₦airaland Forum

Leslie2755:
Hey guys!!!
Your number one silent member writes today!
The much awaited mail arrived 10.56pm Nigeria time.
Its been a very interested journey..
My timeline below:

APPLICATION TYPE: Express Entry

FAMILY SIZE: 3 (Principal Applicant, Spouse and Kid)

CRS SCORE: 458

ITA: February 3rd 2019

AOR: March 31st 2019

MEDICALS PASSED: May 13th 2019

BIOMETRICS: 20th May 2019

ADR REQUEST: 7th June 2019

1st GHOST UPDATE: 26th July 2019

2ND GHOST UPDATE: 27th July 2019

ALMIGHTY CPCO-FINAL REQUEST MAIL 29th July 2019

Best wishes to everyone waiting.
Hope to hear the good news soon.
Leslie

IOA18:
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: THIS IS A LONG ASS POST! CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!!

Its PPR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....

Short Form
IELTS – October 27, 2018 (LRWS - 8.5,8.5, 8.5, 7)
WES - November 14, 2018
ITA – December 12, 2018
MED - January 21, 2019
AOR – February 1, 2019
MEP – March 15, 2019
BIL – February 15, 2019 March 21, 2019
PPR – May 11, 2019, July 25, 2019
VO - Ottawa

Exceedingly Long Post Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I started writing this script while I was filling out my PR application so it is extremely super duper duper reallyyyyyyyy long! If you get tired, stop reading, otherwise, enjoy!

Verrrrryyyyyyyyyy Long Form! (just in case you ignored the previous warnings -you have been warned several times)

Growing up, I always wanted to go abroad, don’t know how or why the thought came to me, but by the time I finished with secondary school, I started thinking about going to the University of Oklahoma in the USA. Na the song I dey sing for house that year. I’m sure my parents were just having a laugh anytime I mentioned it cos they didn’t say anything to me about my dreams (but really thinking about it after all this time, who for pay for that dream?...lol!). I would go to the cyber café and be applying for scholarships to all manner of schools in the US…. eventually by the time my mum told me OYO is my case that I should go and do Diploma, mo sober wa ni . But I didn’t give up o! next stop was application for the US DV visa lottery…las las that one too no work. Na so I face Naija.

Somewhere along the line, I became a firm believer of dream Nigeria and never thought I would join the emigration train despite the fact that I had friends who had gone to the US, UK, Canada, Australia etc years ago and had been hounding me to come over. My reasons? I wanted to be part of Nigeria’s growth in my own little way and felt like abandoning ship was just taking the easy way out, with the thought that “if everybody leaves then are we all going to give up on our country and let the touts have free reign?” (I laugh anytime I see this on someone’s PPR gist and I also remember that there was also a time of mass migration to the UK and US and sensible pple still dey here even though none of them have made it to actual governance). But if I am being really honest, maybe the overriding reason was that I wanted to get married. I felt I had better chances of getting hitched in Naija than in one obodo oyibo (I still never marry o!....maybe the person is in the obodo oyibo... ) But I digress…..

I can’t actually pinpoint why I decided to start this process, maybe I was getting older? Maybe I had achieved a lot of my short term work goals? Maybe I was thinking of our healthcare system? Maybe the incessant traffic eventually got to me? Maybe Buhari and the way our polity just seemed to be deteriorating? I don’t know. All I know is I woke up one day and decided to give Canada a shot. Apart from money, I didn’t have much to lose. So I first started reading about people living in Canada both Nigerians and other foreigners to have an idea of what I would be getting myself into. After I had prayed about this move and gotten the go-ahead to start, reading many blogs and articles, my mind was ready to start the process by July 2018. The major sources of my information came from CIC website, Canadavisa and Nairaland (thanks guys, you pple are tres much!!!!.....special thanks to Blackbuddy, Vcole, Maternal, our oga prof Ralph, canadafly, Teecan, Newmum, our resident comedienne Ifeoma77 et al). Reading helps a lot. I’ll like to encourage all the newbies, in short everyone out here. It simplifies things and helps you sieve inaccurate information.

This thread has become very repetitive these days though, which makes it uninteresting to visit. Guys please lets do better and read up so as not to keep clogging the thread. Also people who think they are trying to help by answering are not really helping. The new life you're heading to in Canada would involve a lot of research, what better way to get used to it than starting now. God bless guys.

Anyway back to the story...

