Bachelor of Law (LLB) ECA

[Dee9191]

Co-asking

If you go patiently through previous posts on this thread, you’ll easily find your answer.

ICES evaluates your LLB as a 4 year Bachelors degree. I know this because that was what they issued to me. I confronted them about it and that is when they put up the FAQ on their website saying that they have instructions not to issue evaluations equating LLB to a professional degree. This confrontation occurred after I had submitted my PR application with the ICES report and found out from my GCMS Notes that my application was on the verge of being denied. Why? Because the immigration official processing my application re-calculated my CRS to reflect my LLB as a 4 year Bachelors degree rather than a professional degree. I tried writing CIC to draw their attention to their own policy of treating LLB degrees as professional degrees and I only got a response that they would look into it. But I didn’t get any feedback for a very long while. I eventually sought assistance from the MP’s office but they couldn’t do much to help other than tell me that my application was in queue to be reviewed by an officer and that I had to be patient. Keep in mind that I had applied in January and the 6 months timeline for them to process my application had passed months before.

Thankfully, I was already pursuing a Masters Degree in Canada and I completed my program in August. I called CIC to find out if I could submit my program completion letter in order to claim points for having a Canadian degree. I was told that it wasn’t possible since the degree was completed after I had submitted my application. Nevertheless, in late September, after giving it much thought, I decided to submit my program completion letter (issued by my course department). A week after, I got a message from CIC asking for my transcript. I sent my transcript. They then sent another message two weeks later asking for proof that my degree had been conferred. (I don’t understand why because my transcript said ‘degree granted on September’... Maybe they specifically wanted to see the word ‘conferred’). Anyways, I sent the program completion letter issued by my school which used the word ‘conferred’. Three weeks later, I got my ready for visa email and my application was officially approved on November 27. So my application took 10months and 19 days to be completed.

I really don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t finished my Masters at the time I did. Would my application have been rejected? I know one other person whose application was rejected on this same issue.

So, because of the lack of clarity and uniformity in the process used by CIC in assessing LLB degrees, my general advice for people with only LLB degrees is to use IQAS even though it takes a longer time to get the report and I understand that IQAS has paused working on newly submitted applications for some time now. But it’s up to you. It’s possible that those of us who had issues with the ICES report simply had bad luck and that you may be luckier than we were.

 

[Mohit.19]

Hi everyone ..I was going through all d messages in thread n has made me nervous. My EE profile was created on 10 July 2019 n I gt d ITA on 11 July 2019. I have done BALLB(Hons) from Panjab University Chandigarh. My WES report concludes that I hold dual degree not a professional degree. The CRS score during d draw was 460 but consultant told me that WES has miscalculated my degree and she created my profile with a professional degree option and with that my CRS score reached 476 instead of 469 if I had opted for dual degree option. My AOR is 27 August 2019 bt I hvnt received PPR yet. Please help me out is it due to selection of wrong option that I hvnt got d PPR or I am on the safe side. Please guide me abt GCMS notes also. Thanks

 

[stacygal]

I have a BALLB (Hons.) - 5 years course and a post graduate diploma in media laws (distance learning) from NALSAR University.

Do I have to get my BALLB (Hons.) assessed or my PG diploma assessed ?

HELLoo please which degree did you access and where did you do your ECA if already done.

 

[Spiritofgod]

any update on those who had "self verified" their degree as Professional ? on the same boat have been given a Bachelors Degree ( 4 years) by WES so was wondering whether there was any update on the same

Im on the same boat, just got wes result and my llb was stated as bachelor 4 years. Can anyone who self verified their degree as professional shares their experience??

 

[Gsnarnav]

I can't say about him but I am in a simikar boat too.
I did B.A,LL.B (5 years integrated) and was given a dual bachelors (4 years) evaluation by WES.
It freaked me out originally because I expected my ECA to give me a 'professional degree' evaluation. So, what i did intialy was that i while applying through EE, i mentioned both my B.A, and LL.B as separate degrees (i.e both as bachelors). And though i made though eligibility, my CRS was lowered by 8 points.
Then i did some research and realised that a dual bachelors evaluation by WES doesn't imply that you have two degrees. So, that put me in another fix, because the EE profile doesn't give you an option to fill dual bachelors (unless you put them separately, which is not proper).

So, I did some more research and found out this.
No matter what WES evaluation says, if it gives you an assessment of Bachelors in Law, it will be considered as a professional degree. Thereby implying that it is not up to WES to give you a professional competency. It's up to CIC.
Also, WES is just an advisory body. There decisions are not binding on CIC.

And there by, I amended my education history section accordingly. I removed the two bachelor degrees and in their place just added LAW as a professional degree.

(I am currently waiting for the ITA, and most probably will get that in the next draw, my CRS post revision being 453.)

As a corroboration to what i said, I am attaching a link to the CIC chart which compares with ECA wordings with what they actual mean for CIC. (Just write bachelor of laws in filtering and you ll see what i mean.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/documents/education-assessed/read-report.html

I hope that would clear the doubt in your mind.

Though i must agree, the lack of clarity on this matter is really annoying.

