₦airaland Forum

God bless you for starting this thread, anyone with more ideas or real life experiences? Kindly share...

Thanks a lot for the advise, I needed to know if we are on the right track.

maternal:
I'd focus on securing both your permanent residency first. But to be honest, your husband should have all these answers if he did his homework and networked while at school. I also hope he attended numerous career fairs and attempted to do internship. But if I had to guess, I'd say Alberta and Sask are good places to go for him after graduation. His skill set would be needed there due to those provinces natural resources. As for you, do what makes sense. But be set on doing HR here if that doesn't work out.

Lol, I said I should ask ooo, no dulling. Please any advise on my own career path I would appreciate.

salford1:
hmmm. your husband is in USask, and you are asking about his career path...i am not understanding ooo. lol.
He might even get a job before grad sef...from my experience of living in Canada, student migrants find it alot easier to integrate fully into the society than most other category of immigrants. They have the "studied in Canada" advantage and excellent networks/job searching skills.

Just read this, quite insightful. Thanks Salford1

salford1:
I believe it mostly depends on career path and economic situation in a province. I have also seen people move out east to Ontario cos they could not get a decent job in Alberta. A friend just relocated to Ontario to take up an offer after he could not get a job as a power engineering/process operator in Alberta for over 1 year...due to state of the economy (over saturation of process operators and to a lesser extent the oil downturn). There are also more financial and IT related jobs in Ontario e.g the common financial jobs in the prairies are branch banking related.

Alberta/Sask are tradespeople/technologist/engineers heaven due to high wage being offered (especially whenever the economy is booming)....Just as maternal mentioned, fancy degrees don't cut it much out here in the west. i dont know about the east. Its not uncommon to see electrician, millwrights, welders, instrumentation techs e.t.c making more money than PEngs in the same company.

In tech related professions in AB/SK...trades have more job openings than technicians/technologists, and techs have more job openings than Engineers. In a typical Engineering offices, the structures are usually like: 1 or 2 P.engineer/PGeo to manage about 20 techs and 40 tradespeople. Engineers would mostly be placed on a monthly salary while techs and trade would be placed on hourly with the advantage of overtime hours.

Bottomline: what worked for mr. A might not work for mr. B. Dont chose a province because people are rushing to that province. Each province is unique. You need to work out your own plan. Conduct a thorough research....would it be wise for an investment banker or trader to move to Alberta? Is it a good idea for an Agric professional to move to Ontario? e.t.c Get on indeed..search for job openings in your career. Get on forums related to your career to view what people in that profession are discussing about. What professions are saturated in a particular province, what wage should i expect e.t.c Don't follow the crowd.

Hi Maternal and other gurus in the house,

What advise would you give regarding career path in canada to someone who has MSc Sustainable Environmental Management from USask?

Just planning ahead, my husband is on study permit and would be done next year, just want to be strategic about the next stage after school.
I have an open work permit and I am a HR professional but still in Nigeria, any advise on my own career path would do too. Attractive provinces too will do, even though we have our eyes on Sask or Alberta but I just thought it wise to seek advise from the seniors and those on ground already just incase we are missing out on anything. Guys please let's hear your opinion. Thank you.

maternal:
Alberta without a doubt. If I knew what I know now (I sound old) I would have never step foot in Ontario. I always tell newcomers to come to Alberta. The opportunities here is unbelievable. To answer your question, if you plan to be a geologist, Alberta is obviously the place to be with the oil being here. I currently work in the oilfields along with many Nigerians. My guy is actually a geologist. Though I don't know how to get certified. I would suggest to do the certification here (in Canada). Nothing done in naija would be trusted.

One last advice to newcomers. Chase stability and prosperity, NOT the name of a fancy degree. People here don't care about your status or what fancy degree you have. I work with literally small boys (mid 20's) with just a high school diploma, along with some professional courses, and years of experience making 100-250k per year. If you have a relevant trade, you'd be worshiped here. Whereas, I know people with fancy degrees but are unemployed or under-employed. My point is do what makes sense, not what you think others think of you.

