thank you for sharing Jennypharb1:
I apologize for the long story, I sort of started keeping a diary in my PPR story to clear my head during the wait.
Timeline
IELTS 12th May 2018 – L 8.5 R 8.0 W 7.5 S 8.0
ECA 24th August 2018 – Master’s Degree equivalent (WES)
Work experience - Less than 3years
ITA – 5th September 2018
CRS – 456
eAPR – 8th October 2018
AOR – 8th October 2018
MEP – 7th November 2018
BIL – 7th November 2018 (Biometrics enrolled 8th November)
IP1 - I dunno
IP2 – 26th July 2019
Remedicals - 1st August 2019
Amaka dissapoint me PPR - March 6 2019 (Got a Ghost update that neither brought me PPR nor moved me to ip2.
Ghost update that did not do the forerunner work is that one legit ghost update?
Actual PPR - 8th August 2019 (10 months post AOR)
I learnt about the Express Entry process in 2015 but I felt lawyers were not included in any of the categories. I had also just returned from the UK after my masters with that 'I can do anything I put my mind to’ ginger. I had plans of starting a business, I had had it with horrible bosses and I didn't want to work for anybody again. I had also applied for a PhD in Canada as plan B so I felt I had everything figured out. Fast forward few months later, no admission, no job, no business, account red, parents asking the ‘what next’ question everyday, frustration was just lounging in my life that year. Nigeria don show me shege since sha, who patriotism epp.
Anyway in September of 2017 my sister told me about her friend, a doctor who was relocating with her husband on Express Entry. When it got to evaluating degrees I lost hope again because every time I thought of the process of applying for transcripts from my Uni, I just couldn't be bothered to go through the stress. I felt I would have to apply for all my degrees to be evaluated and that would mean evaluating undergraduate, law school and masters degrees. I started dragging my feet about the process. Then in March 2018 after my sister’s friend had relocated, my sister was also concluding her plans to relocate to the UK, lots of medical doctors were getting jobs in the UK anyhow, my body was doing me as if I'm not part of this country again. She started asking about my plans and how far I had gone. I told her about the bottlenecks with obtaining transcripts and she clarified from her friend that it was only my masters degree I had to evaluate. A little research would have helped me with this one.
IELTS
I booked an IELTS exam with British Council for the earliest date which was in May 2018, so from March I had about 2months to prepare. I started preparing earnestly in April. My sister gave me her Official Cambridge guide to IELTS and other materials she used for hers. I focused on the official guide because it was easy for me to understand. My friend and I booked the exams together and wrote on the same day. I had asked if there was a pass/fail score for the exams and he told me he thought we just had to get 6 on all the modules and we would be okay, lol. I was like for English exam what is 6, shebi I have written academic version of this test before. I was pretty confident I would pass the exams, in fact with 6 as the pass mark it was one of the smoothest exams I have written, I came out feeling fly. The speaking test had gone well, the examiner asked me the exact question I had practiced with on the Cambridge guide for the long talk. I couldn't contain my joy. After the LRW test, I called my sister and told her how every section was a breeze. It was after the exams I found this thread and saw the 8777 combination and my chest started doing me somehow. Results came out and my friend didn't pass, my own was not yet ready, I became uneasy wondering where I would find extra 75k to book another test. Finally saw the result, thank God I made it on the first attempt.
I was kinda happy I didn't see the 8777 combo before writing because I would have been under pressure.
ECA
I started my application for evaluation the same time I paid for my IELTS. Unfortunately, I hadn’t found this page yet and picked the first nice sounding evaluation body to use. I found ICAS on the CIC website and decided to use them. I paid about 87k for the evaluation and a copy of my transcript and degree certificate. 3months into my application I had not heard anything from them except that they had received my transcript, that’s when I started really looking for reviews and found they were horrible with processing times. Someone said he waited for almost a year. I finally decided to pay for WES in June and started afresh with transcript application at my Uni. I spent about 76k this time. WES came with their own wahala, they didn’t see a stamp across the flap on the envelope used by my school to send the transcript. Luckily transcript was about 2500 from my school, I reapplied for another one. Finally received my ECA on the 24th of August 2018. ECA took from March to August for a UK masters degree because I didn't research. Again, please do your research, it'll save you time and money.
