Thread by @oddy4real, I’ll do a thread on my Canada Express Entry Experience later today. [...]

I’ll do a thread on my Canada Express Entry Experience later today. Hopefully, it comes in handy to those in need...

Here we go...

Heard about the Express Entry program around 2017 but I wasn’t interested as I loved the Nigerian life; the fellowship with friends, the festivals, free booze, etc.

Then this happened and everything changed.

https://twitter.com/odekunleesq/status/1021669735598092288?s=21 https://twitter.com/odekunleesq/status/1021669735598092288

https://twitter.com/odekunleesq/status/1021669735598092288?s=21

Some guys robbed me on Aborishade Street, Lawanson and were going to kill me on top of an iPhone 6s Plus that I could have easily replaced. The phone cost 180k then.

I got to work thinking how those upstarts could have killed me Cos of 180k and rendered my family destitute

I knew I was ready to relocate but didn’t have an idea how. Went for Christmas on the streets 2018 and ran into @Chydee who told me about the Canada Express Entry Program.

“It is quite expensive, but worth it”, he said.

Then I went to @ngxgzg ‘s house for drinks on December 30, 2018. @Phlowz called me and blasted me from the beginning of my Uber ride till I got back home. He went on full blast this; “Are you crazy? Why is my Godson (Khalil) and your wife still in Nigeria?...

...” What would have happened to your family if those robbers had killed you? You must be crazy to think you are living a good life all because you can afford cheap beer and drive a Camry”

I was drunk but his message was very well received.

January 1, 2019 and my mind was made up. Canada was the project for 2019, I decided.

On January 2, 2019, I paid to have my credentials evaluated by WES. Cost my $280, I think.

Then I was chatting with a friend in Canada to tell him I had started the process. He was of the opinion that I should have used IQAS instead of WES Cos IQAS would grade my LLB degree as a Professional/Degree as against WES’s Bachelors Degree which carries less points.

So on January 3, 2019, I paid for IQAS to evaluate my credentials side by side with WES. Opened an account, paid the fees, uploaded a copy of my LLb Degree, datapage of my International Passport, etc. https://www.alberta.ca/iqas-immigration.aspx

IQAS assessment for immigration purposes

To immigrate to Canada as a skilled worker, you will need an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) for education received outside of Canada.

https://www.alberta.ca/iqas-immigration.aspx

I also got the University of Ibadan to send my LLb transcripts to IQAS in February 2019.

I always tell people to start with the Evaluation before registering for IELTS because it is the most time consuming stage of the process.

So while waiting for IQAS to conclude my LLB evaluation, I decided to give IELtS a try thinking I’ll blast it as a Lawyer and former editor lol. The first attempt in March 2019 was a disaster and I was humbled.

I registered for IELTS (CBT) a second time and had started gathering settlement funds for my family.

For a family of 3, I needed to show that I had $19836 of my own (about 5.7 Million Naira) which I would bring to Canada for my family to settle with.

Note that this money cannot be borrowed and must be yours. This happens to be the sticking point where a lot of people get to give up.

Please refer to this table to have an idea of how much you’ll need to show. If for example you are a family of 6, you need $30,806

Note that this money cannot be borrowed and must be yours. This happens to be the sticking point where a lot of people get to give up. Please refer to this table to have an idea of how much you’ll need to show. If for example you are a family of 6, you need $30,806

For an idea of how much the whole thing may cost you, please see @KelEkeledo ‘s tweet below.

Note that the whole thing is very expensive and capital intensive. You’ll get to spend good money but it is worth it.

https://twitter.com/kelekeledo/status/1210443874130419712?s=21 https://twitter.com/kelekeledo/status/1210443874130419712

https://twitter.com/kelekeledo/status/1210443874130419712?s=21

I was able to scale through the IELTS hurdle by June 2019. By that time, IQAS, after 5 months were just acknowledging receipt of my Application and transcript. Things were looking good

I also had ICES to access my wife’s Lead City University Bachelor’s Degree in Economics. @Element_Tcool and a lecturer there were instrumental to use getting the Transcript over to Canada without troubles, and I remain indebted to them

By July 2019, IQAS and ICES were done with our assessments and we had made considerable progress. As expected, IQAS assessed my LLb degree as a Masters Degree while Halimah got Bachelors. With that, I was able to claim Masters points which gave us a boost!

As a 30+ person as principal applicant with a Master’s Degree Equivalent, maxed out Ielts, more than 3 years work experience coupled with my wife’s Assessment, our CRS score was in its 450s and going by trends then, it wasn’t going to be enough

So my wife registered to write IELtS with MOD IELTS with just about 2 weeks to prepare. Smashed it on her first attempt and I was so elated.

https://twitter.com/oddy4real/status/1167246570850586624?s=21 https://twitter.com/oddy4real/status/1167246570850586624

https://twitter.com/oddy4real/status/1167246570850586624?s=21

I immediately updated my CIC profile and my score was upgraded to 469. There was a draw on September 4, 2019 and we got the Invitation to Apply (ITA) with 60 days to submit the application. Work had just officially started

For documents to support my application, I got a Reference Letter from work showing my duties, how long I worked weekly, my salary, how long I had worked for the firm and so on. Also supported it with my Letter of Employment and Last promotion letter.

