Starting my Canadian Visa Application - My Story

We strive to deliver excellent Canadian immigration services through our company with friendly assistance to simplify the application process. Here is one of our success stories from one of our clients, Tala. We are really excited to share her story with you and hopefully, you will learn something about the Canadian immigration system you didn’t know before.  

”Hi my name is Tala, a secondary school Biology teacher, who originally migrated from the Philippines to New Zealand in 2010. I decided to try my luck in Canada instead because I kept hearing about the many great job opportunities in the country.

Because I know that I struggled a lot with my Canadian visa application, I decided to share my story to maybe help others find their way around and avoid all those mistakes I made in the first place.

Canada has always been on my list of top places to live and in 2016 I decided to take a chance and apply under that new system Express Entry that I heard about for a while now.

But starting my Canadian Visa Application was one of the most stressful times of my life. Not only did I start the application by myself, but I also didn't really understand at the time how the heck the system worked, just that the Express Entry (EE) program was one of the fastest Canadian immigration options. The result was that I spent several months running around trying to organize all the paperwork I thought I needed for my application and ended up messing up my application deadlines instead. So yeah, wasted a lot of time and money mostly on medical examinations (I went to the wrong doctor) and on some application papers that I didn’t need to actually need.   

After many frustrating attempts, I decided to bite the bullet and actually hire a professional immigration consultant after doing a bit of research about who could help me. I found a company that had authorized representatives, which turns out are the only people who can legally help with visa applications without messing up your application. I decided to apply with a company called Canadianvisa.org and at first, I was really nervous because I had heard about all the horror stories of immigration scams that were always seen to be around. 

I signed up on their website anyway and got a call from them the same day. I always hate talking on the phone, but Jessica the young woman I talked to, helped explain the visa application process to me and how the company works. 

She was quite upfront with the fees for the Evaluation which she said was completed by one of the three RCICs who work with their company from MDC Canada. It was a bit costly but Jessica did mention that it would show the best visa options for my current situation. Because I was still pretty nervous, I asked her if I could have some time to think about it. After about a day of thinking and weighing the pros and cons, I decided to go for it.  

I completed the Evaluation online and it took about 20 minutes from start to finish. After I confirmed payment, I was given an account number and login password to access my results, which can take 21 days to complete which I thought was a bit long but probably worth it for a comprehensive result. After making my payment through my bank, I did kinda panic on day 10 and called Jessica. She was very patient with me and her reassuring words helped to calm me down.

Ironically the next day I got my Evaluation report, which turned out to be a really long report, some 9 pages that clearly showed where I had scored points on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) and which visas I could apply for. Turns out I had not just one visa option but three! The New Brunswick Express Entry Labour Market Stream, New Brunswick Express Entry Program, and Prince Edward Island Express Entry Stream! After some consideration, I decided that the Prince Edward Island Express Entry Stream was the one for me.    

Jessica had explained over the phone that after my Evaluation report I could continue my application and get help from one of the RCICs by signing a Retainer Agreement. Thanks to this I was able to hire my own personal immigration consultant David Allon RCIC R513335. He was very professional and personally Skyped with me to talk about how to start my application with all the right paperwork over the course of my application. 

David explained the necessary procedures and with his help, he registered me under the Federal Express Entry system as a Skilled Worker and helped create a profile for my application under the Expression of Interest system. This involved my language exam results, education level, and some other personal information. I just needed my passport number and email address to verify the account at the end.  

Luckily David advised me through the process and I organized documents like my Medical report through Dr. Anton Wiles about three days after my talk with David. The medical exam was pretty straightforward with a couple of x-rays and some blood work. Luckily I did my medical exam through a doctor that was actually accepted by the immigration office, which I didn’t know was a thing when I first applied myself. The entire process was done in under an hour. A few days later I applied for my Criminal Conviction History from the New Zealand Ministry of Justice, which took about three weeks to get. 

A couple of months later, when the next Express Entry draw came, I got an ITA thanks to my score of 76 on the Expression of Interest grid! I was ecstatic because this meant that I could apply for permanent residence in PEI!  

Together with David, we sorted out all the documents we needed to complete my ITA application like my letter of reference from my old employer, proof of funds, medical results. and a few others. We applied through the MyCic account and then waited in anticipation for my permanent residency to be approved. 

It took a couple of weeks but I finally got my Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) form to apply to Canada this year! After a pretty long application process with lots of bumps and learning curves, the Canadian Immigration Office confirmed my visa application. I’m packing my bags and going to PEI, just booked my tickets!

So that is my experience of the guys at CanadianVisa.Org. I just want to give a shoutout to Jessica for putting up with all my callbacks and to David Allon for being willing to talk any time of the day about my application. It took some time but I didn’t give up!" 

We at CanadianVisa.org know that the immigration experience can be complicated. We make it simple. Experience it for yourself. Get in touch with one of our experienced Account Managers who will be happy to talk about your immigration.