CEC rejected - skilled work experience not satisfied

[lamma]

I submitted my CEC application last June. Today I got an email saying my application is rejected, because the officer did not consider my first job experience valid. Here is the letter I received:

Dear XXX:

I have now completed the assessment of your application for a permanent resident visa as a member of the Canadian Experience Class and have determined that you do not meet the requirements for immigration to Canada.
According to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, applicants in the Canadian Experience Class are assessed on the basis of the pass/fail requirements set out in subsection R87.1(2). The assessment of these criteria determines whether a worker with Canadian experience will be able to become economically established in Canada. The criteria are:
knowledge of English or French,
Canadian skilled work experience,
Canadian educational credentials (for the Post-Graduation Stream only).
Your application was assessed based on the occupation(s) which you identified as part of your skilled work experience in Canada: NOC 2173- Software engineer
I am not satisfied that you meet the skilled work experience requirements because the information submitted on your application does not demonstrate that you have performed a significant number of the following main duties of a Software Engineer while employed by Company A:
•Collect and document users' requirements and develop logical and physical specifications
•Research, evaluate and synthesize technical information to design, develop and test computer-based systems
•Develop data, process and network models to optimize architecture and to evaluate the performance and reliability of designs
•Plan, design and co-ordinate the development, installation, integration and operation of computer-based systems
•Assess, test, troubleshoot, document, upgrade and develop maintenance procedures for operating systems, communications environments and applications software
•May lead and co-ordinate teams of information systems professionals in the development of software and integrated information systems, process control software and other embedded software control systems.
For this reason, I am not satisfied that you have acquired work experience as a Software engineer while employed by Company A. I considered your work experience at Company B from August 02, 2011 to June 07, 2012 ; however this employment is less than the equivalent of 12 months of full-time work experience at a skill level A, B, 0 which is required to qualify under the Canadian Experience Class.

Subsection 11(1) of the Act states that a foreign national must, before entering Canada, apply to an officer for a visa or for any other document required by the Regulations. The visa or document shall be issued if, following an examination, the officer is satisfied that the foreign national is not inadmissible and meets the requirements of this Act. Subsection 2(1) specifies that unless otherwise indicated, references in the Act to “this Act” include regulations made under it.
Following an examination of your application, I am not satisfied that you meet the requirements of the Act and Regulations for the reasons explained above. I am therefore refusing your application.

Thank you for the interest you have shown in Canada.

Yours sincerely,


Case Officer
Citizenship and Immigration Canada

So I did submit my application with reference letter and contract of employment for both jobs, and T4. I can't figure out why they don't like my first job. Here is how the reference letter reads:

To whom it may concern,

This letter confirms XXX’s previous employment with Company A.
XXX was employed with Company A as a Software Development Engineer
from May 1, 2011 to July 22, 2011. During his employment, XXX worked with our
technical team in developing and supporting the company's websites and mobile
applications. His annualized salary was $42,500. His average hours of work were
approximately 42 hours per week.

If you have any further question regarding XXX's employment at Company A,
please contact me without hesitation.

Sincerely,
Boss A

To: Whom it May Concern
Re: Letter of Reference – XXX
This letter confirms XXX’s employment status with Company B(The Company).
XXX has been employed with the company as a Software Development Engineer
since August 2, 2011 for an annualized salary of $65,000. During this time, his positive
performance has earned him a raise up to an annualized salary of $75,000 along with
stock options and extended medical benefits. His total average hours of work are
approximately 43 hours per week.
As a Software Development Engineer, XXX works with our larger development
team in creating, improving and supporting the company’s products.
Sincerely,
HR B

What should I do now? I know I could reapply as I am now with Company B for one and half year. But are there any alternatives? I don't want to wait for another year!

 

[jsm0085]

The reference letters need to list your duties & responsibilities and these must match the duties and resp. of the NOC you choose. It doesn't appear that your reference letters really list your duties and responsibilities, so the VO probably couldn't determine if you actually completed the skilled work.

