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Can we use expired IELTS certificate?

T

ttttt

Star Member
Jan 30, 2015
61
10
Hello everyone,
Hope all of you are doing great. My wife will be eligible to apply for her citizenship on July,2022. I have few points about that to ask,

1. She appeared for general training IELTS exam on October,18,2014 in our home country under British Council and she got 4.5 in listening, 3.5 in reading, 5.0 in writing, and 5.0 in speaking. Overall band score 4.5

2. She didn’t use her IELTS certificate as she came in Canada as a spouse.

Can she use this certificate to meet the English proficiency criteria for the Citizenship application? Please advise on this. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated!! Thanks for your time!!
 
PG12

PG12

Hero Member
Sep 22, 2016
249
34
ttttt said:
Hello everyone,
Hope all of you are doing great. My wife will be eligible to apply for her citizenship on July,2022. I have few points about that to ask,

1. She appeared for general training IELTS exam on October,18,2014 in our home country under British Council and she got 4.5 in listening, 3.5 in reading, 5.0 in writing, and 5.0 in speaking. Overall band score 4.5

2. She didn’t use her IELTS certificate as she came in Canada as a spouse.

Can she use this certificate to meet the English proficiency criteria for the Citizenship application? Please advise on this. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated!! Thanks for your time!!
Click to expand...
No, she cannot use this IELTS score, as it must have been expired by 2016, She needs to appear for the exam again if the application demands it.
 
A

abbas.pasha

VIP Member
Sep 17, 2016
3,605
2,023
ttttt said:
Hello everyone,
Hope all of you are doing great. My wife will be eligible to apply for her citizenship on July,2022. I have few points about that to ask,

1. She appeared for general training IELTS exam on October,18,2014 in our home country under British Council and she got 4.5 in listening, 3.5 in reading, 5.0 in writing, and 5.0 in speaking. Overall band score 4.5

2. She didn’t use her IELTS certificate as she came in Canada as a spouse.

Can she use this certificate to meet the English proficiency criteria for the Citizenship application? Please advise on this. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated!! Thanks for your time!!
Click to expand...
She can use the IELTS even if it is expired…
(at least with the information provided at present through this link : https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/application-forms-guides/guide-0002-application-canadian-citizenship-under-subsection-5-1-adults-18-years-older.html

These pages are updated often so make sure you refer the requirements (and use the latest forms) for your application
Here is the extract from instruction guide:

International English Language Testing
System (IELTS), General Training. You must have a score of:
    • 4.0 or higher in speaking and
    • 4.5 or higher in listening. (Note: If the test was done before November 28, 2008, we will accept a level 4 or higher)
 
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J

justanotherguy28

Star Member
Sep 28, 2021
99
54
ttttt said:
Hello everyone,
Hope all of you are doing great. My wife will be eligible to apply for her citizenship on July,2022. I have few points about that to ask,

1. She appeared for general training IELTS exam on October,18,2014 in our home country under British Council and she got 4.5 in listening, 3.5 in reading, 5.0 in writing, and 5.0 in speaking. Overall band score 4.5

2. She didn’t use her IELTS certificate as she came in Canada as a spouse.

Can she use this certificate to meet the English proficiency criteria for the Citizenship application? Please advise on this. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated!! Thanks for your time!!
Click to expand...
The general understanding is you can use an expired General Training result.

But IRCC's wording is a little ambiguous:
"NOTE: If you did the test in the past for immigration or citizenship purposes, we will accept the results even if it has expired."

For Quebec, the wording is very clear:
"We will accept the following proof if you have submitted them in the past for immigration purposes to Quebec"

For non-Quebec, English tests they should've clarified what it means to say "If you did the test in the past for immigration or citizenship purposes". It's unclear how they process your language qualification. Do they just open up your PR application and compare the IELTS results and if they match they accept it?

Nevertheless, if I were you and situation permits: I'd give it another try in say, Feb/March 2022 (assuming she is eligible to apply in June, I believe the results are valid for 6 months from date of test). If the score is above their requirement, I'd of course just submit it.

If not, I'd ask for a clarification with IRCC on what their stated requirement means.

I understand attending an IELTS test can be a nasty experience, but this is just to be on the safer side and this is totally *my personal preference*.

If you like, you can also try just applying with the old results but I'd just take one precaution if I decide to do that. If you and your wife are qualifying at the same time, it's a good idea to send your application and your wife's in two separate packages so even if her app gets delayed/returned because of this yours won't be affected.
 
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