Letter of explanation for Canadian immigration application

The guidelines for Canadian express entry i.e. skilled immigration are relatively clear. You are supposed to submit documents as part of your application after you get the invitation to apply. When you look at the personalized document checklist, you would see "Client Letter", which is optional.  This is popularly known as the letter of explanation.

For every document listed, there are requirements that they have stated. They want to ensure that you are genuine. You may not be able to procure the ideal letter for different areas that you need to.  This is where the letter of explanation comes in handy. Use it to your complete advantage.

How can I use the letter of explanation to my advantage?    

Couple of things - 1) There is no limit to the number of words or pages for this letter. However, keep it crisp.

2) Your whole application is your story. Think of it as the way you can connect the dots for the officer reviewing your application.
3) You can put a table of contents so that navigation is easy.

What are the areas where the letter comes handy?

a) Proof of work- Every employer has their template.  They may for instance not provide your salary in the letter. You can explain this in the letter that while the employer didn't specify salary in the letter, you have attached your tax forms or salary slips to prove that you were paid.

Another common scenario is that your employer might not give you ALL of the positions in the letter. You might have to attach reference letters from colleagues for the other positions supplementing it with salary raise letters, promotion letters etc. You can explain all of this too for the officer to understand the situation.

b) Proof of funds - Banks have their own template too. Some of them just give last 4 digits of the account number in the letter instead of the entire number. You can state that in this letter and attach bank statements to provide your full account number. Another place where this is really handy is if your average balance is  significantly different than current balance. For example if you were saving up in the last 2 months and didn't invest your salary then your current balance would be higher than your average balance. CIC is trying to ensure that you have legal sources of income. A significant difference would probe them to look deeper. So, with this letter,  you can reason the discrepancies and also explain the proof for the missing information.

c) Multiple organizations for proof of funds - If you are using multiple organizations for proof of funds then you can do a nest table adding up the finances  to make it easier for the officer to know that you meet the requirements for minimum funds.

d) Providing contact information of references in case you haven't got the best letter for work or bank is another reason why you might want to use this.

e) Police clearance certificates for a few countries are expected to be in color. However, those countries now issue it in black and white. As long as you have attached the original PCC, you should be good and you can also mention the same in the letter.

Rule of thumb is that if your documents are deviating in any way from the guidelines, provide proof of the missing information.  Try to connect the dots in the letter so that there is no doubt for the visa officer about your case! Good luck!

Next steps - 
1) Document formatting tips - Use this to format the letter of explanation. 
2) Want to work on the other parts of your application? - Here you go.

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