Reference letter
This one weak me, I wrote the department responsible for drafting these letters asking them to write one for me. I told them what I needed in the letter, the man in charge said they don't issue reference letters for permanent resident visas and they gave me a generic visa letter stating I was going for a vacation and even adding a return date based on my leave period.  Msctheww, I had to get my colleague to write a letter for me on a plain sheet in CIC format, attached her ID card and notarised it. I also attached my appointment letter, posting letter, payslips, bank statements showing my salary deposits for about 6months, wrote an LOE stating why I couldn't get the letter in CIC format and listing all I had attached to prove my work experience.
ITA
I created my profile the weekend I received my evaluation and received ITA on the 5th of September. I had previously been arranging other documents in a folder so I didn't have much to do except wait for POF then submit my application
Medicals
We only have IOM here in Abuja, I paid about 41,400 for this one. Got there around 8am, my friend told me to drink plenty water before going so that getting a urine sample would be easy. This was a Big mistake, as I wasn't the first person attended to. My bladder was full, AC was pumping and I was actually considering going to ease myself and remain small, but we know it's better I don't start at all than to start and stop. It finally got to my turn and I was done by 12:30/1.
PCC
I got PCC from UK and Nigeria. Nigerian PCC was 10k in Abuja and pretty straightforward, my sister gave me the number of the officer in charge of processing PCCs at Force CID in Garki. I filled the forms, it had to be sent to Lagos and it was ready in two days. UK PCC was about 22k and also straightforward, until I didn't receive my certificate. I contacted them and they said they had sent it out about a week or two after I had applied so it was probably lost in transit. I applied for a copy to be delivered to a UK address for free and I got my friend to scan it to me.
POF
I hadn’t been able to save any substantial amount since I started working in 2016. Apart from investment in side hustles, my salary would never have been enough to meet my needs much less make up POF, except I had been fasting for 3years and living under the bridge. When I started the EE process I had to spend virtually all my salary from March on the things I needed at each stage. I got a gift deed for the POF from my mum and invested in fixed deposit. I attached the fixed deposit certificate, gift deed, bank statements showing two deposits of POF, screenshot of XE conversion rate for the date of submission and LOE stating breakdown of all I had attached. POF for the day was around 3.4m ish, but I used 3.6m incase of fluctuations
E-APR
I completed my application after I got POF and submitted on the 8th of October. Paid about 318k total for E-APR, biometrics and RPRF, also received AOR same day.
From the records I kept I spent about 685k, for a single applicant with two ECA reports and two medical reports, minus other minor miscellaneous expenses
POST AOR
I got Med passed update about a month later, also got the biometrics request letter and did it on the 8th of November, then the wait started. Everyone probably hopes their application gets processed sharply, even if you don't intend to leave immediately, just to be able to plan your life. I hoped and prayed for this, so when I got an update on 21st November, logged into my account and saw the ‘How to find a job in Canada’ mail, I was like chai I finally landed in London. I was a little busy with side hustle this period so it kept me occupied till around January. I started checking my account more often, by February it was every day.
I didn't want to order GCMS notes at all, I didn't even want to check visa office, I just wanted my application to be approved and my PPR to come without too much back and forth. I finally raised a CSE on the 20th of February to enquire about visa office and the status of my application. The reply came the next day, my application was being processed at CPC Ottawa and currently being verified for eligibility. On the 6th of March, I logged into my account, and saw a ghost update. I didn't get the PPR mail, but I felt it meant somebody was touching my application. On the 12th of March, I called IRCC and the agent confirmed eligibility had been met, remaining security and criminality.
Ghost update excitement has sha put me on 'is coming’.
I have looked forward to a fresh start so much that it feels like a life I have not even started is on hold. Every plan I've made since March of 2018 has been with this journey in mind.
12:30am Monday 18th March, 12 days post ghost update, excitement is waning. I pray PPR comes this week.
5:54pm Tuesday 19th March, every email that is not from CIC is obviously taunting me. Definitely going straight to thrash.
4:22pm Wednesday 27th March, I'm checking my account less now. If once in two days is considered less anyway. Raised a CSE on the 25th, haven't gotten a reply yet, I shouldn't have stopped learning French last year.
5:42pm So Matthew Agent or is it Agent Matthew responded to my CSE. Application is in process blah blah, generic bobo.
