Total years of foreign skilled experience in one occupation

[JNiro]

I'm considering applying for immigration to Canada, possibly through Express Entry. The Canadian Immigration website has been immensely useful, but I do wish to clarify one particular aspect.

The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) tool has the following question:

In the last 10 years, how many total years of foreign skilled work experience do you have?
It must have been paid, full-time (or an equal amount in part-time), and in only one occupation (NOC skill type 0, A or B).​

I've been working since 2012 at various companies across two countries. From March 2013 to October 2017, I worked as an analyst in finance and strategy at a now defunct company in Dubai (March 2013 - February 2016) and in Sri Lanka at KPMG (May 2016 - October 2017). Thereafter, I moved to my current job as a writer, having decided that it was what I truly wanted to do and would continue to pursue it should I move to Canada. However, I've accumulated only 2 years as a writer.

My issue is this: While I essentially have 4 years of experience as a finance/strategy analyst, I have no letter of work experience to prove the first three years (although I can get letters of reference from at least two of the managers I worked for). I can acquire a letter of experience from my fourth year at KPMG Sri Lanka. The 2 years of experience I've accumulated as a writer would negatively affect my CRS score.

Can I still claim to have over 3 years of foreign skilled work experience in one occupation (finance/strategy analyst), even though I cannot obtain a letter of work experience for 3 out of 4 years (and do not wish to pursue that line of work any further)? Will I have no choice but to state I've only acquired 2 years of work experience in one occupation?

Thanks for your help and advice!

 

[livingforever]

I am in a similar situation as you and my understanding is with any immigration system, you can only claim points for what you can prove.
Do you not have any offer letters, payslips, Id Cards etc for first three years in analyst job ? If not, I think you can only claim points for your writing experience. I hope someone can shed more light on this.

 

[phl2019]

Can I still claim to have over 3 years of foreign skilled work experience in one occupation (finance/strategy analyst), even though I cannot obtain a letter of work experience for 3 out of 4 years (and do not wish to pursue that line of work any further)? Will I have no choice but to state I've only acquired 2 years of work experience in one occupation?

From my understanding of the system, your best bet is to give yourself the best chances of scoring higher by claiming points for your 3-4 years of work as a finance/strategy analyst. Should you be granted PPR and move to Canada, you won't be limited nor expected to pursue that NOC anyway.

However, to establish that you do have the 3-4 years experience you will be claiming, you need to provide proof via reference letters from your managers or people above you at those jobs.

If you want to see how much either of your options (years as analyst or writer) will affect your score, try the CRS tool:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/crs-tool.asp

Cut off scores have been hovering around 450 points.

 

[JNiro]

Thanks for your replies, guys. Unfortunately, I don't have payslips or any letters or identification from my time in Dubai. Reference letters might be my best hope (and my former managers have since moved on to reputable workplaces).

If I were to claim that I have 2 years of work experience as a writer (I'm still a few months short), I would earn 442 points. 3 years of experience would push me to 467 points.

Either way, it will take at least a month for me to complete the ECA for my degrees and do the IELTS exam so I'll proceed with those first.

 

[phl2019]

Reference letters might be my best hope

And this is what you need to submit as clearly stated on the IRCC website:

The following documents are mandatory for each work experience declared:

• a reference or experience letter from the employer, which
  • should be an official document printed on company letterhead (must include the applicant’s name, the company’s contact information [address, telephone number and email address], and the name, title and signature of the immediate supervisor or personnel officer at the company),
  • should indicate all positions held while employed at the company and must include the following details: job title, duties and responsibilities, job status (if current job), dates worked for the company, number of work hours per week and annual salary plus benefits

If it’s now defunct try to get a statement as well from the former managers and explain why the letters aren’t on official letterhead templates and what not.

 

[JNiro]

And this is what you need to submit as clearly stated on the IRCC website:

The following documents are mandatory for each work experience declared:

• a reference or experience letter from the employer, which
  • should be an official document printed on company letterhead (must include the applicant’s name, the company’s contact information [address, telephone number and email address], and the name, title and signature of the immediate supervisor or personnel officer at the company),
  • should indicate all positions held while employed at the company and must include the following details: job title, duties and responsibilities, job status (if current job), dates worked for the company, number of work hours per week and annual salary plus benefits

If it’s now defunct try to get a statement as well from the former managers.

Yes, an official document was out of the question and although reference letters aren't listed as a document, I figure it's my only shot. I have nothing to lose at this point. Thanks for the help!

 

[livingforever]

And this is what you need to submit as clearly stated on the IRCC website:

The following documents are mandatory for each work experience declared:

• a reference or experience letter from the employer, which
  • should be an official document printed on company letterhead (must include the applicant’s name, the company’s contact information [address, telephone number and email address], and the name, title and signature of the immediate supervisor or personnel officer at the company),
  • should indicate all positions held while employed at the company and must include the following details: job title, duties and responsibilities, job status (if current job), dates worked for the company, number of work hours per week and annual salary plus benefits

If it’s now defunct try to get a statement as well from the former managers and explain why the letters aren’t on official letterhead templates and what not.

phl2019, sorry to ask a bit of an unrelated thing here, but are you able to look and reply to this thread of mine? Thanks in advance.


https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/which-noc-to-nominate-4313-non-commissioned-ranks-or-1221-administrative-officers.641445/

 

[hodari]

You can use a combination of eligible (A, B, or 0) NOCs as long as your experience in your primary NOC consists of at least 1 uninterrupted year.

I used two NOCs. 1 year/ 2years and I got points for 3 years. I received my PPR 3 weeks ago.

 

[Angel92]

You can use a combination of eligible (A, B, or 0) NOCs as long as your experience in your primary NOC consists of at least 1 uninterrupted year.

I used two NOCs. 1 year/ 2years and I got points for 3 years. I received my PPR 3 weeks ago.

Hello, may I clarify do you mean by the "primary NOC?" I have 2-year foreign work experience in NOC B, and 1-year foreign work experience in NOC 0. Do you think I can combine both and apply for the total of "3 years or more of foreign work experience and in one occupation" in express entry?

Thanks

 

[phl2019]

Hello, may I clarify do you mean by the "primary NOC?" I have 2-year foreign work experience in NOC B, and 1-year foreign work experience in NOC 0. Do you think I can combine both and apply for the total of "3 years or more of foreign work experience and in one occupation" in express entry?

Thanks

Hi,
From my experience you can combine that. I did mine for 4 in Marketing and 2 in Teaching to claim 6. I think what matters with express entry is you have at least 1 year in a primary NOC.

Can’t remember if it’s advisable to set the primary NOC at the one where you had most years at. But seems logical to do so.

Nevertheless, you won’t need to pursue that primary NOC when you move here anyway.

Hope this helps.

 

[Angel92]

Hi,
From my experience you can combine that. I did mine for 4 in Marketing and 2 in Teaching to claim 6. I think what matters with express entry is you have at least 1 year in a primary NOC.

Can’t remember if it’s advisable to set the primary NOC at the one where you had most years at. But seems logical to do so.

Nevertheless, you won’t need to pursue that primary NOC when you move here anyway.

Hope this helps.

Very helpful. Many thanks!!