joo2018:
Abridged Version

Decision to immigrate: January 2018
IELTS: L8 R9 S7.5 W7

ITA: Oct 29, 2018 (sent Oct 31, seen Nov 1)
AOR: Nov 1, 2018

AOR to PPR: 5 months and 16 days or 167 days

VO: CPC-Ottawa
Family of 5


Full gist later in the day.

bouqounmie:
Congratulations. I'm so happy for you. Go and conquer the land.

ladymarshall:
I'm literally crying

Troysam2017:
You will get an email. I submitted on Tuesday last week and I got a mail this week Monday confirming that my request has been sent to the EOR team.

Topsmamen:


The "trainee" shouldn't be a problem as long as you were paid during your employment period. I see they stated your salary for the ET position only, so you need to let IRCC know that you were also paid as a trainee. You will need to provide payslips and/or a bank statement for the period worked (July 2012-August 2013). If there's a chance you can get your employer to state your trainee salary in the reference letter, then go right ahead. Otherwise, the bank statement will do just fine.

Also, what NOC did you choose?

petrichor:
Ire mi de, ire Ayo, ire mi kabo iremi wolede...Its PPR my people

TIMELINE

ITA: 19th December 2018 (cut-off 439)
AOR: 29 Dec 2018
MEP: 10 Feb 2019
Biometrics: 12 Feb 2019
IP1: 26/02/19
IP2: 16/04/19
PPR: 17/04/19 (dated 16/04/19)
ADR: none
VO: Ottawa
POF: Fixed deposit (from gift deed and deed of sale). Expired on the 1 March 2019

To as many as are looking unto God for PPR, the Lord will grant it.

Teqla:
Chose 1212.......please what's your opinion??
Would appreciate

joo2018:
LONG VERSION

BEFORE 2018 - BACKGROUND
I was your average, not-very-passionate, but quietly loyal Nigerian. All I wanted to do was make it here and go for holidays abroad. As my friends were jetting out one by one, I watched with a weird mixture of envy and disdain.

As time went by, however, my career stalled. Without professional growth, how will I be able to take care of my growing family? I work in a company in a specialized manufacturing industry. After ten years of work experience, I could no longer grow in the company and in a small, specialized industry I could not go to another company.

I really tried to transfer to another industry. I did an MBA, became a PMP, and registered with several professional bodies. Filled my CV. Applied, applied and applied for jobs. No dice. I still felt I could wing it though.

October 2017, while chatting with a childhood friend based Japan, he asked if I wasn't interested in traveling out. I told him not really. He then said Canada was the place to be and he would send me the process. I said ok, just to humor him. He forwarded a mail explaining Canada Express Entry and listed in it all the steps I was to take. I opened the mail, scanned the contents, smiled to myself, closed it and forgot about it.

JANUARY – MARCH 2018: DECISION TO EMMIGRATE
Fast forward to January 2018, my job came under threat. With a bleak prospects everywhere, I realized I had to make a radical decision and start my career all over again. And then came the still, small voice, if I was starting all over again, why don’t I start all over again in another country?
I remembered my friend’s email and started research. Had a discussion with Mrs Joo and so the decision was made.

All the research I did showed that in 2017, ITA draw points were low and I could get ITA with 420s. With my MBA and IELTS alone, I could get that range, so it was decided that I would be the PA and only assess myself.

As NASU was still on strike, ECA was out of it. Registered for FutureLearn IELTS course (free option). Tried booking for IELTS only to realize that I needed a valid passport. Mine having expired. This was when passports were taking months to get. Found out that I could get one day passport at Ado-Ekiti. Took time off, traveled and got it. Booking for IELTS was tough as people were booking fast as the exam fee was increasing from 65k to 75k in May. I could only get April 4 test day at Port Harcourt. I booked it fast.

APRIL - AUGUST 2018: GOING SPOUSE UNACCOMPANIED
BC changed my exams days 3x within one week to the exam. The last one was a day to the exam. This was also a time when work situation was dire. There was no way to get leave and to go AWOL was to basically forfeit the job. So I gave up the exam. Rebooked for May 24.

When NASU resumed, I started the ECA with WES. I used my statement of result.
With extra time to prepare for IELTS, I used IELTS Ryan materials on youtube a lot. Downloaded and used a lot of IELTS practices apps on android (I don’t remember which. Uninstalled them after the exam). I also completed the Road to IELTS materials provided. Results came ok.

