Does an Internship/Traineeship of 17 months count as work experience?

[ALTN]

I'm investigating the Express Entry immigration process to Canada/British Columbia, and based on the official eligibility tool at CIC website everything seems ok, except the one year work experience, which I'm not quite sure about since I only had 17 months of full-time, paid internship/traineeship experience in the past. All the rest was just a bunch of freelance experiences.

I read somewhere on the net that it depends on whether the internship was part of some studies. Anybody can confirm that? if so, in fact in my particular case my internship arrangement had a few irregular twists that will take time to elaborate on in details, but to summarize in just 4 points:

• I was still a student when I joined an internship in San Francisco California, but the US immigration officers did not know about it (me being a student) and they issued me a trainee (not intern) J1 visa
• I had to drop my studies for one year to join the internship
• Next year I presented remotely (through a video conference from the US) one of the projects I worked on as my end of studies project and got graduated
• My internship continued for a few months after my graduation until my J1 visa expired. Total duration of the internship was about 17 months.

Based on the above, is there a chance the Canadian immigration services would consider my internship/traineeship as at least 1 year of work experience?

Many thanks!

 

[rafzy]

I'm investigating the Express Entry immigration process to Canada/British Columbia, and based on the official eligibility tool at CIC website everything seems ok, except the one year work experience, which I'm not quite sure about since I only had 17 months of full-time, paid internship/traineeship experience in the past. All the rest was just a bunch of freelance experiences.

I read somewhere on the net that it depends on whether the internship was part of some studies. Anybody can confirm that? if so, in fact in my particular case my internship arrangement had a few irregular twists that will take time to elaborate on in details, but to summarize in just 4 points:

• I was still a student when I joined an internship in San Francisco California, but the US immigration officers did not know about it (me being a student) and they issued me a trainee (not intern) J1 visa
• I had to drop my studies for one year to join the internship
• Next year I presented remotely (through a video conference from the US) one of the projects I worked on as my end of studies project and got graduated
• My internship continued for a few months after my graduation until my J1 visa expired. Total duration of the internship was about 17 months.

Based on the above, is there a chance the Canadian immigration services would consider my internship/traineeship as at least 1 year of work experience?

Many thanks!

How many hiurs per week and were you getting paid and what was your employment status i.e. Full-time or part-time ?

 

[jes_ON]

Based on the above, is there a chance the Canadian immigration services would consider my internship/traineeship as at least 1 year of work experience?

The student work exclusion generally applies to work performed in Canada while on a study permit. Since the work was not performed in Canada, and you were paid for it, then it should "count," but as foreign work experience. You won't be eligible under the CEC program.

 

[ALTN]

Thanks a lot for the quick reply!

You won't be eligible under the CEC program.

In fact I'm not sure what category I fall under (maybe Skilled Worker?), but the eligibility tool does accept my entry after I finish all the steps in the wizard. Here's a summary of my entry details:

• I'm about 30 years old.
• single/never married
• I had an overall of 7 for my IELTS exam (7.5 speaking, 6.5 listening, 6.5 reading, 8 writing)
• no work or study experience in Canada, but my foreign diploma is probably advanced enough (6 years after secondary school)
• 17 months paid full-time internship experience in the USA
• Will bring between 12k to 15k to Canada
• My brother is a new permanent resident in Mont Real; I'm planing to immigrate to Vancouver/BC though

By not eligible for CEC (Canadian Experience Class?) I'm guessing you mean, if I didn't have the money, even if I had a job offer I wouldn't be a valid candidate for Express Entry? Or am-I not eligible for ANY Express Entry program, given the details above?

 

[Sunny_ist]

You will fall under FSW, to apply for CEC, you should have some work experience in Canada and internship done in Canada does not count. My situation is exactly similar to you.

 

[ALTN]

Thanks for the quick reply Sunny_ist!

Does CEC have an advantage over FSW? I'm actually new to the immigration process to Canada, and what matters most to me at this point basically is just a couple things:

• Am-I eligible for a permanent resident card given the details I listed above?
• Do I qualify for the Express Entry program, which if my understanding is correct translates to an average of 48 days processing time.

If both are positive, then the category I fall under is an important detail to be aware of, I'm sure, but not quite conclusive yet for a beginner like myself.

 

[Sunny_ist]

Well, some advantages and some disadvantages. For example, your work experience as an intern won't be counted in CEC but for FSW, it will be taken into account. Next thing, they are not going to see the visa stapled to your passport. They will just look at the experience certificate issued to you.

