Applicant from PhD program after 5 Nov, 2011 connect here to get status

[asbereth]

I received similar letter as well. They probably feel necessary to remind people that they need to be in good academic standing to be eligible, and this was probably due to a high number of people getting their applications returned earlier precisely because they did not mention good academic standing on their letters (the schools, too, were at fault for sometimes not willing to put it there, or not to make it an option). Another important thing to highlight here is the fact that the PhD stream is just an eligibility criterion, and applicants still need to satisfy the 67 points and the one year continuous work experience requirements.

As well, CIC wishes to remind all applicants that the PhD eligibility stream introduced in November 2011 is not in and of itself a program for permanent residence and that meeting the requirements of the PhD stream does not guarantee an applicant will receive a visa for permanent residence. Rather, the PhD stream is a set of criteria that determines an applicant's eligibility for consideration under the Federal Skilled Worker Program, which is a program under which foreign nationals can obtain permanent residence in Canada

I would, however, wonder about this particular bit

Applicants who are positively assessed against the PhD stream eligibility criteria – or the criteria of any of the other eligibility streams – must then fulfill the requirements of the Federal Skilled Worker Program, including that they have at least one year of continuous, paid work experience (full-time or the equivalent in part-time), in a skilled occupation (Skill Type 0, or Skill Level A or B as set out in the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC) list.

which makes it sound as if PER is issued to those that only have for sure satisfied the eligibility, even though we know for sure that they also checked the one-year work experience requirement, and also even the total number of points (due to the number of rejected cases, not because of PhD eligibility criterion, but also because of not having enough points and not having the required continuous one year of work experience). We will see I guess.

 

[MSE]

I just received this letter from my university, hopyfully this will help the future applicants.

Message on behalf of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC):

Since November 2011, international students who are pursuing a PhD at a Canadian post-secondary institution (as well as recent graduates of a Canadian PhD program) have been eligible to apply for permanent residence as Federal Skilled Workers. This special eligibility stream, which is capped at 1,000 new applications per year, is particularly attractive to doctoral students who had found it difficult to meet the requirements introduced in 2010 that determine an applicant's eligibility for the Federal Skilled Worker Program.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) reports that early outcomes are encouraging: in only five months, hundreds of applications have already been received. However, CIC finds it necessary to make an adjustment to how applicants complete their applications. Effective immediately, those applicants who are now required to submit a letter of attestation from their institution must use a template, available on the CIC website [...]. The letter, which will need to be printed on institutional letterhead, complete with stamp or seal, will be signed by the Dean of Graduate Studies or his/her designate. Note that the letter must be an original – no photo copies – and as is the case now, must be submitted by the applicant with their application. Applicants are directed to CIC's website for more information on meeting the application requirements.



As well, CIC wishes to remind all applicants that the PhD eligibility stream introduced in November 2011 is not in and of itself a program for permanent residence and that meeting the requirements of the PhD stream does not guarantee an applicant will receive a visa for permanent residence. Rather, the PhD stream is a set of criteria that determines an applicant's eligibility for consideration under the Federal Skilled Worker Program, which is a program under which foreign nationals can obtain permanent residence in Canada. Applicants who are positively assessed against the PhD stream eligibility criteria – or the criteria of any of the other eligibility streams – must then fulfill the requirements of the Federal Skilled Worker Program, including that they have at least one year of continuous, paid work experience (full-time or the equivalent in part-time), in a skilled occupation (Skill Type 0, or Skill Level A or B as set out in the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC) list. Applicants will also be assessed against the selection factors in the skilled worker selection points grid and must be found admissible to Canada. Applicants are strongly encouraged to ensure they meet all requirements before submitting their application. See CIC's website for more information on the Federal Skilled Worker Program: [.........].

Thank you.

I hope they fix glitches in the attestation template. My full-name does not fit inside their template... hence it shows as cropped in the output. Further, they want Graduate office to sign on it, but when an applicant puts in his/her department name in it, the template automatically generates 'FROM' field with that dept name. Why would grad office sign a document, that is labelled as 'FROM: the dept'?

 

[TyrusX]

I would, however, wonder about this particular bit

which makes it sound as if PER is issued to those that only have for sure satisfied the eligibility, even though we know for sure that they also checked the one-year work experience requirement, and also even the total number of points (due to the number of rejected cases, not because of PhD eligibility criterion, but also because of not having enough points and not having the required continuous one year of work experience). We will see I guess.

But they say this:

must then fulfill the requirements of the Federal Skilled Worker Program

 

[crazyleader]

Hello guys,
I have been following the topic, I have sent my documents late Jan, and got my per mid Feb, and today got an email from ottawa asking for financial proof. The email says "Please provide evidence of funds which are completely available, transferrable and unencumbered by debt or other obligations. Evidence of account activity for the past six months must also be submitted. This must be received at this office by: 07/29/2012"
As I said, surprisingly the address to send the document is in Ottawa (Case Processing Pilot - Ottawa)
Would you please answer my two questions if you can,
1) does it mean they have accepted all other documents of mine and this is the only doc needed?
2) how much fund should I provide? I have a print of my recent balance which is pretty high like more than 30000, but I have paid two international fees (me and my wife) and I have very little now. Since they have also asked for a six month statement, I am worried because my balance was very little through Feb and March. Isn't it enough if I send the current balance I have, what would happen if they do not accept my balance? would I have another chance?
Is there any other one with such issue?