We did our medicals at IOM Ikeja (in the south you can only do your medicals in two hospitals; IOM Ikeja and Qlife, VI). Stressful experience. We got there around 7am and finished around 2pm.

Khalil cooperated like he knew what we were trying to achieve

For the work experience, you may add your Pay stubs if your employer doesn’t have sufficient digital presence. I didn’t need that Cos the firm I worked for had web presence and had my profile on the website. Hence, the agent assessing my file wouldn’t have had cause to doubt...

For settlement funds, I got a Reference letter from Stanbic IBTC asset management company stating that I had the required amount (also reflected the CAD rate) in my Mutual fund account and could liquidate the funds at ANY TIME (that part is key).

I also included the statement of investment, and so on. We got our PCC at Alagbon, took our digital pictures to confirm with IRCC standards .

My passport had expired and needed another. However, the first name on my passport was different from what I had on my NIN profile so had to get NIMC to do the needful. It was stressssssss...

By October 16, 2019 I was ready. Went through my application over and over to ensure there were no errors.

Then I submitted, expecting my application to last at least 6 months, as is usually the practice.

By November 1, 2019, we had gotten the medical passed notification and were asked to go do our Biometrics which we did on November 5. I kept praying our application wasn’t sent to the Accra Visa Office (those who know, know

).

I raised a webform to enquire my Visa office in December and it was Ottawa. I was starting to be hopeful

I had gotten an International Communciations gig in December and had to resign my Law job. Big risk Cos I wondered what would happen to my life if after the contract lapses, IRCC doesn’t come through with my visa and I am left jobless. Still, I took the leap

Sold my car in December (People were insinuating that I had gotten Canada visa and I kept saying amen to their prayers). Had a good December with my family and remained hopeful

January 16, 2020 my son’s birthday, I woke up to a message from IRCC and I felt I was screwed. Thought it was an ADR (Additional Document Request) or Procedural Fairness Letter. Lo and behold, it was a request for me to pay the Right or Permanent Residency fee

The letter stated ‘Your admissibility review is currently in process’ and I could only think one thing which is that PPR (Passport Request) was on its way. Sharply, I made payment after returning from Khalil’s birthday celebration in school.

By January 18, the ‘Additional Document’ part of the profile had turned into ‘Not Required’ and I was secretly hopeful.

Woke up to a ghost update on January 22, and I told Halimah passport request was on its way. As a typical Yoruba woman, wifey kept her expectations in check

On January 24, I had quite a number of beers and went to bed tipsy. Yet, I was very hopeful and provided hints on my TL.
https://twitter.com/oddy4real/status/1220613381536862208?s=21 https://twitter.com/oddy4real/status/1220613381536862208

https://twitter.com/oddy4real/status/1220613381536862208?s=21

Then our inverter system went off and we woke up (not used to heat or suffer head life at all lol). While wifey went to check what the hell was going on, I refreshed my email and got that email with ‘Ready for Visa / Prêt pour Visa’ heading. I screamed

https://twitter.com/oddy4real/status/1220939874771046401?s=21 https://twitter.com/oddy4real/status/1220939874771046401

https://twitter.com/oddy4real/status/1220939874771046401?s=21

So, we got our passport request within 3 months which’s unprecedented. Khalil woke up smiling that day (we wonder what he dreamt of) lol. We were telling a lady staying with us that we got visa and stuff and Khalil started telling her ‘bye bye’

I submitted our passports and got our Visa in about 2 weeks. We had the choice to travel immediately but I had to work a bit more so I could save ( was earning in USD). Then coronavirus happened, borders got shut and village people did everything...

Madam got pregnant and that complicated things a bit. Having the child before landing in Canada would have ensured we started things all over. But borders were shut and we couldn’t even move

There was a charter flight for July 7 I wanted to join, so I took a covid test so I could come home and tested positive. Had to wait till it was negative before finding my way. Yet, coming from Ghana to Lagos was a challenge (Village people flexed their muscles)

Left Accra 5am on a Saturday and got home 5:30am Monday morning. Meanwhile, we had paid for our tickets to connect to Ethiopian Air through Cotonou on July 15, so I had to get home at all cost

Then we got to Cotonou (Overland wasted some time) and by the time we landed, the Ethiopian Air plane had left . Village people mad gaaan

Still, nothing was going to stop us. We left on Saturday and here we are. Got the famous ‘Welcome to Canada. You are now officially permanent residents) and I was elated. Bn a long journey

A number of our friends came through and I am grateful. @DrugDokita @Phlowz @KelEkeledo @ngxgzg @Chydee @femi_oluwatola @buchishine1 and so on for coming through for me over and over and over.

So if you want to do this thing, go ahead. Start it like today and don’t let money be an excuse. It is always going to come but ensure you put your all into it. Tell people (I don’t believe anyone can jinx shit), ask for help when necessary, and again/ Put your All into it

No excuses, as there are enough excuses to go round already. Start that WES/IQAS application today. Begin preparing for IELtS right away. Use Liz, E2 and so on for your preparation.

Do it! I swear you won’t regret it

Not forget that when you come here as a permanent resident, you get to school and pay as a citizen (which could be cheap). The sky is your limit.

You also don’t need to pay anyone to do this for me. I did mine myself from beginning to end.

You get everything you want here

https://www.nairaland.com/5031893/canadian-express-entry-federal-skilled

You want to check how qualified you are? Start here

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/crs-tool.asp

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