₦airaland Forum

Hello, all

I felt the need to give back to nairaland because you guys are the read MVPs! During our process I always came running here when we needed advice/comfort (when WAEC temporarily stopped selling scratch cards and hubby needed it for WES, when the golden email was taking forever - do I have a witness? - to come through, and just recently when we wondered when our passports would be returned).

So this is me giving back, hoping that someone will find this a little useful like I've found countless posts on here useful too.

So, here is our Road to Canadian PR Journey.

Family of 3

PA (me)
IELTS - Sept 2018 - band 8
WES - Nov 2018

Spouse - IELTS - Nov 2018 - band 8
WES - Jan 2019

Got into the Express Entry pool - Feb 2019
ITA - Feb 2019
Medicals - April 2019 (submitted application shortly after)
Request for biometrics email - May 2019
Wait... Silence... (Agony) LOL

Oct 2019 - Asked to submitted additional family information (this came two weeks before we were supposed to hear back - according to the timeline on our profile – so we knew we probably would not hear back when we were supposed to)
We then requested for our GSM notes

Nov 2019 - found out the pending issue was my letter of employment, which didn’t have a date.
2 Dec 2019 – asked for another (dated) letter from my employer and uploaded it.
9 Dec 2019 – Golden email (Ready for Visa email)
10 Dec 2019 – submitted passports
Tried tracking our passports on the VFS website (it did not work and I think this is a general problem)
8 Jan 2020 – notified that passport had been issued
16 Jan 2020 – came on Nairaland and saw a post by asfreeasabird saying if you submitted your passport at Lagos VFS between 10 to 17 Dec, that it’s probably lying around at their office. We went to check and alas it was.

Final note –

1. There is a distinct difference between immigration AGENTS and immigration CONSULTANTS. We used a licensed immigration consultant. I would advise anyone to. They are straightforward and it is worth every kobo.
2. Do not compare your journey to other people’s. Your case officer is different, your experiences and qualifications are different.
3. Make haste while the sun shines. Sovereign policies are constantly changing, as are organizational policies. For example, when we first looked at the WES website in July 2018, Nigerian graduates didn’t need to submit their WAEC results and scratch card. By the time hubby started processing his WES in Nov 2019, they had to. I hear now that WES has again reverted to their original stance. Yes, money can be a hindrance but do what you can with the money that you save up. Get them out of the way one by one. IELTS. WES. Any other requirement. Don’t delay.