Thanks,

 

[asbereth]

But they say this:

must then fulfill the requirements of the Federal Skilled Worker Program

Yeah, even though we have witnessed several applicants not getting positively assessed for not fulfilling the requirements of the Federal Skilled Worker Program. Whether they check applications against the requirements after or before PER is the question here, and it does look like from several applicants in this very thread that positive eligibility assessment implies fulfillment of the other requirements as well. We'll see, hopefully that is the case.

Hello guys,
I have been following the topic, I have sent my documents late Jan, and got my per mid Feb, and today got an email from ottawa asking for financial proof. The email says "Please provide evidence of funds which are completely available, transferrable and unencumbered by debt or other obligations. Evidence of account activity for the past six months must also be submitted. This must be received at this office by: 07/29/2012"

That is interesting. You're the second person here that has gotten the same letter, did you really get your PER on mid February (that seems to be against the norm where people that applied late January got their PER's mostly sometimes in March did you actually mean mid-March), and are you applying through the PhD stream? Do you mind sharing your timeline with us? If your PER was indeed mid-March rather than mid-Feb, then expect a lot of medicals soon, maybe tomorrow. It seems that they have finally gone as far as processing March PER (which means BF'D for a lot of our folks here).

Anyway, nobody really knows for sure exactly what they're expecting with these letters, and whether in all 6 months you need to always have above 14,000. But you ask if it will be enough if you just show current balance, then I think you do need to show BOTH balance and activities within the last 6 months (since it is what they have asked specifically). Do you currently have at least 14,000 available in any of your bank accounts? It might not be a bad idea to make sure that your balance stays above 14,000 for at least a while before sending the statement and activities to them (maybe send it close to the due date so that you will have close to two months of bank account with balance above 14,000). Somebody might be able to answer this better.

 

[crazyleader]

did you really get your PER on mid February (that seems to be against the norm where people that applied late January got their PER's mostly sometimes in March did you actually mean mid-March), and are you applying through the PhD stream? You mind sharing your timeline with us?

You are right, checked again, got per in 8th march, doc reached 21th Jan or something like that, and my card charged 22 Feb. And surely I am in PhD stream.

 

[cdhbamboo]

Hi cdhbamboo, did you try calling the call center? Explain your situation (that you received your PER, need to correct mistakes, etc), and ask them about the closure of Buffalo office and how it would relate to this.

That's what I did several days back regarding my own corrections (which I have sent to Buffalo once I got my PER back late March), but they told me not to do anything more since they would just match up the corrections with the applications, and send them to the appropriate processing centers.

Thank you very much, Asbereth! I will try it.

 

[cdhbamboo]

As I said, surprisingly the address to send the document is in Ottawa (Case Processing Pilot - Ottawa)Thanks,

Hi Crazyleader, do you mind tell us the mail address of Case Processing Pilot - Ottawa?

It is not available online.

Thank you a lot.

 

[asbereth]

You are right, checked again, got per in 8th march, doc reached 21th Jan or something like that, and my card charged 22 Feb. And surely I am in PhD stream.

Hi crazyleader, let us know what you will end up doing regarding the bank statement, hopefully all goes well. Can you tell us the other information as well so I can include you on the spreadsheet?

I suppose I was right in saying that they process a batch of PER dates rather than on individual ones (and yesterday, which was EXACTLY one week after the last BF'D, which was 23rd of May, was apparently the BF'D for a lot of people). TyrusX (and other early March PER guys), expect your medicals really really soon

Thank you very much, Asbereth! I will try it.

No problem, man, let me know how it goes. Anyway, I think you can find CPP Ottawa's address here:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/offices/canada/ottawa.asp

 

[GeoCanadian]

Hello guys,
I have been following the topic, I have sent my documents late Jan, and got my per mid Feb, and today got an email from ottawa asking for financial proof. The email says "Please provide evidence of funds which are completely available, transferrable and unencumbered by debt or other obligations. Evidence of account activity for the past six months must also be submitted. This must be received at this office by: 07/29/2012"
As I said, surprisingly the address to send the document is in Ottawa (Case Processing Pilot - Ottawa)
Would you please answer my two questions if you can,
1) does it mean they have accepted all other documents of mine and this is the only doc needed?
2) how much fund should I provide? I have a print of my recent balance which is pretty high like more than 30000, but I have paid two international fees (me and my wife) and I have very little now. Since they have also asked for a six month statement, I am worried because my balance was very little through Feb and March. Isn't it enough if I send the current balance I have, what would happen if they do not accept my balance? would I have another chance?
Is there any other one with such issue?

