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The Canadian immigration process can be complex and frustrating. With the Canadian Immigration Department making it virtually impossible to speak to an officer. There are a few places to turn to for trusted information. The Canadian immigration podcast was created to fill this void by offering the latest on immigration law policy and practice. Please welcome ex immigration officer and Canadian immigration lawyer Mark hold the as he is joined by industry leaders across Canada sharing insight to help you along your way.
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to another video. In this one, I'm going to share some insight on Express Entry. I do a lot of talking about express entry, but this one? Well, it's designed to protect you from those online forums where you're getting all your information from. In this video, I'm going to talk about my top five questions that are most commonly answered wrong or incorrectly in your Express Entry application. So let's jump in right now and get right to the first one.
First question. Can I claim work experience while I'm studying full time in Canada? Okay. Let me expand this a little bit. Many people confuse Canadian Experience Class with the Federal Skilled Worker Program all the time. If you are studying full time in Canada, you cannot claim Canadian experience and get comprehensive ranking system points. Okay. You also cannot use that work experience while studying full time in Canada towards the Canadian Experience Class eligibility. So I see this happen a lot with teaching assistants and research assistants, for instance, in universities. And there's been I've seen video presentations by IRCC that are causing a ton of confusion. Some people think they can claim that work experience for their eligibility for the CEC and it's simply not the case. But here's the kicker, you can claim work experience. And often it's part time, let's say you're going to school and you've worked part time while you're going to school, you can claim that work experience towards eligibility for the Federal Skilled Worker program eligibility only, not for the comprehensive ranking system points. So if you're just looking for a way to get in to the Federal Skilled Worker Program, you know that that's fine, you can count that work experience towards it. Same thing, continuous full time, or equivalent and part time paid, skilled level, you know, tier three or higher all those things, but so much confusion out there about this.
Now, I also want to dispel and it's an expansion of this question. Can you claim work experience while you're studying full time outside of Canada? Yes, you can. Lots of people and lots of forums, they say no, you can't claim any work experience for the comprehensive ranking system those points, or for eligibility for the Federal Skilled Worker Program. If you're outside of Canada, studying full time they say you can't that is wrong. You can there is no restrictions, as long as you meet all the other requirements. So that's number one.
Let's go to number two. Can I change my primary NOC, after I get an ITA? The answer is yes. And it comes back to the section 11.2 of the Act, Section 11.2 of the immigration and refugee protection act where an officer has to assess what do I do if the person puts something in the profile and then they changed it. They changed it in their APR. How do I know whether or not I will accept it or reject that application? Well, it comes down to this section A 11.2 You which the interpretation of that section is that as long as the change you make does not affect your eligibility for one of the programs. The Federal Skilled Worker, CEC, Federal Skilled Trade, as long as the change you make doesn't affect your eligibility. And it also doesn't cause your comprehensive ranking system score to drop below the round of invitation passmark, from which you received your invitation to apply as long as those two things are positive, then you can absolutely make a change. But the secret sauce is always in your letter of explanation that you include in the client information section within your eAPR, your electronic application for permanent resident document checklist. So so many people say no, you can't make any changes, they decline their ITA, they go back into the pool because they realize after they get the letter from the employer, that the employer is saying they have a different NOC code than the one they put in the profile. Now remember, this can work if you do it correctly. You'll see at the bottom of the ticker here I've got my next Express Entry masterclass, that is launching here on February the 20th. It's a three day master class for one hour each day. On top of everything that I have the over 60 individual lessons in my brand new 2024 Express Entry accelerator, we talked about all this stuff on that course. But when it comes to NOC codes and making changes, after you get your ITA, it may be possible if you do it correctly. And as long as you continue to meet all the other requirements set out for eligibility for the program. And your CRS score is not negatively affected, which if you're changing your NOC code, it's not as long as it's still skilled. Alright, let's jump to the next one.
Question number three, what do I need to include in my translation package? This is so so commonly screwed up in the online forums? The answer is right here. Let's slide over and look at my screen. So this is from the Express Entry completeness check website. Alright, so you can see the translation of documents. And there's a section here, it's the stamps right here that are so commonly omitted from people when they're doing the translations. So right off the bat, you need the translation stamped by certified translator, or accompanied by an affidavit from a person who completed it if it's not possible to have it translated by certified translator, I'll tell you guys, I never ever submit anything unless it's by a certified translator. And I'll be honest, I often will use the Ontario Association of translators and interpreters, I use them a lot. They're, you know, anyone who's certified by them, I know that they know what they need to do to make sure the translations work. So you need the translation, okay, and that translation must be stamped by the certified translator. Then if we go down here, you can see that the translation package, this is what it should include a copy of the original source document that will use by the translator, okay, this original document that was used by the translator, you absolutely need to include that the translation of all the contents of the original and either English or French, and both the source document and the translation must either be stamped by the translator, or referred to in the affidavit. In this case, there should be stamps all over this bloody thing. So you must have stamps on what the translator used, as well as their translation. And on top of it, you wrap it all up with an actual scan of the original document or a scan of the certified photocopy. Okay, so there's three things you need to include. Alright, let's jump back.
Now we're moving into number four, can I remove work history from my application? After I get an ITA? Yes, you can. And it falls right back into the same. The same factors that we looked at with changing your noc, as long as the change that you make does not negatively affect your eligibility for one of the programs, or it doesn't cause your CRS score to drop, then you are going to be just fine. And if you remember anything you put in your work history, you're going to have to provide a reference letter for it, or other work history supporting documentation if it's listed in the work history section. So yes, you can remove it. But once again, and this is what I teach my course I always make sure that I have a letter of explanation saying hey, please note I took some of the work history out because I don't need it. It doesn't affect my application. I couldn't get a reference letter. And so I'm saving everybody time by removing it. However, if it was in the past 10 years, which if it was in your work history section, it should have be it should be in the 10 years, because anything older than that, it's not that you're not getting points for it. It must be included in your personal history section after you get your ITA. So full disclosure in the personal history section.
All right. Okay, last one here. And that is can I list my spouse as non accompanying if they're already in Canada with me? Never ever ever do that. I've seen some people say hey, yeah, you can do that. and provide an explanation, you know that they're not accompanying you? Or you could you know what, because when you remove them, often it can cause your CRS score to go up. Because then you're you're assessed as an individual applicant. Well, I've seen constantly informs individuals saying, Oh, no, don't list. Sorry, go ahead list you're supposed to non accompanying, you can always explain it. Wow. If they're here in Canada, it's pretty darn hard to explain that they're non accompanying when they're already here. In fact, I've seen repeatedly IRCC claiming misrepresentation.
All right, so that is a lightning fast round of my top five questions that are commonly answered wrong in online forums. And if you look in the description of this video, you will see there that you have the link to my Express Entry Accelerator 2024. This course is chock full of just about every single thing that you would need for the purposes of managing your own Express Entry application at a fraction of the cost that you'd pay otherwise. So on top of all of the lessons, you've got three hours of three hours of masterclass and starting with me February the 20th. So click on the link and join me and we will see all of you fine folks in a few days. All right. Take care.
Thank you for listening to the Canadian immigration podcast, your trusted source for information on Canadian immigration law policy and practice. If you would like to book a legal consultation, please visit www.holthelaw.com. You can also find lots more helpful information on our Canadian immigration Institute YouTube channel where you can join mark on one of his many Canadian immigration live q&a days. See you soon and all the best as you navigate this crazy world we call Canadian immigration