 

[yahoo7]

Lamma, I see that that VO has inded listed the actual duties and responsibilities for the nOC u applied...was it him who mentioned all those details in his emails or did u just put it urself for the audions purpose...the reason why I am asking is because the VO actually did put those roles he was expecting to be in ur letter..can u pls confirm..

 

[lamma]

I did not know that the job specs have to be exactly matching. The letters are provided by the companies and I explicitly stated the purpose is for PR application. I assumed they've dealt with this kind reference letter before, so they knew what to do. Anyway, is there anything I can do at this moment other than reapplying?

 

[yahoo7]

My suggestion is that you go ahead an reapply...I know its really painful but I think you have a fairly good chance of getting this time if u make sure that letter contains all the info req by cic

 

[lamma]

To yahoo7: Yes the detailed duties were listed by the VO in the email of doom. Had I know that these are the exact wording they are looking for I would ask my employers to match those words.

 

[shad86]

You can reply dude, just ask for letter that match your NOC duties. I've seen worst cases of rejection that has to be with working time and salary discrepancies. The bad thing is that you will need to wait another 13 months at most.

cheers.

 

[jsm0085]

To yahoo7: Yes the detailed duties were listed by the VO in the email of doom. Had I know that these are the exact wording they are looking for I would ask my employers to match those words.

The wording should and does not have to be exactly the same. The issue is, your ref. letters don't really give any detail about what you have been doing - just a very generic sentence!

 

[jes_ON]

I agree with jsm0085. I think Letter B is just as problematic as Letter A, but the VO didn't need to comment on it since ruling out Letter A was sufficient to reach a decision based on the length of employment.

The wording of the job description cannot be identical to the NOC - cutting and pasting will be a red flag (not credible). However, the duties and responsibilities should be similarly broken down by main functions.

Also, take a good look at the duties and responsibilities of the NOC and make sure you have the correct NOC.

 

[yahoo7]

Friends, I have searched a lot to get the details about duties a NOC code has to perform but could not find in such details as the one sent by the VO in the rejection letter. Is there a way we can find such kind of details about NOC codes?

 

[jes_ON]

Friends, I have searched a lot to get the details about duties a NOC code has to perform but could not find in such details as the one sent by the VO in the rejection letter. Is there a way we can find such kind of details about NOC codes?

http://www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/noc/english/noc/2011/SearchIndex.aspx

 

[CEC2013]

NOC 2173

http://www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/noc/english/noc/2011/QuickSearch.aspx?val65=2173

 

[Andy2109]

lamma,

Very sorry to learn about your rejection. you do not have a choice but to re-apply. Sorry but I think this is very much justified. when CIC is requiring your Duties and Responsibilities to be listed, a one liner from your employer on the reference letter will definitely not suffice.

This is a learning for all others. Identify your correct NOC code, read through the main duties listed on hrsdc for your NOC code, do not copy paste but use a search engine to find key responsibilities / duties / requirements for your job position (much like a job search), pick up the ones which closely match the ones listed on hrsdc and use them in the Reference letter.

 

[jsm0085]

lamma,

Very sorry to learn about your rejection. you do not have a choice but to re-apply. Sorry but I think this is very much justified. when CIC is requiring your Duties and Responsibilities to be listed, a one liner from your employer on the reference letter will definitely not suffice.

This is a learning for all others. Identify your correct NOC code, read through the main duties listed on hrsdc for your NOC code, do not copy paste but use a search engine to find key responsibilities / duties / requirements for your job position (much like a job search), pick up the ones which closely match the ones listed on hrsdc and use them in the Reference letter.

I disagree, Andy.

It is not for applicants to search google for responsibilities / duties for their position. Prior to applying, the applicant should get the ref. letter form the employer, the duties and responsibilities listed on this letter should then be used to find/match the appropriate noc.

All potential applicants should be aware that when matching NOC codes, the job title doesn't really matter - it's all about the duties for the purpose of CEC applications.

 

[Andy2109]

Agree with you jsm0085. But my thoughts are for cases where the employer is wanting the employee to help with a format to list duties & responsibilities in the Ref letter.