ECA
I didn’t start until September 27, 2018 (just after salary), cos I was broker than broke . I had wanted to assess two certificates (BSc and Masters), but a few weeks before then, WES (world people) added the WAEC thingy to their requirements, so I jejely went to evaluate just my foreign masters. I requested for my transcript and made payment online. In addition to this, I sent the WES form to the School via email, referencing my payment code etc (I missed this step earlier so maybe that contributed to the delay?). After thinking I would get my document in 3 weeks, the process was not concluded until November 14, 2018.

POF
Another factor that I think delayed me starting was POF. I do a private lending biz (I’m a shylock for short) so a lot of my money was tied up and it would have taken some time to get them all back in due time, so i didn’t have the liquid cash and didn’t know where to get it from. I could get 50% of my POF from my pension, but the rest, I had to look for. By divine providence, I mentioned my plans to my aunt and she agreed to give me what I needed. I then took the funds she offered in August and placed them in a mutual fund account. I got the statement and a letter from the Asset Manager in January 2019, at the point of my submission. I paid her back in January, as my monies had started coming back over time.

IELTS
I used MOD, simply because it was cheaper. I had not heard about peoples’ biases against BC. I must confess I didn’t study much, but I write, talk and read a lot because of work, so that and God’s grace helped me. Again, because I have a PHd in procrastination, I only studied for about a week on and off, using Jay’s videos and got tips for Speaking and Writing (I didn’t have the time to start practicing writing, and I no sabi as dem dey take practise speaking), I heard of Liz the day of my speaking test and I got an introduction tip from her to say “my name’s…” instead of “my name is…” (don’t know if that helped me). For reading and listening, I used ieltsbuddy.com. Registered in October, results came in with LRSW 8.5, 8.5, 8.5, 7. For this I am eternally grateful, especially after reading many people’s horror stories.

There have been more comprehensive tips written by many people on this thread, but my major pointer for this exam, is try to be calm throughout, even when you hear the examiner calling out the remaining time. Prepare yourself mentally. For Speaking, imagine you are speaking to a friend. Jay’s tip to tell three stories helped me stay confident that I wouldn’t run out of things to say, even though I didn’t get past the first story, before the examiner stopped me (I think I wore the examiner out with plenty talk ). For listening, concentration is key, I lost concentration for a bit in the last section. Remind yourself at the start of each section, to pay attention and try to quickly look at the questions and answers in that section before they start speaking so you can be familiar with possible answers to what the speakers will have to say. But you can only use this technique if you’re used to reading fast. For Reading, I answered the easiest first and tried to be very fast so I could come back for a review. I was done in 20mins. Anyone that you can’t easily find the answer to, abandon and move to the next question, then come back to it later, when you could have gotten answers to easier questions, so you don’t waste time. For True/False/NG questions, read carefully. If the question is stated verbatim in the passage, then its true. If it is inferred or suggested, you cannot say its true or false, you pick NG. If its not present in the passage itself, then it is false. Don’t let your eye trick you. What’s there is there, what’s not isn’t (don’t even know if that makes sense sef!..hope you get the point sha). For writing, find tips on how to answer each type of the writing questions online and as has been said many times before, answer Q2 first!.


ITA
While I was working on ECA and IELTS, ITA was around 442. Then I created my profile and entered the pool with 445 on November 15, 2018 and the draw that week came in at 449. Nonsense! Next draw came in at 445 but tie-breaker rule caught up with me. Eventually sha, I got ITA on December 12, 2018. Thank God! Can’t imagine how I would have felt if it was these days I was waiting for cut off to drop (probably would have gone to do TEF…guys do something, anything to boost your scores please, don’t just sit on your arse and wait..biko!) I have friends still waiting for ITA, I pray God visits all in the pool very speedily. Amen!

Whilst waiting for ITA, I had filled all the required Forms (IMM 008,5406e, 5562e, 5669e), gotten most of my documents together apart from police report and medicals. Once ITA came in, I completed my profile, uploaded my documents (work reference, academic records, soft copy passport photograph– studio 24 (had no idea I didn’t need to make this particular expense at this time), all passports old and new including the stamped pages, travel history (that was very annoying to fill cos I be ajala).

