ECA for Express Entry - questions and issue with University

[cypekhi]

Hello everyone,

I was hoping to start mine and my fiance's Express Entry "adventure", as we really want to move to Canada and we think we meet all requirements, however we encountered one early obstacle, which is ECA.

The more I read about it, the more confused I am, therefore I am writing here to get some help and ensure we will somehow pass it.

Just to start, we are both from Poland, where we obtained Bachelor's and then Master's Degree from the same field of study - Biotechnology. Afterwards, we moved to UK, where we have been living and working in our field of study for the past several years.

We applied for ECA, using WES (only created account, but did not pay for actual assessment yet), as it was recommended on most websites. I filled in my information, but then I noticed that in required documents section, they need Diploma Supplement provided by institution I attended in a sealed envelope.

The issue is, I quickly emailed the Dean's office of my institution (which is one of largest Medical Universities in Poland) and asked if they can send an official Diploma Supplement to Canada to help facilitate my migration process. Today, I got a reply that I already requested and took single copies of my Diploma and Supplement and University is unable to provide me with any additional ones, as they do not have any.

This is true, and I have copies of my Diploma's and Supplement's, however, after reading about ECA, I don't think I can send them myself, as they need to be in an envelope sealed by University.

I am quite lost at what to do now. Would you have any advice on how to proceed with my case? I emailed Dean's office again today, to explain everything in more details, however I am completely lost and unsure what to do if they will decline my request again. Can I take my Supplement to them, ask them to make a copy of it and put it in sealed envelope? Also, what does "sealed" mean exactly. Is it sufficient if it is enclosed in an envelope signed by one of the ladies who works in Dean's office?

Also, if (hopefully) I will somehow manage to get my University to provide me with sealed copy, I have few additional questions about ECA, I am unsure of:

1. As I understand, my University only needs to provide WES with sealed copy of Supplement/Transcript, is that correct? For the Diploma, can I just make a copy of my existing one and send it to WES, without sealed envelope?

2. As both my Bachelor's and Master's were from the same field of study, do I need to provide Supplements from both of my degrees, or just for Master's? I read some contradictory statements and I am confused about it...

3. Linked to points above - My Master's was in English language, therefore Diploma and Supplement are in English, however my Bachelor's was in Polish, so I understand, I will need to officially translate it. If I am sending Diploma by myself, than that should not be an issue, however what should I do to translate the transcript/supplement received by University? As it will be in sealed envelope and in Polish, then how can I get it translated without unsealing it? My University already said they will not translate anything for me.

4. If my University agrees to issue me a sealed envelope, but they will not send it to Canada, can I just pick it up from them and send it myself? I spoke with one of my friends, who suggested to do that and at the same time put obtained sealed envelope in larger envelope and attach other required documents (Diploma and translations). This way, I can send it altogether instead of two separate letters - one from University and one from myself.

I think these are all my questions for now. I realize that there are a lot of them, but I want to do everything I can to ensure our dreams can be fulfilled. I tried looking for similar issues, but everyone seems to say that obtaining copy from their University was very easy. I have no idea what is wrong with my Uni!

I will really appreciate all the help and advice I can get and I am happy to provide additional details to make my case more clear.

Best regards!

 

[prasenjit1986]

Hi,

I'll try to answer your questions to the best of my ability. Please see answers inline -

I am quite lost at what to do now. Would you have any advice on how to proceed with my case? I emailed Dean's office again today, to explain everything in more details, however I am completely lost and unsure what to do if they will decline my request again. Can I take my Supplement to them, ask them to make a copy of it and put it in sealed envelope? Also, what does "sealed" mean exactly. Is it sufficient if it is enclosed in an envelope signed by one of the ladies who works in Dean's office? A sealed envelope is one where the envelope will be closed and sealed with a seal/tape with the university's name at the back and also will have a signature by a university official. Yes, the signature from one of the officials from Dean's office will suffice.