Awww congratulations madam. I remember you and your daughter's story from the study permit thread last year. Thank God it ended in praise.

Sevenody:
Application Approved!!!!!

After my last post a few minutes ago, i logged into mycic and saw Approved.

My hubby and daughter are coming to Toronto!!! How can I thank this my God

@Iboloh, did you receive an e-mail inviting you for medicals? Or a letter via your account? i.e if it was linked. Anyway just go pick up, all the best.

sjunad:
Hi Iboloh,

As BE811APP mentioned in one of his comments that he received his passport as a means of identification for his medicals. This could be the same as your case. Just chill to know why your passport was dispatched. I pray though that it's for medical purpose. Best wishes.

Oh okay, fingers crossed then. When did she apply?

dalok1:
@ VEIL1234.. they told her to submit more supporting document and proof that she had been denial or refused visa before. Thanks.

@Markab I like your resilience. You are already a guru before u applied All the best in september!!!

Hello dalok1,

Did your wife eventually go to vfs? kindly give the update so we can learn. Thank you.

dalok1:
Is there anybody that experienced this before, my wife received update today that her ( ATTENTION NEEDED URGENTLY TODAY), or are they collecting passport before one go for medicate now. Pls house i need response . Thanks.


ATTENTION NEEDED URGENTLY TODAY

Dear Applicant,

Kindly be informed that your attention is required at the earliest,
Please come with your collection slip to the below address between 8am-3pm, Mon - Fri (excluding declared holidays).

You may contact the Visa Application Centre (VAC) for further instructions/clarifications.




Best regards,

----------
Team Feedback
Canada Visa Application Centre, Lagos

Isn't there anyway this can be contested? Seniors in the house any ideas on what they should do? This is clearly a mistake.

Jibe20:
My post was hidden by spambot earlier. This is the content of the refusal letter i got from CIC regarding my SOWP.





Thank you for your interest in working in Canada as a live-in caregiver. After careful review of your work permit application
and supporting documentation, I have determined that your application does not meet the requirements of the Immigration
and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR). I am refusing your
application on the following grounds:
• I am not satisfied that you will leave Canada at the end of your stay as a temporary resident, as stipulated in
paragraph 179(b) of the IRPR, based on your family ties in Canada and in your country of residence.
• - length of stay
- the fact that your daughter will be missing one to two months of school.
You are welcome to reapply if you feel that you can respond to these concerns and can demonstrate that your situation
meets the requirements. All new applications must be accompanied by a new processing fee.
Sincerely,
High Commission of Canada
Visa Section
P.O. Box 1639
Accra
Ghana
Application Enquiry

Haba! Is SOWP processed in Ghana or Lagos? Are you sure they haven't made a mistake on u guys application thinking you applied as ''Care givers''?

orisuniye:
Hello!

I have just noticed the same thing on my husband's refusal letter. the letter was issued on July 7th from Ghana.

i am sure we applied for SOWP!

Good Evening All,

It's quite alarming to see that sowp refusal rates have increased, please as Markab has said for those re-firing and those about to apply, kindly hook up with seniors on this thread who have gotten their OWP to review your entire application, keep asking questions until you get it right from the start. May God increase the testimonies on this thread. No more refusals! amen.

Amen!

amokemi:
Happy Canada Day to all Nigerians in Canada and Canada hopefuls still in Nigeria. As God lives, all our dreams shall come true in Jesus name. For us still in Nigeria, we shall be part of the next celebration in our dream land.

Well said, we need to keep this thread alive. Some people kept it alive for us all to benefit, lets keep the flag flying pls. It will all end in praise amen.

Markab:
Good day to all members.

Kindly let's keep this house alive by sharing our application status. Or have we all abandoned the house? Well, I believe when new students register in their respective schools for fall term in September, we will see receive new members/prospective sowp applicants. But before then @Ruth222 et all, kindly share your status and let's reinvigorate this thread with good news and testimonies.