Did police clearance in Lagos (ASP Moshood to the rescue. I paid 5k and was there for less than 30mins), then waited to do my medicals on January 21, 2019 (I booked this towards the end of October, because Nairaland spoke of the long queue – imagine calling in October and getting a date in January! Nna na wa o!). I went there with only a copy of my passport (donno why, maybe something I read on the internet?), but they wouldn’t attend to me without the original. Thank God my passport was in the office, which was not far from the clinic, so my colleague helped me send it down. See me thinking I would be number 1 on the list as I got there at 6am, but I was number 3 (Lagos pple, we no dey sleep. they attend to you on a first come first serve basis). They started attending to us at 8am and I left there at about 10.30am. I paid 28k (thank God it was before their increase). They do urinalysis, blood test, x-ray, and general physical. I waited till January 31, to get the updated mutual fund statement, submitted my application on February 1, 2019, paid CAD$1,125 (chai!!!!....that one pain me wella!) and received AOR a few minutes later. I didn’t submit my bank statement.

Waiting…
Waiting is the hardest part in this whole process cos its beyond your control and its filled with anxiety/uncertainty, second guessing your application and thinking you had forgotten some critical information. For some reason, I had given myself a timeline of 3 months from AOR to PPR, which meant that I would be getting the coveted email by April, cos I wanted to travel for my friend’s wedding in May as well as do a soft landing. Guess what? (to be continued…)

After AOR I started waiting to get MEP, but that one took forever to get here. I had to go and join canadavisa and scout immitracker just to get a sense of what was going on. It eventually arrived 43 days after AOR, after I had expected this to come in 15days! Too many people like me waiting to run from their countries! . I now wondered how I was going to manage the wait after BIL till PPR. You don’t really appreciate peoples' struggles until you have to go through the same thing. After this, I still had to patiently impatiently wait for my BIL. During this wait, I had to travel to Abuja on a work trip and took my passport just in case I got it while in Abj. Woke up one Thursday morning and there was the mail, 5 days after MEP. I jejely went to VFS (we were only like 3 people there that day)….Abuja pple una no dey follow us do this mass migration hustle? If it was Lagos now, we would have been a multitude. The process took about 30minutes cos we had to wait for someone to come and man the biometrics room.

Waiting part 2….
Soooo the waiting continued. As I was reading NL one afternoon, my heart started beating, I saw that in the Schedule A, I was supposed to have ticked NO to the 2 questions on visa refusal and I only ticked 1 No and the other yes. If you had seen the way I rushed to raise a CSE eh! Chai!!! Afterwards I refused to sweat it sha cos na God hand I commit am to…

Waiting Part 3….
…continued…… I am here reading this document on July 17, 2019, 15days to the end of my six-month period and wondering when the Golden Mail will drop. Well fingers crossed and prayers offered that I would get my mail before my birthday on August 1.

I saw Joo’s post on the stats for PR processing for singles vis-à-vis families and while it made some sense, I didn’t think it would apply to me. I didn’t have a ghost update or anything like that and then during my scans on immitracker, I realised there was no standard processing time for single or family applicants. It just seemed random to me, cos some single applicants got their PPR within 45days post AOR or longer. Maybe it depends on the visa office/officer.

I was determined not to check my profile all the time and I think I was successful 20% of the time….na lie….i was checking the thing at least 2ce every week. Towards the end I started checking every morning when I get to the office, with breaks over the weekend. Those pple who think checking your profile every week will slow down the process, na them sabi o! cos its not easy! especially when you have the milestones/timelines in your head. By the end of April, I had signed up for pre-arrival services, had requested to know my VO (got a response a few days later that it was Ottawa) and was considering ordering GCMS notes just to see what was happening with my application. Pre-arrival services did not answer me they said I should go and bring my COPR or similar document to prove eligibility. Eventually ordered GCMS notes on July 5, 2019. Still waiting for it to arrive sha.

PPRRRRRRRRRRRRRR......
By the time July rolled in, I was just like abeg when the mail comes it comes jare, I no get energy to dey stress my life (na lie o!, I was just trying to console myself). I traveled for a burial and forgot to check my mail for a few days. Na so I open my mail almost midday on Friday for burial ground come see CPCO/Final Request - PRET POUR VISA!!!!!!!!! I couldn’t even shout as per say them dey bury person, but I was super excited and did a little dance (didn’t care who saw) and couldn’t wait to get back to Lagos to submit my passport (see how good my GOD is? mail came in 6 days to my birthday, which was also coincidentally the end of my six month timeline). It was a huge sigh of relief cos I could now go ahead to plan my vacation for the year. See you all in Canny Town by September/October for my short landing.

Passport Transmission
From my wakas at VFS, ive realised its better to get there in the afternoon to avoid the early morning rush, tell the security exactly what you're there to do, follow their instructions, watch the screens and listen to know when your number would be called. I reported at VFS on Monday afternoon after first going to Studio 24 to take fresh passports (1k5). I spent about 1hr 30mins at VFS and submitted original passport, 2 photocopies of the said passport, IMM 0008, vac consent form, ppr mail with height and eye colour, 2 copies of studio 24 pics and cash of N18,500 (they only accept cash).