IELTS: May 24, 2018 L8 R9 S7.5 W7

While reading more, I found out that draws were consistently high in 2018 and there was no way I was getting an ITA with my projected score. Having gone far in the process, the options were to wait and encourage my spouse to start the process or to forge ahead and let my spouse find her way later. I felt so pressured and chose the latter. Told Mrs Joo the new reality. That she needed to do IELTS and ECA, but she could do them later. Start EE by 2019 as a PA. I was going on ahead. No delay.

It was at this period of confusion, I came across this thread online. Asked my first question and got an answer from @Ethelia. It didn’t help though as I asked the wrong question. Started reading through the different parts.

I was expectant. My ECA was due on August 21 and there was to be draw, draw #97 – August 22, 2018.

AUGUST – NOVEMBER 2018: GOING SPOUSE ACCOMPANIED
However, by August 18, I changed my mind. I had come to realize that I had made the wrong decision. I needed my family with me. With a new baby on the way, I couldn't leave Mrs Joo alone. It also helped that the threat at work had reduced.

After the normal delays on verification, WES ECA came out ok. Masters or Professional degree on August 21, 2018.

EE profile created: August 22, 2018.

Work on spouse ECA and IELTS began.

Spouse ECA was also with WES. They added the WAEC requirement just as I was about to begin the process. ECA came out October 10.

Little Joo in the womb wasn't easy on his mother and so my wife struggled to prepare for IELTS. But thank God, the exam came (September 29) and she added enough points to make our CRS score 447. The TRF arrived on October 15. I was about to update our profile with the TRF against a draw on Wednesday 17th, when I checked online and saw that there was a surprise Monday draw. Missed.

We met draw #103 on October 29th. ITA finally arrived on October 31st late at night. Saw it on the morning of November 1st. Since all the documents were ready. Filled the application, uploaded the supporting documents and submitted.

AOR: November 1, 2018

Other details:

Following @glitteringstar(2)'s steps, I opened folders for all the possible placeholders, so I could be ready for the big day. I placed the documents there as I was getting them.

Folders: Biographical datapage of passports, Birth certificates, Client Information (LOE), Digital photos, Marital status documents, Medical examination confirmation, Other Name (for spouse's change of name), Police certificates, Proof of funds, Proof of studies and Proof of work experience

POF: Settlement funds was 77% TBills, 25% savings account. 11% was Pension Fund but was there to act as a buffer. I had support from my Dad so I had a gift deed done. I didn’t submit it, but it was there as an insurance in case I got an ADR to prove the provenance of my finds. I actually namd the folder I put it: in case I got an ADR.
I forecasted I would be moving money around after AOR and so included 3 other accounts to the application. They were mostly empty, but I didn’t want to be caught surprised in case I got a request for updated POF and the money was in an account I had not presented before. I got the inspiration from @vcole who include all of her own bank accounts. Got reference letter in CIC format from Stanbic. For the other banks, I used the introductory letters and letters of non-indebtedness provided.

Employment: I have worked in the same company since graduation in different roles under the similar NOC. The JD the company provided was a bit generic and it was basically the same for all the roles. I worked on it to reflect the actual duties I did. @Newmum0615 (God bless you!) proof-read it and did some fine-tuning. I presented to HR and gbam it was rejected. World people.
The HR Director noted that it was not in the company’s format and asked the HR Manager to rework it. It stayed with that dude for a month. He always said he was busy. I tried to reason with him without tipping my hand. For where. At the end, he reverted to the old format. Did minor tweaking for all roles I’ve had at the company. It was so disheartening. I was able to convince him to include a line under each role highlighting the different staff I supervised in each role (officers, supervisors and production staff). That differentiated it a bit and showed progression.

3 of the roles were NOC 0. 2 were NOC A. In my EE profile, I had filled the 3 NOC 0 roles for my work experience. I chose the longest role (6 years) as my primary NOC. The reference letter covered 4 of the roles. One was discarded as I was told they don't give reference letter for NYSC. The reference letter was 5 pages long. I submitted the single reference letter in each of the 3 placeholders for work history. In my personal history, I included ALL of the 5 roles I have served in the company.

Education: ECA report, Degree certificates, IELTS TRF. I uploaded statement of result for my MBA as the certificate was not ready and Uniben was demanding for another 2yrs school fees (after convocation and no fault of mine) in order to issue the certificate. It gave me concern, but I relaxed when I re-checked Canada.ca and only saw “proof of studies” with certificates only as an example.
Spouse’s Education: ECA report, Degree certificates, IELTS TRF. Also statement of result for her M.Sc.

Spouse Work Experience: We worked at the same company, so I collected a reference letter for her at the same time. I didn’t remove her work history. I submitted it since I already had it.