1:51am Tuesday 2nd April talk about boring, imagine my account balance without POF.
12.17pm Wednesday 3rd April, I should write less about waiting, doesn't make the wait easier. Back to learning French on Duolingo.
6:35pm Saturday 6th April, the only thing I am sure of is that the wait will end one day and everyday draws me closer to the end of my waiting... Osheyyy I yaff turn to philosopher
2:42pm Friday 12th April, raised another CSE two days ago. This wait has got me thinking about crimes I may have committed in another life, maybe a namesake/lookalike on the terrorist list. I dunno why security/criminality will be taking so long.
6:49pm Friday 26th April, no more updates. I'm tired.
5:39pm Thursday 9th May, yesterday my application clocked 7months post AOR. God forgive my ignorance, I remember before I submitted, specifically praying not to be sent to Accra. Lookat me now, Accra is on a roll and I'm here crying myself to sleep. Is this depression or frustration? May I not use my mouth to cause wahala for myself. Wait oh, if this is a lesson in patience does my crying mean I am impatient? Because the PPR dinor come after the cry sha and I'm still waiting. I can bet my POF that God has a sense of humour.
Ahh, this thing called Patience, I thought I had a lot of it but this journey has tested every single unit and I'm pretty sure I have been found seriously wanting.
10:08pm Tuesday 21st May, today was especially frustrating. Called IRCC, was on hold for over 50mins, only to get connected with an agent who put me on hold again to check the status of my application and didn't come back until my credit on the freecall app got exhausted.
8.14pm Monday 3rd June, In five days my application will be 8months post AOR. I've resumed work. My leave seemed so short, even though I wasn't doing much at home time just kept flying. I thought/prayed I would be coming back to submit my passport for PR and put in my one month notice, so I could leave this job by the end of the month. I guess I'm done with my rants, PPR will come when it will come. Until then…
2:42pm Tuesday 11th June, lmao who am I kidding. This is like holding my breath in a pool, counting to 10, but this time I don't have a definite countdown, I can't wait to finally breathe. Oh PPR where art thou?
11:44am 26th June, Called IRCC on the 12th of June, the agent said everything looked in order and she would make a note to the case processing officer working on my file. I got a generic email the next day stating my file was in queue for review blah blah.. I saw that the note she sent stated something about a BF(bring forward)due date for my file as 5th of June, which is about two months after April 8th, which marked the end of my six month average processing time. I guess they're still not done with security and background checks.
8th July, 9months since I submitted my application. Called them again, nothing has happened since the last ghost update. Eligibility met, security and criminality not yet started. What can I say, I cannot describe what I have been feeling. Especially because I do not have the slightest control over what is going on. I constantly imagine case officers sitting about and gisting like staff in a typical ministry in Naija. Ha, let it not be so
3:30am Friday 26th July, I woke up to ip2 and re-medicals request this morning. Ordered GCMS last week, sent a message to Ralph and Hussen, they haven't replied yet, sent an email to my visa office on Wednesday the 24th, no response yet. I began my novena this week, visited the blessed sacrament with my petition. All I know is I'm thankful to God. This torture is finally coming to an end
11:05pm Thursday 8th August, CPCO final request. Today my wait has ended, I don't know how to describe how I feel at the moment.
Friday 9th August, passport submitted at VFS. Spent less than an hour.
I'm so thankful to God for the opportunity, extremely thankful to my sister for all the support. I don't know how far I would have gone without her. She practically started me on this process and lent me the money to start my first ECA and pay for IELTS. Thankful to this family right here, for all the JJC questions I had(like when I wanted to jump into the pool without ECA), all the clarification. Everything I learnt about submitting my application, I learnt from here. The process was like deja vu, I didn't even have to ask many questions during submission because of those who took out time to give detailed info here. Specially thankful to Newmum0615, Ifeoma77, Tojued, Cheekygirl, Topsmamen, smslive2, luffyhaki, joo2018, Ethelia, daks02, gbemlad, ontariossisauga aka elfmannisback aka whatevernameyougobynow, everyone who made this thread what it is today, providing information and encouraging each other on this journey. Hope to see you guys on the other side.
God bless everyone and grant our hearts desires speedily and if not, give us the patience to wait on Him.
Cc. ladymarshall |
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