On the whole, while my process was seamless, for which I am eternally grateful. At the time I started, I was praying I didn’t land in the much talked about, dreaded Accra VO (even though AVO now became ebeano). The wait is excruciating. The only challenge I faced on this journey was money and I realised that if you demonstrate your commitment to starting something, the resources will follow. If I had waited for a time when I would have money, I would have waited forever, cos from that September till when I submitted in February, I did not have spare cash, but somehow somehow, the money wey I need at each stage show las las! All the best to everyone on this street at one stage or the other.

Hope this helps someone out there, same as you all helped me through my application. ALL GLORY BELONGS TO JESUS! Peace and Love!!! IT IS ALL ENDING IN PRAISE

IOA18:
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: THIS IS A LONG ASS POST! CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!!

Its PPR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....

Short Form
IELTS – October 27, 2018 (LRWS - 8.5,8.5, 8.5, 7)
WES - November 14, 2018
ITA – December 12, 2018
MED - January 21, 2019
AOR – February 1, 2019
MEP – March 15, 2019
BIL – February 15, 2019 March 21, 2019
PPR – May 11, 2019, July 25, 2019
VO - Ottawa

Exceedingly Long Post Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

safex:
Belated IELTS breakthrough...humbler of men indeed!

See my timeline attached.

[For instance, JAMES: Where do you live currently? YOU: At the moment, I reside at.....

Now chilling in the pool with my hard-earned CRS of 449 hoping for a 'miracle on the Hudson'.
It's not over until it is all over, I admit, so I may be re-writing soon but at least I have a huge sigh of relief at the moment.

Lynda27:
Congratulations, Did your family configuration change hence the IMM008 FORM?

perma:
Good day everyone, so happy to be here..Go through most of the posts...Really insightful.

I have a question, I am a pharmacist but also have my Masters degree from Unilag, do I still need to verify my licence or I should just use WES to evaluate my Masters degree, in other to save cost from going through PEBC process for pharmacist..

Thank you

Amicusacuriae:
bro is there is a format for the attestation letter or the school has the responsibility of writing the attestation letter

perma:
Any one willing to help?

Topsmamen:
Please family help me with correct NOC, am thinking of NOC 6235. Thanks

· Timely Settlement of all required process on Visa and POS transactions.
· Ensuring customer transaction is posted into appropriate GL accounts i.e. card accounts.
· Balance incoming and outgoing files daily.
· Apply entries to relevant Expense or Revenue accounts daily.
· Responsibilities for ensuring all necessary files are dropped into the Data Store on a daily basis.
· Ensuring merchant transaction are posted into appropriate GL accounts.
· Responsibilities for Card settlement with Visa and MasterCard via Interswitch and UPSL.
· Responsibility for loading exchange rate for cross border card transactions on the system.
· Liaise with third party processor to resolve issue.
· Daily call-over of transactions posted.
· Daily review of entries posted into settlement accounts.
· Timely submission of the Monthly reports..

Magnifico2000:
Can I go ahead to evaluate my WAEC result with Wes pending the time my Msc Transcript will be available. It should be available till maybe November.
I am a bit confused here.
Am I going to incure additional cost if I decide to evaluate my WAEC and Msc separately?

Semilooore:
she should order gcms notes on her present application, will it reflect anything?

perma:
Good day everyone, so happy to be here..Go through most of the posts...Really insightful.

I have a question, I am a pharmacist but also have my Masters degree from Unilag, do I still need to verify my licence or I should just use WES to evaluate my Masters degree, in other to save cost from going through PEBC process for pharmacist..

Thank you

Tina26:
waec is not evaluated. its only a requirement. you can proceed. your profile will be left open till you send all documents. so send the waec now.

Magnifico2000:
Alright thank you. I really appreciate. So I can go on with paying the processing fee.

Tina26:
this man

Shinningstar201:
So many questions that have been answered repeatedly. Guys, please let's use the search bar to find answers to our enquiries ejor. Little wonder the seniors have deserted the thread.

Page 1 has most of the answers to the questions asked

Lynda27:
So you didn't need to send in another IMM0008 but it won't affect anything.

perma:
Any one willing to help?

Wandeayo:
Thanks for Your response, all I want to be sure about is, will they evaluate it as "two or more diploma" certificates?