How international students can "jump the queue" to PR faster

How international students can “jump the queue” to PR faster

Article By : Acme Immigrations

Jennifer got her PR three years faster than John. How did Jennifer do it when they both arrived in Canada the same year and are the same age with the same language ability of CLB 8?

Jennifer worked with an immigration consultant and got a consultation before she left her home country. She was given a plan of action to follow and learned how to maximize eligibility and points in the Express Entry system.

Both individuals arrived in Canada at 19 years old, and both took the same Bachelors of Social Work program. But Jennifer did something different. She enrolled in the 5-year program that had paid co-op terms every year. There, while studying her program, she was simultaneously developing a network of employer contacts and connections. She spent time networking also with her co-workers and looked at each co-op work term as an opportunity to expand her network even further. While co-op work experience during studies doesn’t count for points in Express Entry, it enabled Jennifer to build her career network and maximize her connections.

Upon graduation, she was offered a skilled permanent full-time job as a Social Worker, allowing her to waste no time in accumulating skilled work experience in Canada. As Jennifer’s program was more than two years in duration, she qualifies for a 3 year Post Graduate Work Permit. Jennifer is on her way to qualifying for the Canadian Experience Class draw or the Health and Social Sciences category specific draws in Express Entry. By focusing on one occupation in high demand, Jennifer has also simultaneously increased her chances for permanent residency, ensuring that her career plan matches Canada’s current occupational priorities.

Jennifer worked on her English while studying and managed to re-take her English test and scored CLB 10 from an original CLB 8 prior to arrival.

Jennnifer also did something unique. She scored high in the Skilled Transferability section of Express Entry by working remotely during her studies as a community counselor. She accumulated 1 year of foreign skilled work experience which, combined with her language score, gave her additional points in the Comprehensive Ranking System. Remote work outside Canada during studies counts potentially as skilled foreign work in Express Entry. There are many remote opportunities these days for students to work part time during their studies and accumulate skilled work that counts for points in the CRS.

Fourteen months after graduation, Jennifer was invited to apply for permanent residency under the Canadian Experience Class with a score of 512 in the CRS. John still doesn’t have a plan and still hasn’t accumulated any skilled work experience since his graduation. He took a retail sales position with a shoe company to pay rent.

Example scoring for Jennifer –

Core/Human capital factors

Age = 110
Level of education = 120
Official Languages = 136
- First Official Language = 136
- Second Official Language = 0
Canadian work experience = 40

Subtotal – Core/Human capital factors = 406

Skill transferability factors

Education (to a maximum of 50 points)