Educational degree evaluation

Education is one of the factors on the basis of which IRCC will decide if you are a skilled immigrant. Getting your non-Canadian educational credentials evaluated is one of the pre-requisites for Express entry program. The goal being that CIC officials will get a report from a certified organization,  stating the Canadian equivalency of your education. This is also popularly known as ECA i.e. educational credential assessment.

What is the validity of the assessment?

The assessment should NOT be older than 5 years on the day you submit your express entry profile or even when you apply for permanent residence i.e. post ITA. You can submit the assessment from the certified organization which you might have procured for a job or higher education as long as they abide by the 5 year rule!

How do I determine the level of education?

When you create your express entry profile, you would be asked for your level of education. The certified organization like WES would put in the Canadian equivalency of your education. Level of education just describes the equivalency in detail. For example, if the assessment result on WES report is "Applied Bachelor's Degree" then the level of education is "Bachelor’s degree or other programs (three or more years) at a university, college, trade or technical school, or other institute". A lot of people have questions on what level of education to select.  

• Refer to the table on IRCC site for this mapping. 
• Select the points system as "Comprehensive Ranking System" and hit "See Points". AND
• viola - The mapping is available. No ambigiuty at all! 
• This table also shows you the points awarded for every level of education.
  

How do you get started?

1. Use an organization that is mentioned in the CIC official website. Other than WES, IQAS, ICES, CES, ICAS also do the evaluation. 
2. You need to include only undergrad i.e. bachelors degree and above! No need to mention high school or lower grades, if you have bachelors or above. 

What is the process for WES?

1. Create a profile with WES stating the degree(s) you want to evaluate. If you have a masters, it will automatically ask for bachelors.
2. You need to create a separate WES profile for your spouse (if applying as a family).
3. Once you create a profile with WES, you would get a report number.
4. It cost us 250 USD for each profile to get our degree evaluation.
5. You have to then look up the WES website for your university and request transcripts to be sent directly to WES. You need to request your university to also put in the WES report number for WES to identify your transcript. Do not tamper with the transcript. It should go directly from the university to WES else they won't accept it.
6. After WES receives your transcripts, they would issue a report and then also send a copy to IRCC.
7. Review the WES report. The name on your WES report should be the same as on your degree. Ensure that there are no typos from WES. If there are i.e. the name doesn't match as per any of your documents, please have it corrected.  WES does that free of charge.

Some of the FAQs asked by skilled immigrants?

1) Should the degree documents be notarized?
As long as they are in English,  they shouldn't be notarized.

2) My institution has non-English language on my educational certificates.  Should my documents be notarized?
No. As long as it states the same thing, you should be all set. For example, universities in India issue certificates in English as well as the local language. WES accepts it and so does Cic. Just mention it in the letter of explanation.

3) My degree is in progress. Does it get you points? Should I wait until I complete?
In-progress degrees don't get you points. You need to evaluate your CRS score without the in-progress degree. If the score is within the CRS trends submit your profile. Remember that you lose points due to age. If you decide to submit the application after your degree then you could have turned older and so it may be the same deal as now. Evaluate accordingly!

4) What is the process for US universities?
For US universities,  visit the website. It usually has a process for you to request transcripts at a nominal charge.

5) My college / university doesn't show up on WES' site. What are my options?
This is a very unfortunate scenario. Check out other institutes as below that offer education evaluation and see if they recognize your university. You won't be able to claim points if your university or college isn't recognized per CIC rules. Remember that you can get upto 25 points for education.  While you are still eligible for express entry,  you have to figure out how to make up for it. Understand your CRS score better and decide.

6) How do the points work here?
If you are applying with your spouse or common-law partner, your points for education would be different. If you and your spouse both have bachelors then you wouldn't get double the points. There is calculation here to balance for the remaining factors like proof of funds, age etc. Otherwise, a couple with both masters degree and above would meet the cut off score with just education. Remember you get invite based on the cut-off score.

Next steps - 

1. Have you taken your language test? Here are tips for IELTS.
2. If you have taken your language test and got your education evaluated, you are all set to submit your express entry profile i.e. expression of interest stage. Here are tips for this stage.

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IELTS Language Test

You need to have a minimum score for English and/or French to be able to submit your application. If you have been schooled with English as the medium of instruction and have speaking fluency, it will be a smooth experience. Make sure that you take the test with an approved provider. Refer to the official site for all 3 providers. Other than IELTS, there is CELPIP for English and TEF for French.
The site also has the minimum scores listed for eligibility. My husband and I took the IELTS General test and both scored 8/9. Do not confuse it with IELTS Academic, read more here. IELTS General is for immigration whereas IELTS Academic is the test for higher education. Incorrect test category will lead to rejection.

1)    Book the date – The test centers for IELTS General might not be near you and so you may have to plan in advance. We found a date a month and half later, which was enough preparation time for us. In US, we found test centers open on Saturday as well and it was very convenient for us.
a.    When booking the date, the IELTS exam center would ask you the recipient of your test results and your name as it appears on passport.
b.    These are very 2 important pieces of information because if you get the invitation to apply, the visa officer would match the name on your passport with your documents. If the name is different on your documents then you would also need to submit an affidavit.
c.    The recipient of the test results is IRCC i.e. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. IELTS also sends you a hard copy and the results are available online after 14 days.
2)    For express entry, if you are applying as a family, have both the primary applicant and the spouse give the exam. Spouse’s language proficiency counts towards additional points. We got 20 additional points as a result.
3)    Test preparation –

• There are several materials on the internet but I found http://ieltsliz.com/ very handy. It has all what you need.
• Reading and listening are objective parts of the test. 
• You can have a complete score in these sections since there is just one correct answer per question.
• Listening needs practice and concentration though because the audio is played only once and you have to come up with the answers at the same time. You will have separate time to transfer your answers. However if lose the flow then it would be difficult to catch up.
• For listening, you need to also be able to understand speakers, who may have a different accent than yourself.
• Speaking and writing are subjective parts of the test  -
• An examiner will evaluate your English.
• For both pieces though, focus on the sentences that you make. You may not have the best content but the examiner is interested in your grammatical prowess. Also make sure you practice the speaking section by setting a timer.
• The site has topics for both speaking and writing. Typically, if you prepare for those topics then you should be all prepared for the test.
• Note that IELTS is a paper-based test. In today’s world of laptops and mobiles, we don’t actually write on paper. But for the writing section of the test, you should write legibly. If you have very bad writing then you may want to work on it. Get someone to read some of your practice essays.
• For speaking, YouTube also has a lot of free videos that you can watch and learn. Practice and improve! You can make up content and if you have practiced the topics on http://ieltsliz.com then you would have enough ideas.  
• If you are struggling with speaking, consider joining ESL classes that will give your more help.
• Fluency is one more thing the examiner values. That’s why don’t worry about the accuracy of the content.

Hopefully these tips help you in your preparation for IELTS. All the best!

Next steps -

1. Have you evaluated your education? Learn from our experience with WES.
2. If you have taken your language test and got your education evaluated, you are all set to submit your express entry profile i.e. expression of interest stage. Here are tips for this stage.