I will officially join the list hopefully by September as a trv learner. .

Congratulations bro... you truly deserve this.

Osemigho:
Long Post Alert!

Documents submitted and package style.

All CIC Visa Application Forms for Nigerians: Study permit application form, Family information form, Study permit questionnaire, and Study Permit Checklist. I hope I am correct


Profile and Timeline:

Single with no dependant.
Program: MA Geography.
Previous Degree: B.Sc. Geography.
Current employment status: Graduate Assistant in Geography department at a Fed Nigerian university.
Paper Visa application submitted with upfront medicals on the 14th March, 2017.
Upfront medicals passed around 2 weeks after.
Document received by embassy acknowledgment email on the 5th of April, 2017.
Checked Online profile status as "updated" on 6th of June, 2017. I clicked message and saw “Application Status: Approved”.


Personal Documents submitted:

Original Letter of Introduction from workplace.
Copy of Employment letter as Graduate Assistant.
1 Pay slip (Arrears payment). Submitted it to support employment and also show source of about #500,000 that entered my account.
Copy of employment ID.
Copy of NPC Birth cert
Resume
Copy of a Lagos state Volunteer award certificate.
Copy of Primary, SSCE, NCE, BSC, NYSC, TOEFL, and Origin Certificate. All notarized, since I could get it as cheap as #300 for each.
Statement of Purpose
Original Bank Statement (6 months and few weeks). Balance about #600,000. Flow about #2million (Sincerely, I don’t know the thing take reach like that). Also, prior to visit to my bank for its printing, I deliberately checked my bank account profile online to ensure the account statement won’t read zero opening balance. That accounted for the few weeks added to the six months.
Printed Tuition schedule. 1st year tuition $12,696 cad. 2nd year tuition $3,693.
Original Admission and scholarship Letter. Admission letter says I have maximum of four years to complete degree, no minimum with 1st year scholarship of $24,000 Cad. Scholarship letter says 1st year scholarship of $25,788 cad and 2nd year scholarship of $21,288 cad.
Copy of Land survey Document. Location is my village. Note: They only need asset, they didn’t specify its location.
Police clearance cert.
Upfront Medical paper.
Passport Photo taken at VAC Lagos. The one I went with was rejected.
2 Copies of Passport Biodata page. 1 was stamped and returned at VAC. Guess the retuned copy is what I will show to collect documents.


Family Documents:

Copy of birth certificates for siblings from NPC and Church as available. That is, for those that NPC birth cert was not available, I submitted the one issued by my family church.
Copy of Property documents (Land and cars) of my dad. Land documents was notarised also.
Dad Letter of support with a paragraph stating that he is aware of my full scholarship, that he transferred #300,000 to my bank account on to support my visa application and that he is willing to do more if needed.
Dad’s bank account statement with a balance of about #1.5m
Copy of Parent marriage certificate with their passport affixed on it.



Note that I tried as much as possible to be explicit. However, you can ask question if you need more clarity.

Thanks to all past applicants that submitted document list. I downloaded the pdf and created my list-of-documents-to-submit from it. I also used a sample letter of support from here to develop the one for my dad.

Once again, special thanks to TheSoj for reviewing my admission and visa documents. I remove my cap and take a bow, I am humble sir. Special thanks to Yemdogg for full review and comments on all my visa documents and for the continuous reassurance that everything would be fine, particularly during the long waiting period. I pray Almighty God will reward and bless you beyond your expectations. Also to Nony1 for the insightful information on the expenses and funds available part of a major CIC document, I am highly grateful.

I pray God will continue to give us blessings and miracles that calm storms cos mine did that this morning. Thank you all. God bless us all.

My closing balance was 3.1million for myself and two kids.

Toluwaase:
Congrats oh.
Please how did you go about proof of fund? How much did you present to be in your account?

Yes ooo! He's a rare kind of person. Your testimony is next @Markab. Amen!