Medicals: Done at Q-Life. Very seamless process.

Police certificate: I printed out the form before the day. We did our fingerprints and filled our forms. On the day, met ASP Moshood and gave him the filled forms. Went smoothly.

Photos: Studio 24, Ikeja. Turned out to be a waste of money as we did it early. The photos expired before PPR. We could have used normal digital photos and edited them.

Legal document for name change: Submitted one & the same person affidavit for spouse.

LOE: None

In preparing for the application, I downloaded forms IMM008 Generic, IMM5669e Schedule A and IMM5406e Additional Family Information as these are the forms in the eAPR.

NOVEMBER 2018 – APRIL 2019
I'm the kind of guy who watches CNN for 8hrs even though it is the same news being repeated every 15mins, so I made a decision to check my email and profile only once a day in the morning from Tuesday to Saturday.

Almost 2 weeks after submission I realized that after all the preparation, I did not include anything “Organization” in our personal history i.e. I didn’t include any organization we had belong to. To cover all bases, I drafted a LOE listing the organizations I and my wife had belonged to over the past ten years, signed it and scanned. Raised a CSE on Nov 13, 2018 and attached it.

MEP/BIL was on November 30. Got a ghost email for UCI numbers on December 1. Did biometrics on December 7 and it was completed a few hours later.

The background check changed to IP1 on December 14. Raised a CSE to know VO on December 22nd. Got a reply on 24th.

Raised another CSE for status on February 4, 2019 and got a generic reply. Ordered GCMS notes on February 4. It arrived on April 13, 2019 (took 69 days).

The wait ehn. It is only when you submit your application that you can understand. Then everyone around you starts getting here and there and you wonder what is wrong with your application. You apply for GCMS notes, it doesn't arrive even as people around you are getting theirs after 2 weeks. You start wondering what message God could be trying to pass along.

Then you get your notes and find out that eligibility has been passed since December 13. Waristhis!!!!!!!!

Little Joo came in February. I took the chap and his mama to NIS for passport within a week. There was complaint about unavailability of booklet, but God used a lady at the office to help out. Passport came out within a week. When I made a slip about the baby and passport on the thread, @mummychichi reached out. Thanks for that. Booked and did medicals with IOM (Qlife was telling me to wait till May).

Raised CSE to add newborn little Joo on March 19, 2019. A reply came on March 21 that I should mail Ottawa directly. Did so promptly.

Got an ADR upload little Joo's documents on March 22, 2019. Submitted documents on March 23. ADR profile changed to Not Applicable on March 25. Got a ghost email on March 26, 2019. Found out it was for UCI no the baby. His medicals passed on March 27.

Another period of waiting.

Sunday morning, April 14, I had an unusual urge to check my profile. I had not checked it on Sunday before. Checked and voila, it is IP2.

Ready for Visa / Prêt pour Visa landed gently at 2:13 AM, April 16, 2019 (it was dated April 15).

Thanks to all of you in the thread for keeping me sane. Answering your questions does me a world of good. It satisfies my need to poke my nose into other people's business, spend hours searching for information online and render (un)solicited advice.Thanks to @Tojued and @Ifeoma77 for the banter. @dumprep, I miss your posts. Thanks to @raphrulz for reaching out and the friendship. A special thanks to the November AOR whatsapp group @ramj, @jholarharde and all you lovely people whose NL monikers I don't know.

I have a dream that all of our hopes and dreams about Canada will come true.

iaatmguy:
send it to wes, who knows you might get a positive evaluation

iaatmguy:
please who has Nokia charger?

Ronie24:
I tap into ur testimonies. Congratulations

petrichor:
Ire mi de, ire Ayo, ire mi kabo iremi wolede...Its PPR my people

TIMELINE

ITA: 19th December 2018 (cut-off 439)
AOR: 29 Dec 2018
MEP: 10 Feb 2019
Biometrics: 12 Feb 2019
IP1: 26/02/19
IP2: 16/04/19
PPR: 17/04/19 (dated 16/04/19)
ADR: none
VO: Ottawa
POF: Fixed deposit (from gift deed and deed of sale).


The decision to migrate was made in early 2017.

Evaluated my master degree with IQAS and hubby's ND/HND with WES.

We wrote IELTS 9 times (mine 8 and hubby 1)
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I passed IELTS at the 5th attempt with LRSW - 9777

Unfortunately, this placed us at 439 and went for two more with 0.5 deficiencies in writing.