Also, if (hopefully) I will somehow manage to get my University to provide me with sealed copy, I have few additional questions about ECA, I am unsure of:

1. As I understand, my University only needs to provide WES with sealed copy of Supplement/Transcript, is that correct? For the Diploma, can I just make a copy of my existing one and send it to WES, without sealed envelope? WES only needs sealed copy of Supp/Transcript. For Diplomas, you can send a copy of the existing one - no seal/signature required whatsoever

2. As both my Bachelor's and Master's were from the same field of study, do I need to provide Supplements from both of my degrees, or just for Master's? I read some contradictory statements and I am confused about it...WES looks at your highest credentials (in this case - Masters) first and if they assess your Masters degree as equivalent to Canada - then they'll mention Masters and that's it. But most people suggest sending both Bachelors and Masters transcripts - in the event that your Masters is not assessed but Bachelors is accepted - so you'll at least get points/scores for Bachelors.

3. Linked to points above - My Master's was in English language, therefore Diploma and Supplement are in English, however my Bachelor's was in Polish, so I understand, I will need to officially translate it. If I am sending Diploma by myself, than that should not be an issue, however what should I do to translate the transcript/supplement received by University? As it will be in sealed envelope and in Polish, then how can I get it translated without unsealing it? My University already said they will not translate anything for me. Translation from the university is a requirement. In the event the university can't/won't provide translation then it'd be extremely difficult to move forward. However in your case, as you have a Masters degree in English, you'll be able to make it.

4. If my University agrees to issue me a sealed envelope, but they will not send it to Canada, can I just pick it up from them and send it myself? I spoke with one of my friends, who suggested to do that and at the same time put obtained sealed envelope in larger envelope and attach other required documents (Diploma and translations). This way, I can send it altogether instead of two separate letters - one from University and one from myself. Yes, your friend is correct. That's the approach a lot of people have taken and it's absolutely ok with Canadian authorities. As long as your transcripts are in a sealed envelope - you can put that envelope along with copy of Diploma/Degree in a larger envelope and ship it to WES Canada.



So to summarize,

You need to get sealed official transcripts from the university and ask them to send those to your address. Once you have those, you need to make copies of your degree/diploma and put these items in a larger envelope. For translations, you can try to get a translation done and attach a notarized copy of the translation to make it legitimate. Send one envelope with all required documents to WES Canada and wait for results.

Hope this helps. Send me direct message if you need any other details.

 

[viki1805]

I had copies of my transcripts, so I just got my universities to put them in their envelope seal and sign it across the envelope flaps and sent it along with copies of my diploma that I actually just took.

the copies of the diploma were not even in sealed envelopes. they only care about the transcripts being in sealed envelopes. and besides, the way they process these documents also largely depends on your school, so my case cannot necessarily be the same way that yours might be processed.

but as far as sending transcripts are concerned, as long as you get your university to seal it in their envelopes and even if you were to mail them by yourself, they would still be accepted. thats exactly what I did.

 

[cypekhi]

Hello Viki,

I think that is what I will have to do as well, as it does not look like they will issue me another copy... Did you just make copies of your transcripts by yourself from the original? I just have one Transcript in English, so, obviously, I would prefer not to send it to WES.

 

[viki1805]

Hello Viki,

I think that is what I will have to do as well, as it does not look like they will issue me another copy... Did you just make copies of your transcripts by yourself from the original? I just have one Transcript in English, so, obviously, I would prefer not to send it to WES.

Oops I apologize. I probably should have been more specific. my copies of transcripts were basically duplicate transcripts issued by the university. I had like 2-3 copies of those in sealed envelopes with me all this while. So I had just mailed WES one of those copies along with a print out of my diploma scanned copy.

however, I've known people in similar situation as yours where the university are not able to issue copies, they tackled that by making a copy of their original and getting it attested by the official at the university (dean maybe for you?) , which was basically a stamp on the copy that says "verified with original" and put that into a sealed envelope and mailed it themselves. WES have a history of accepting such transcripts too. but you'd probably have to email them about it as it depends on case to case.

and it is highly likely that WES may expect an email from your university official confirming the same. but that would be the best way to go about it in my opinion. if you could have a friend or relative get one of your transcript copy attested by the university official and send it to you in the sealed envelope and then you can mail it to WES by yourself.