Markab:
A big Congratulations to you and your family madam. And I also join you in thanking @BE811APP, he has been a very good big bro to me also. Thanks boss you're a hero!

Sent dear.

jobmman:
Please can i also get a copy of the LOE my email address is jummai4lv@yahoo.com thanks

Good evening house, join me in singing praises to the most high God! Our applications have been approved.

Timeline: OWP for me. Study permit for my daughter and TRV for son
Application and biometrics: 1st february 2017
Medical Request: 26th May 2017
Medical done: 8th June 2017
Medical passed: 13th June 2017
Application approved: 23rd June 2017
I was however notified on the 28th of June for just my daughter's
Vfs wrote me early hours of 30th june to come pick up our passports, I went there in the afternoon and picked up all three approved!!! . In total 21 weeks and 2 days processing time.

Thank you all, special thanks to BE811APP, I met you on nairaland last year March, I have never met you in person but you have been a good brother praying with me and my family and assisted me all the way right from my husband's study permit process. I hope to see you in canny soon. Thanks to all those on the sowp thread all your info and advice has been useful.Thank you Huzzie for guiding me on how to write my SOP and LOE. To qfavoured, and all those who are still waiting, the good lord will favour you shortly and we shall all celebrate.

Please let's keep this thread alive so we can keep giving back. Thank you all.

Hey dear, I replied ur pm.

jobmman:
Viel1234 Pls I need to get in touch with u. It's urgent.

This should be online right?

iamosamede55:
Meanwhile i submitted SOWP yday and its bwen over 12 hrs nor message to go for biometrics. Is this normal for owp apps? Coa when i submitted mu study permit application online i got biometrics letter immediately o

It's exactly 19 weeks today.

Ekinado:
time to buy ticket oooo, congrats!!! how long did your application take?

Thank you. I trust God I will come back soon to share the approval testimony amen.

Ekinado:
time to buy ticket oooo, congrats

Good evening house. I thank God Almighty - Medical passed. He is sure to finish what he has started amen!

Dear Op, take your decisions and of course put in prayer and ask God for direction. What the writer failed to acknowledge is that in life there are good times and bad times. The good life they enjoyed in India and Dubai, didn't they realise there were also immigrants there that were suffering? Pls don't let anything deter you, make sure you have a plan, research well and most importantly take it to God in prayer!