Thanks,

Hi crazyleader,

Would you be so kind to share your timeline with us in detail? It will be tremendous help to this forum members.

As far as the request is concerned, I believe anyone that did not send the proof (such as certification letter from their bank) that they have enough cash sitting in their bank account(s) that is sufficient to meet the settlement fund requirment, will get the similar request. For instance, I expect to get the same request as I only sent them official property valuation and net worth figures. Now they will need to see that I can actually turn my net worth into enough liquid cash "completely available, transferrable and unencumbered by debt" in order to meet the settlement requirment.

On the other hand, I will be very, very surprised if similar request is received by those who actually showed sufficient cash amount sitting in their account that met the settlement fund requirment at the time of application.

 

[crazyleader]

Hi Crazyleader, do you mind tell us the mail address of Case Processing Pilot - Ottawa?

This is the information:
Case Processing Pilot - Ottawa | Centre de Traitement Pilote – Ottawa – 46
Citizenship and Immigration Canada | Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada
219 Laurier Avenue West Ottawa ON K1A 1L1 | 219 avenue Laurier Ouest
7th Floor | 7ème étage, Section B
Ottawa ON K1A 1L1 Canada
Facsimile | Télécopieur 613-946-6059
E-mail I Courriel : OttPilot-immigration@cic.gc.ca

Mine is:
No. of people in application: 2
RA/TA included: No
Nationality: Iran

Please let me know if you have any other suggestion regarding the issue.

Thanks

 

[TyrusX]

Hello guys,
I have been following the topic, I have sent my documents late Jan, and got my per mid Feb, and today got an email from ottawa asking for financial proof. The email says "Please provide evidence of funds which are completely available, transferrable and unencumbered by debt or other obligations. Evidence of account activity for the past six months must also be submitted. This must be received at this office by: 07/29/2012"
As I said, surprisingly the address to send the document is in Ottawa (Case Processing Pilot - Ottawa)
Would you please answer my two questions if you can,
1) does it mean they have accepted all other documents of mine and this is the only doc needed?
2) how much fund should I provide? I have a print of my recent balance which is pretty high like more than 30000, but I have paid two international fees (me and my wife) and I have very little now. Since they have also asked for a six month statement, I am worried because my balance was very little through Feb and March. Isn't it enough if I send the current balance I have, what would happen if they do not accept my balance? would I have another chance?
Is there any other one with such issue?

Thanks,

Let me guess, you are Iranian, right?

Well you reply a few seconds before I asked. I'm pretty sure now that this is due to the UN Embargo that Canada as member has to fulfill.

 

[kg.jadu]

Yeah, even though we have witnessed several applicants not getting positively assessed for not fulfilling the requirements of the Federal Skilled Worker Program. Whether they check applications against the requirements after or before PER is the question here, and it does look like from several applicants in this very thread that positive eligibility assessment implies fulfillment of the other requirements as well. We'll see, hopefully that is the case.

It seems that they're assessing the application against the requirements both at the CIO and at the CPC. Refer to the updated manual OP6B (Section 10). CIO checks eligibility of the applicant for the processing, assesses against the minimal MI requirements and then against the selection criteria. If successful, an applicant gets PER. At the CPC, they make a final decision on the application and proceed to security/medical checks. Don't want to sound boring, but looks like the application can be refused at CPC or VO after PER (see, for instance, the post by Sanjun dated February 26, 2011 at http://get2canada.wordpress.com/per/).

 

[asbereth]

Let me guess, you are Iranian, right?

Well you reply a few seconds before I asked. I'm pretty sure now that this is due to the UN Embargo that Canada as member has to fulfill.

This makes sense. If this was true, then hopefully applicants of other nationalities will not be affected. On the other hand, I hope that this won't affect the Iranian applicants too much either.

It seems that they're assessing the application against the requirements both at the CIO and at the CPC. Refer to the updated manual OP6B (Section 10). CIO checks eligibility of the applicant for the processing, assesses against the minimal MI requirements and then against the selection criteria. If successful, an applicant gets PER. At the CPC, they make a final decision on the application and proceed to security/medical checks. Don't want to sound boring, but looks like the application can be refused at CPC or VO after PER (see, for instance, the post by Sanjun dated February 26, 2011 at http://get2canada.wordpress.com/per/).

That's interesting. I suppose it is indeed very possible for one to get refusal after passing the PER stage. Do you remember when the CIC started requiring all applicants to send the complete applications to the CIO? If Sanjun got his PER on Feb 26 '11, then most likely he was an MI-2 applicant? Did MI-2 applicants send their complete applications directly to Nova Scotia, or to the VO's after PER?

 

[ejamal]

This could be true but I believe that both of them have submitted proof of funds from a Canadian Bank. May be I'm wrong but we have five Iranians on the excel sheet sharing their information with us. If another one of them got the same request then your interpretation is more likely to be correct, and the other Iranians should be prepared for a similar request.

Let me guess, you are Iranian, right?

Well you reply a few seconds before I asked. I'm pretty sure now that this is due to the UN Embargo that Canada as member has to fulfill.