I then took the last test on 1st December 2018 and had LRSW - 8.5, 7.5, 7.5, 7.5.
This breakthrough in writing came when Dr Benson offered to teach and review my write-ups. Our CRS score then moved to 445

I never got tired of writing the exam as it was the only mountain before me that needs to be leveled for us to have ITA.

My utmost thanks goes to the God Almighty !!!

I also thank my friends Oby, @Zinggi and @Wasseynet for always being there to listen to my silly talks and unnecessary worry at odd hours of the day (you all will rest now).

Thank you so much Doc Benson for bringing the breakthrough in my writing.

To as many as are looking unto God for PPR, the Lord will grant it.

Wow!!! 9 times

You deserve all the accolades. Your determination has finally ended in praise. We rejoice with you.

You score 6. But you get 1.5 bonus marks for this ielts encouragement. Many of us here are seriously battling with it. You are now an inspiration reference, never to give up.

Thank you for your script. Total score: 7.5

All the best to you and your family in Canada.

petrichor:
Ire mi de, ire Ayo, ire mi kabo iremi wolede...Its PPR my people


We wrote IELTS 9 times (mine 8 and hubby 1)

I passed IELTS at the 5th attempt with LRSW - 9777

Unfortunately, this placed us at 439 and went for two more with 0.5 deficiencies in writing.

I then took the last test on 1st December 2018 and had LRSW - 8.5, 7.5, 7.5, 7.5.
This breakthrough in writing came when Dr Benson offered to teach and review my write-ups. Our CRS score then moved to 445

I never got tired of writing the exam as it was the only mountain before me that needs to be leveled for us to have ITA.


Thank you so much Doc Benson for bringing the breakthrough in my writing.

To as many as are looking unto God for PPR, the Lord will grant it.

Edmontonlad:
I feel like I have gotten PPR already and I never even write my test. Please allow me to celebrate about our little achievement.

So last two weeks Sunday, I and wify left for Lagos to start weac processing and her transcript. We met one elderly woman opposite the weac....

Debsify:
Lol @bolded are you Mbaise?

Ronie24:
Good morning friends, please I want to embark on this journey of express entry. But I have a lil problem. My hubby doesn't want to go with us but he says he's gonna support me and d kids that I should go ahead. My question is 'will I be considered even after the whole process'? Also, like how much will be considered satisfactory for me and d kids upkeep when I eventually get my PPR

Obi1conte:


[.

EE PROFILE CREATED: 6TH APRIL 2018 with CRS 439
ITA: October 3rd 2018 with CRS 454
AOR: 16TH October 2018
IP2 (now known as IP0 came with AOR)
MED/BIL 14TH November 2018
IP1 19TH NOVEMBER 2018
IP2 9TH APRIL 2019
PPR 12TH APRIL 2019
VO: ACCRA
FAMILY OF 4

AdetonaDami:


You have a mail oooo
Oyinbo poju

ladymarshall:

Bibididi:
Hello, I assist in sending waec to Wes. You can chat or call me on 07033971645.

Edmontonlad:
I feel like I have gotten PPR already and I never even write my test. Please allow me to celebrate about our little achievement.

So last two weeks Sunday, I and wify left for Lagos to start weac processing and her transcript. We met one elderly woman opposite the weac gate and we paid the fees she told us even though she was acting so unconcerned and hurry-up-and-pay-kinda-attitude. We spent about 28k or so because wify used GCE. We Sha left and concluded all the weac issues. We were told it will take 3 weeks for weac to process it. We proceeded to her school which was close. We met a nice and God sent woman in the transcript department of YABATECH and she helped us. She told us it will take 3 weeks to prepare the transcript before wify did different programs in ND and HND. I tipped her though. Na she dey call for updates about my wify's certificate and transcript.

Now you are wondering why I wrote this even though I have not written my ielts exam Abi?
I read a post here about the delay we might experience due to the upcoming WEAC exam and it could delay the process. I was tired and had to make sure we finish our part and live the rest to God. We did a calculation that by end of June we will get ITA. We prayed to God to touch waec and YABATECH to send the documents on time.

Guess what? We received our waec tracking number last night and got the YABATECH tracking number this morning as we used UPS. We paid N13,500.

So, we hope that if it gets to WES by this weekend, we start counting 35 working days from next week. Our June target is still on track.
Our test is next month and God's willing, we are going to WRITE IT ONCE. YES, ONCE!!! BELIEVE, WORK HARD AND GOD WILL DO THE REST.