You have not mentioned your IELTS scores, your eligibility will depend upon the scores also. Create your profile and system will tell you whether you are eligible or not, it will also tell you what category you will fall under, such as FSW or CEC. You can simulate it here also:

cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/crs-tool.asp

 

[ALTN]

I just used the link you suggested to simulate my score, and here's the results summary:

• Subtotal - Core/Human capital factors = 333
• Subtotal - Spouse factors = 0
• Subtotal Skill transferability factors = 26

My Grand Total is: 359, it didn't tell me which category I fall under though.

Regarding IELTS I had an overall band 7 (speaking: 7.5, listening: 6.5, reading: 6.5, writing: 8 )

There's also another tool (cic.gc.ca/ctc-vac/ee-start.asp) I used to check my eligibility before I posted my question. It asked a bunch of questions, then told me the following: "Based on your answers, you appear to be eligible for Express Entry", but again it did not mention my category. My answers to the tool were:

• I'm about 30 years old.
• IELTS results: speaking: 7.5 , listening: 6.5, reading: 6.5, writing: 8
• No work or study experience in Canada.
• One year of foreign work experience (my internship in the US)
• I have 2 university degrees each obtained after 3 years of study (overall is 6 years after secondary school). To consider the ECA worst case scenario though, I selected the Bachelor/3 years option under the education section just to be safe.
• No job offer in Canada
• Will bring between 12k to 15k to Canada
• Single/never married
• I have a sibling in Canada: he recently became a permanent resident in Mont Réal/Quebec but I'm planing to immigrate to Vancouver/BC.

If anything in the details I provided above doesn't sound right, please give me a heads up.

Otherwise, I think based on what you guys said, I do have a chance to qualify. I was just worried about whether my internship experience will be considered, and it seems I got the answer.

Sunny_ist and jes_ON, thanks guys!

 

[Sunny_ist]

Well, you have to improve on few things.

1. You get maximum points on experience of 3 or more years. Right now, you are getting only 26 points, but these can improve up to 50 points. You get 50 points for your work of 3 years on condition that you score at least L8 R7 W7 S7 in IELTS.

359 is a good score but so far, lowest score of an invitation round is 450. I haven't seen score dipping below that.

2. You have to improve IELTS for sure, as I mentioned above, to claim maximum points.

You will fall under FSW for sure because CEC is for people who have Canadian experience.

 

[Sunny_ist]

Your study will also carry you 50 points if you score L8 R7 W7 S7, you have to take IELTS again.

 

[ALTN]

OK thank you for the clarification. Is this tool (cic.gc.ca/ctc-vac/ee-start.asp) accurate at all?

Because according to it, I do qualify for express entry given the details I provided in my las post. It even gives me a code to use in my online application.

 

[Sunny_ist]

"Qualify" just tells you that you fulfill minimum criteria, it does not make sure that you get picked in an invitation round. You need good score for that. If you have score of 359, there will be numerous people ahead of you and you will not get an invitation most probably.

 

[mumbai5]

I'm investigating the Express Entry immigration process to Canada/British Columbia, and based on the official eligibility tool at CIC website everything seems ok, except the one year work experience, which I'm not quite sure about since I only had 17 months of full-time, paid internship/traineeship experience in the past. All the rest was just a bunch of freelance experiences.

I read somewhere on the net that it depends on whether the internship was part of some studies. Anybody can confirm that? if so, in fact in my particular case my internship arrangement had a few irregular twists that will take time to elaborate on in details, but to summarize in just 4 points:

• I was still a student when I joined an internship in San Francisco California, but the US immigration officers did not know about it (me being a student) and they issued me a trainee (not intern) J1 visa
• I had to drop my studies for one year to join the internship
• Next year I presented remotely (through a video conference from the US) one of the projects I worked on as my end of studies project and got graduated
• My internship continued for a few months after my graduation until my J1 visa expired. Total duration of the internship was about 17 months.

Based on the above, is there a chance the Canadian immigration services would consider my internship/traineeship as at least 1 year of work experience?

Many thanks!

Internship does not form part of the work-exp. It is made absolutely clear whilst submitting the PR application, Do Not include intership done as part of continuing education/studies as work-experience.

Also, there have been rejections, basis the shortfall in stipulated work-experience being shown up by the interships.

Mumbai5

 

[Gooner]

Internship does not form part of the work-exp. It is made absolutely clear whilst submitting the PR application, Do Not include intership done as part of continuing education/studies as work-experience.

Also, there have been rejections, basis the shortfall in stipulated work-experience being shown up by the interships.

Mumbai5

Can you please share the reference where it says paid internships taken place outside of Canada doesn't count towards work experience? Thanks

 

[mumbai5]

Can you please share the reference where it says paid internships taken place outside of Canada doesn't count towards work experience? Thanks

Whilst you are submitting/ uploading documents supporting the work experience in the PR Application, there is a ready reckoner describing what documents to upload. The details there state not to include internship.

Mumbai5