phabulous88: PPR and LANDING GIST
Timeline AOR: 4th August 2023 BIL/MEP: 25th August 2023 Biometrics done/updated: 29th August 2023 ADR1 – Wife's passport ADR2 – Schedule A for wife ADR3 – Schedule A for me PPR: 12th October 2023
The Decision to Travel:
I first heard about Express Entry in 2015 but didn't pay close attention to it at the time. Many of my close friends eventually moved through this program. However by end of September 2020, when EndSars protest was beginning to gain momentum, we knew we had to leave the country.
- 1st October 2020: Applied for WES ECA for my MSc. - 28th October 2020: Received ECA results. - 31st October 2020: Took my first IELTS (LRWS/8,8.5,6.5,7). I applied for a remark on my Writing, and it was adjusted to 8,8.5,7,7, with an overall score of 7.5. - January 2021: Wife (@Phabulous93) took her first IELTS (LRWS/9,8.5,8,7.5), scoring 8.5. wife’s ECA was by CES, and her LLB was evaluated as a Professional degree. This took about 6 months. - My wife's CRS score was 484, and mine was 455, so she stood a better chance. - October 2022: I wrote my second IELTS with an overall score of 8.0. - December 2022: My wife took her second IELTS, scoring an overall 8.5.
HEARTBREAK
- We remained at a CRS score of 484 for almost 2 years, and on my wife’s birthday in March 2023, IRCC decided to draw 484. Unfortunately, she lost 5 points on her birthday and she wasn't selected. - My wife was heartbroken, but as I consoled her, our son walked in and started singing Nathaniel Bassey's song, "You are God from beginning to the end, There's no place for argument, You are God all by yourself...".
TEF in 4 months!
- In January 2023, my wife started practicing with Doulingo, just in case we needed French - After loosing 5 points and missing out on the ITA in March 2023, she made the courageous decision to learn French formally and dedicated herself to studying day and night. At a point, she had like 2 French tutors. - Mind you, she was still working full time. We practiced speaking French together, and I even downloaded various French translators so I could practice speacking with her. - I gingered her to write the TEF exam in June (3 months after she lost 5 points), but she was like, the average time to learn French and pass the TEF is between 9 – 12 months. - And I was like, I know. Just see the TEF in June as a mock exam so you get familiar with how the exam is… - So we registered for it and she wrote the French exam on 15th June 2023, and the results came out on 20th June 2023, less than 1 week later, and we received an extra 10 points. - Sharperly, I updated our profile, and the score jumped from 479 to 489. - One week later, we received an ITA (cutoff was 486).
Ah! Baba God o! Thank you.
eAPR - In putting together our application, we ensured that it was thorough and included a letter of explanation for pretty much everything. - Our Proof of Funds (POF) was 100% ready since October 2023. However, due to the Naira devaluation in June 2023 (all thanks to Tinubu and the CBN), we had to get a Gift deed to complete our POF. - We also included 25% of my Pension as a buffer in case the Naira depreciated further.
Additional Document Requests:
- ADR 2 & ADR 3 (Schedule A IMM 5669): I'm not sure why they requested these, but I suppose it's because my wife worked with a Local Government during her NYSC, and the word "Government" might trigger additional scrutiny. - My wife and I are both Directors and Shareholders of several small companies. We had to provide a separate letter of explanation, clarifying that these companies were part-time and did not interfere with our full-time jobs.
LANDING
- Booked Egyptair and landed Toronto 7am last week. Before 9:00am, the I heard those beautiful words, "Congratulations! And welcome to Canada!" - We were heading to Calgary, and had a 9 hour layover in Toronto. So we used the time to sort out our SIN, Sim cards (Fido offered us a $35, 50GB plan) and our bank account (CIBC).
Finally guys, if you can, please learn French o! It's not easy but if you can, abeg write it. If we didn't write French, we will still be at 479, hoping and praying that the cut off points drop. But here we are, living in the beautiful city of Calgary as Permanent Residents.
Ah! Baba God! Na you do this one o! Thank you Jesus! Merci beaucoup wifey @Phabulous93, Que Dieu vous bénisse. Amen
Thanks also to @GraciousWords, ednut1, Ebuncrown, MissMa01, Debbieeeeeee for your insights.
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