P.S - Once you receive ITA and start submitting documents, don't forget to write a simple letter of explanation, explaining the entire situation and why you have entered your law degree as professional (cite reason as the CIC chart.)

Hi

i have a dual degree from pune
i was given one degree after third year and another after the fifth year.(BSL after third, Bachelors of law after 5 )
do i get wes eca for two degree of single

 

[sidaksandhu]

Yes it also has Bachelor of Law as a Professional degree needed to practice in a licensed profession.

So you mean I should get the ECA done from WES and it would show it as a Bachelor's degree (and not a professional one). While applying at CIC I should choose Professional degree needed to practice in a licensed profession ?

Hey
Did you apply as professional degree and then receive an ITA? Was it accepted by the IRCC?

 

[Sandhu8857]

Hello. CIC is currently giving me a headache. I have an LLB which was assessed by ICES as a 4 year bachelors degree. I recorded it as a professional degree in line the education comparison chart. Ordered my GCMS Notes and got them today. What do I see? Eligibility not met as my CRS score was recalculated with a 4 year bachelors degree instead of a professional degree. Case Processing Agent at CIO recommended my application for refusal. Don’t know what to do. And I know lots of people who have gotten PR with their LLB assessed as a 4 year bachelors degree. Any advise on what to do?

Hello, i am in also in same boat, can you please let me know did your case got through

 

[Sandhu8857]

Hi everyone ..I was going through all d messages in thread n has made me nervous. My EE profile was created on 10 July 2019 n I gt d ITA on 11 July 2019. I have done BALLB(Hons) from Panjab University Chandigarh. My WES report concludes that I hold dual degree not a professional degree. The CRS score during d draw was 460 but consultant told me that WES has miscalculated my degree and she created my profile with a professional degree option and with that my CRS score reached 476 instead of 469 if I had opted for dual degree option. My AOR is 27 August 2019 bt I hvnt received PPR yet. Please help me out is it due to selection of wrong option that I hvnt got d PPR or I am on the safe side. Please guide me abt GCMS notes also. Thanks

Broh did you got your PR yet, i am also in same boat, i have my dual bachelor's

 

[dk712]

So what I have noticed in your post, and this is also something I was confused about, your WES result showed a 'Bachelor's Degree 4 Years', and not a 'Bachelor of Laws'. I understand one scores points for a professional degree if WES's Canadian equivalency result is 'Bachelor in Laws', not 'Bachelors' Degree 4 years'.

I am in the same position, have a Bachelors Degree 4 years from WES. However, I am in the process of applying for IQAS. Maybe that's what you need to consider to do.

Hi, did you get any positive response from IQAS on this, would love to hear if things worked out for you in a positive manner? Many thanks!

 

[Islander216]

You can't use LLB as a professional degree for your immigration application in Canada, professional degrees for law are postgraduate degrees in North America.

LLB counts as equivalent to a bachelor's degree.

In any case, you're supposed to fill your application for your education with the equivalence which is stated in your ECA.

 

[dk712]

You can't use LLB as a professional degree for your immigration application in Canada, professional degrees for law are postgraduate degrees in North America.

LLB counts as equivalent to a bachelor's degree.

In any case, you're supposed to fill your application for your education with the equivalence which is stated in your ECA.

I am attaching a link to the twitter handle of IRCC. Kindly have a look!

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1188825674238382081

 

[Islander216]

Then why are so many people having trouble with it when they select professional degree for their LLB?

If you show me one ECA that shows your LLB as equivalent to a professional degree, i will happily concede this point.

But i do see that the website counts it as professional degree, so i stand corrected.

But i find this very strange, and most likely why people are having trouble with this.

 

[dk712]

Yes, that is exactly what is preventing me from doing the same. But, one thing to consider here is the ECAs are done primarily for IRCC which decides on one's application, and they have confirmed the said issue through their twitter handle.

I don't disagree with you on the fact that some people might have faced trouble when they selected their qualification to be that of professional level equivalence. And, it is due to that I am wanting to hear from those who submitted their application to IQAS.

Last, I believe the post made on the twitter account of IRCC dates back to September 2019, and there are significant chances that WES may have considered giving Professional Degree equivalence to the applicants who would have submitted their applications after that date.

 

[Devils advocate]

Yes, that is exactly what is preventing me from doing the same. But, one thing to consider here is the ECAs are done primarily for IRCC which decides on one's application, and they have confirmed the said issue through their twitter handle.

I don't disagree with you on the fact that some people might have faced trouble when they selected their qualification to be that of professional level equivalence. And, it is due to that I am wanting to hear from those who submitted their application to IQAS.

Last, I believe the post made on the twitter account of IRCC dates back to September 2019, and there are significant chances that WES may have considered giving Professional Degree equivalence to the applicants who would have submitted their applications after that date.

Infact wes has considered my LLB as first professional degree( Juris Doctor) n LLM as masters

 

[dk712]

t

Infact wes has considered my LLB as first professional degree( Juris Doctor) n LLM as masters

That is such a great news to hear. Can you confirm when did you get your educational credentials assessed from WES? Also if you can tell from where did you complete your LLB?