked in various role but my last role at the bank was in the Treasury department. Message me on Instagram and we can figure out your NOC together.