CANADA HERE WE COME!

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Government and/or Official Sites	Sites by Private Individuals	Lawyer/Immigration Consultant Sites	Immigration Information
General Information	University Sites	Company Sites	English Français

Hello! My name is Neyir Cenk Gökçe. I have prepared these pages about immigration to Canada to help others who are in the same track as I am, and to share my own experiences.

I am sorry for the franchophones who would like to use this page that I cannot offer a french version of cette page, parce que mon francais n'est pas sufficient pour quelle t�che. Il y a une version d'essai fran�ais ici, mais il est encore en construction.

First, the basic facts. This page is mostly aimed at the Independent Category (Skilled Worker) immigrants-to-be, though most of the links and non-SW specific information found here and the linked sites can be utilized by all categories.

Canada uses a point scoring system in selecting its independent immigrants, thus trying to ensure that once admitted, these immigrants would be able to hold up their own. The immigrants are assessed on their professional, experience and linguistic skills, as well as their personal suitability as determined by the immigration officer. You will find below information about this from a variety of sources, both governmental and immigration lawyer, immigration consultant sites, up to and including free assessments.

It may occur you to ask whether you need a lawyer/consultant to succeed in the Canadian Immigration application. This is not a question to be disregarded, and it usually changes on a case-by-case basis. However, from the experiences of past successful immigrants and the postings on our newsgroup, misc.immigration.canada I can offer you a rough guideline. Please be advised that I am neither a lawyer or consultant, so this is my personal understanding, based on the sources I cite above. Also, you might want to consult several FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) maintained by several people.

You can probably succeed in your application for permanent residence in the independent category without the needing help from professionals if:

You have a University/College degree from an institution recognized by the relevant Canadian Professional Association (CCPE for engineers, CCTT for technicians and technologists--more on this at degree assessment.)
You have a good working knowledge of one or both of the official languages spoken in Canada,
You have at least one year of professional work experience in the area of your degree specialization,
You can demonstrate that this work experience/job description has a counterpart in the May 1 (revised May 21) release of the General Occupation List, or your job qualifications are in accordince to the NOC descriptions of the Occupations,
You do not have a serious health problem,
You do not have any criminal convictions,
You have the requisite settlement funds.

On the other hand, you would most probably need the help of professionals for the success of your application if:

You have a degree which is not able to be assessed by the relevant Canadian Association,
You have experience in another field than your degree specialization, without formal training in it,
There is no exact NOC classification for your job description,
You have difficulty in one or both of the official languages (this doesn't automatically disqualify you--the Canadian Government even has a Language Instruction for Newcomers (LINC) program),
You have other special circumstances so that you fall short of the 70 pts score required, because of misrepresentation of your skills/capabilities.

Don't be misled, though, by anybody (lawyer/attorney/consultant) who claims to have special, good, etc. relationships with Canadian Immigration Officers--Canada is not like many of the countries immigrants come from, having personal contacts with immigration officers will not make an inadmissable person admissible, and it's against the law to boot. Anyone who claims they can get you in because they have special relationships should be avoided like the plague. Also, disregard those con artists who offer you an in to the US of A through immigration to Canada--first of all, Permanent Residents of Canada, unless they are Canadian Citizens, are not covered by the NAFTA agreement--landing in Canada and then going south to work in the USA can lose you your Canadian Residency and if caught by the US authorities, cause your deportation as illegal aliens.

The rest of this page deals with the degree assessment, required documents, settlement funds, and other pre-immigration stuff. Please feel free to use the below links if you have already applied for/accepted and need more information useful for the newcomer or newcomer-to-be.

IMMIGRATION TO CANADA OVERVIEW

There is a lot of information on the internet about Immigration to Canada, but all the information to be found can be categorized into three groups--governmental (including embassy/consulate sites), immigration professional (lawyer/attorney/consultant) and private (including this page and other immigrant made pages).

All of these three sources offer you different levels and different brands of information and as such, would best be utilized all together.

For up-to-date and strictly factual information, your best bet is to follow the governmental/offical links (marked with ).

Of course, strictly factual cuts both ways--some of the stuff you find on governmental sites are well-nigh unintelligible for the average person. The immigration professionals' sites (marked with ) offer, in addition to the other professional services they provide, insights and explanations into many CIC publications and announcements. They are also the first stop for anyone seriously considering immigrating to Canada, since they can provide you with free assessments that can help you decide whether you really want to take that crucial step.

Finally, there are the sites put together by private individuals, (marked with ) which can offer you what really happens, and has answers to more trivial kind of questions that necessarily escape the attention of the above two groupings.

Degree Assessment

If you do not have an undergraduate degree from a Canadian institution, you might need to get it certified by the appropriate professional body in Canada. Engineers, (excluding computer engineers/professionals) should contact the CCPE for an Informal Assesment of Engineering Qualifications, with the below information.

For the D: section of the CCPE Informal Assesment of Qualifications for Immigration Purposes For Engineers (CCPE001/Dec95) [which you can obtain via your local consulate/embassy or by writing to the above address] you need: Engineering Education:
"Include all university level education, noting each institution's city and country. If the institution has changed names since you graduated, include both the old and new news. Attach a certified copy of your diploma and transcripts (course marks). Do not send originals. Documentation sent to CCPE will be destroyed after the assessment is finalized."
For the E: section of the selfsame form you need: Registration, certification or licences to practice as a professional engineer:
"Include full name of the registring body, (i.e., Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London) and full name of membership (i.e. associate member, corporate member, engineering member, licence to practice, etc.). Attach a certified copy of your membership certificate. "
For the F: section of the selfsame form you need: Significant engineering experience:
Attach a short resumé or curriculum vitæ listing dates, positions held and a short description of job duties.

Before you send the package to CCPE at the above address, make sure that you have:

Certified copy of diploma(s) and course transcripts. Do not send originals.
Employment history or resumè.
Fee of $175.00 CAD, payable to the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers by international money order, encoded certified cheque drawn on a Canadian bank. Please note that CCPE do not accept Worldwide Money Transfer. CCPE takes no responsibility for loss when fee is paid in cash.
Self-addressed envelope.

The Street Address of the CCPE (which stands for Canadian Council of Professional Engineers) is:

The Canadian Council of Professional Engineers

Informal Assesment Program

Suite 401, 116 Albert Street

Ottawa, ON K1P 5G3

Canada

Tel: +1 (613) 232-2474
Fax: +1 (613) 230-5759

A similiar process should be pursued if you are a technician and/or technologist, but you should contact the CCTT (which stands for: Canadian Council of Technicians and Technologists), for it.

The street address of the CCTT is:

The Canadian Council of Technicians and Technologists

285 McLeod Street

2nd Floor

Ottawa, ON K2P 1A1

Canada

Tel: +1 (613) 238-8123
Fax: +1 (613) 238-8822