Since I found out about Express Entry, This thread has become my second bae and ielts materials my third bae. Wify is the PA inbtw. I sleep and dream of life in Canada. We are newly married and we have decided to chill with baby making till we get to Canada. I am one of those that has made inquiries about accommodation. No day we don't discuss about life in Canada.

Point is, which ever level you are, celebrate it. It's not easy. I believe in the end, we will all be alright.

Start your process if you have not.
Get all the necessary documents ready.

@IFEOMA77 has been of great help. We appreciate you. Our ielts Prof Wasiu, we appreciate you too. To all IELTS AND ECA CLINCHERS, good news will be your portion, to ALL OUR PPR CLINCHERS, GOD HAS DONE IT. Now go and prosper in your new land. Don't listen to any negative vibes.
Thanks to everyone who has answered any of my silly questions. Daalunu!

Transformium:
Hi Everyone, Quick one please, while completing the Schedule A imm5669e form. Can I digitally sign or it's better to print out and append signature?

Ronie24:
Good morning friends, please I want to embark on this journey of express entry. But I have a lil problem. My hubby doesn't want to go with us but he says he's gonna support me and d kids that I should go ahead. My question is 'will I be considered even after the whole process'? Also, like how much will be considered satisfactory for me and d kids upkeep when I eventually get my PPR

ladymarshall:
Others have answered you but let me add my 2cents too. I too like this kin discussion

Immigration is not modern day slavery, it is a survival strategy. People have always migrated for better opportunities decades and centuries before us and future generations will continue to migrate. The Irish migrated to the US when their economy were in shambles; the Germans escaped in droves to the US during the second world war, the Chinese, Mexicans, Southern and Eastern Europeans migrated to the US for better economic opportunities during the 19th century. More recently, young and middle aged Greeks migrated to Germany, Belgium and other wealthy countries in Europe when they could not recover from the 2008 economic crisis. Currently, the Romanians, Bulgarians, Syrians, Turks see Germany as their beloved paradise because of the economic shit their home country have become and the oppression Erdogan is giving Turkish journalists and academics. I joined an Italian online group in Canada and you would be surprised how similar their discussions are to our sister thread here, and yes they are also bringing in their own people to Canada. The black Germans run to US and UK after high school due for better jobs and social life. I can go on and on of how people seeking to improve their lot in life through migration to relatively better places.

"Who will build this country if you all leave, have you ever thought of that?" What a question? Those that remain will build it, you for example. Some of those countries mentioned above rebuilt their country, while still benefiting from their diaspora populations. We in the diaspora will support them with our money and diverse knowledge. In case you don't know, remittances from the Nigerian diaspora amount to 25 billion dollars annually and contributes to 6.1% of Nigeria's GDP.

For some of us on this journey, our minds are prepared, we do not expect Canadians to roll out the red carpet and welcome us with trumpets and basket flowers. Who said it will be easy? Is Nigeria easy? Is anywhere easy? We know it will be hard and there will be discrimination but isn't it the same with Naija. Can a Mr Oduduwa buy land in Ahiazu Village, Imo state? Can a Mr Musa just go to Bayelsa to buy one of the oil wells? Or course, Canadians will trust their own people first. But we will hustle there too as it shall be permanent, what the lord has done for us Mind you, the attitude you discussed among Nigerians is not peculiar to them. Even white people envy themselves. I have lived and worked with them. They are just much more subtle and quiet about their negative energy than we are. Following this, I would like to implore all in this journey to widen their horizon beyond Nigerians and Nigeria when they get to Canada. If Nigerians are keeping information from you, seek it elsewhere, ask that Jamaican, Chinese, Indian or American colleague, do not underestimate the opportunities and connection you might get from people of other nationalities or even Canadians. We are not joined with other fellow Nigerians with the umblical cord of Nigeria outside its shores.

I would have responded to your point on relocating home and my kids returning (connecting with) to Nigeria, but I do not want to go philosophical. Lest I cause an intellectual furore with my sagacious ruminations on the concept of home, fluid identity, creolization of culture, roots versus routes, etc. Mind not my hurly-burly

Finally, honestly your courage in returning is impressive and good work you are doing. But you have American passport abi. And if anything happens, you can sharply travel for medical checkup and treatment. And maybe your children are studying abroad or even stayed back in America. Na so all our leaders dey do na, medical check fiam, all their family, overseas, even while "serving" their country Having travelled wide and seeing first hand the discrimination that comes with having a green card yama yama Ecowas passport, let me too go to Kuvukiland Cannyland and get my navy blue passy, then maybe I will return to beg naija for forgiveness on this grave "betrayal". Up blue!!!

ladymarshall:
replied. Check