Schonebaby:
Canada is famous as one of the world’s most visited place. With that, many immigrants were planning to go and work there because of its booming popularity and economy. But behind the numerous advantages brought by Canada to its foreign and local workers, there’s a dark secret which is soon to be revealed.
TORONTO: As I read the news this week about 257,515 people migrating to Canada in 2012, I had a chill running down my spine as I considered the fate of these immigrants who would have to start their job hunt the very next day of their arrival. Their imported money would soon run out and if they have to survive in this country, they will have to get a job quickly.Personally speaking, my family had a great life in Dubai. We managed to get a good education for our kids. My husband and I had satisfying jobs and a good bank balance thanks to our tax-free salaries.
Then suddenly, this Canada bug bit us as we did not want to return to India after working for about two decades in Dubai.
So we decided to apply for immigration to Canada. After a few years of waiting, we got our PR Cards. When we told our friends that we are going to settle in Canada, many of them warned us. They narrated horrific tales of new immigrants in Canada.
They warned us that highly skilled and experienced people, who have worked in managerial positions in Dubai or India, are working as cab drivers or factory workers in Canada. We were also told that even if you did get a job, you will have to work much below your professional rank, which will deeply hurt your ego and self esteem.
In fact, some friends suggested that we would be better off going back to India to the warmth of our family. But we suspected that they are fooling us and we paid no heed to their advice.
So in April 2009, we left Dubai and landed in Toronto to start a new life, against the wishes of these family friends. We were in a hurry to get back into our former profession. But it took me more than a couple of years to get a teaching license. Then I spent more money on upgrading my qualifications and membership fees. Then I had to do a lot of volunteer work as I waited and waited for a school job.
But nothing happened.
So here is my story: even after spending four years in Canada and upgrading my skills and using up all our savings, I am still without a job. Actually, this IS the story of thousands of fellow immigrants.
School boards are on perpetual strike. Teachers are being laid off. It is a very frightening situation for teachers. But the school boards keep training more and more teachers and making money!
Most of these teachers are jobless or they are doing jobs that pay them peanuts and kill their self-esteem.
My husband, who had three decades of work experience in construction in Dubai, was reduced to doing odd jobs which are not even worth mentioning.
Chasing this so-called Canadian dream, we have ended up using all our savings. We have already spent a couple of hundred thousand dollars to live a descent life, so that we will not lose the will to survive in this struggling country with no job prospects.
Having spent almost all our life savings, we don’t know what to do next – whether to stay here or go back. Our life is in a limbo.
My advice to people who are itching to migrate to Canada to give a better future to their children is this: Think hard before you take any decision and don’t fool yourself by painting a rosy picture in your head. You may end up working in factories, call centers, security agencies, Tim Horton’s or packing factories. You will lose your savings. Your will lose your morale and self-esteem. Tensions will destroy your marital and family life. Finally, if you are lucky enough, you may get an entry-level job and then pay someone else’s mortgage while living in their basement as you dream of buying your own little nest.
And buying your little nest in a hurry (with your saved money) could be your worst mistake, for God forbid if you are laid off, as it happened to my dear friend, who will pay the mortgage? Your house dream will collapse and you will be buried under it.
And if you do get a job – which most probably you won’t enjoy doing, but you will do it anyways to survive and pay the mortgage – you will end up wasting the prime of your life paying back the mortgage. It is not worth it, believe me.
Our struggle for survival continues to this day. We don’t know when we will wind up this fruitless venture and head back to India. This is the story of many immigrants to Canada.
(Due to privacy concerns and relentless pressure, the name of the author is changed)
Article via NewEastWest by Kwentong OFW

My people, How true is this article? My husband and I are planning to relocate to Canada. I plan to start my PhD there next fall and through that channel bring my husband. Up till now, I thought Canada would be better than US because of the ease of getting PR, but on the flipside......will it be a worthwhile move. Please I won't mind contributions. Thank you.

Submit original copies of any document addressed to the embassy. You can submit notarized copies of other docs like your credentials.

Payrollnaija:
Hello All,

Please if one is applying via paper route will original documents have to be submitted or copies are allowed?

Thank you.

i honestly do not know cos I applied via paper

Payrollnaija:
Please under what section are all these uploaded online? "proof of relationship" or letter of "explanation"?

Sent.

paparazzi1987:
Please I need the sample LOE too.

Owolabi.j.opeyemi@gmail.com

Thanks alot

Sent dear

justmechika:
hi @viel1234, pls can u send me a sample too (LOE)? Justme_chika@yahoo.com

Hello, you do not need a job offer to apply for sowp. Your spouse shd be in canada on study permit or work permit.That makes you eligible. Thanks.

Amatorishero:
Good morning everyone, I don't know anything about this open work permit in Canada. Pls I ll like to know if I can apply for an open work permit without having a job offer in Canada. Thank you.

Sure,

Huby’s Docs

Letter from my huby
Study permit letter and work permit. Given at POE
Huby’s passport photocopy.. (Data page)
Canadian visa page in the passport..
Student ID card
Unconditional letter of admission.. It's given after u finish ur registration in the University..
Employment letter of work

My documents are :
Employment letter.. (Added confirmation letter and last salary review letter)
Reference letter from my office..
Cv..
SOP
All my certificates from secondary skol..
Bank statement..
Marriage certificate..
Kids birth certificate..
Letter of explanation
Police certificate
Notary public certified all photocopies of d docs
All CIC forms

I think that was about it.

Markab:
Now that your application is on the verge of approval, can you please share us the documents you submitted guide we prospective applicants in arranging ours?

Thanks madam