Expired IELTS for Citizenship application

[fitter_happier]

Hello,

I have an IELTS certificate from December 3rd 2014.

I also have an IELTS certificate from 2017 but unfortunately it's no longer in my possession (I sent it to Canada immigration for my PR and I've missed the boat now in requesting a copy as it's been over 2 years).

Luckily, because I still have the one from 2014, I was going to use this for when I apply for Canadian Citizenship next month. Does anyone have experience with using an old IELTS certificate for Canadian citizenship? Regardless of how old it is?

Thanks!

 

[fitter_happier]

Just to add to this. I used this 2014 certificate when I applied for PR in 2016 but my application was refused because the IELTS certificate had expired by then. So then I had to re-take the test and got a certificate in 2017 which I successfully used when I came to apply for PR again.

 

[AbdelAllah]

Just to add to this. I used this 2014 certificate when I applied for PR in 2016 but my application was refused because the IELTS certificate had expired by then. So then I had to re-take the test and got a certificate in 2017 which I successfully used when I came to apply for PR again.

Hi,
The only expired IELTS certificate you can use in this case, is the one you used for the immigration file. You will need a copy of it as part of your application not the original.
During the test\interview you should have the original, however I believe you can take a copy and tell the officer that you have lost the original, also many people have reported that the officers don't check this unless your English during the test is so bad that it would flag a red flag.

All the best.

~A

 

[fitter_happier]

Hi,
The only expired IELTS certificate you can use in this case, is the one you used for the immigration file. You will need a copy of it as part of your application not the original.
During the test\interview you should have the original, however I believe you can take a copy and tell the officer that you have lost the original, also many people have reported that the officers don't check this unless your English during the test is so bad that it would flag a red flag.

All the best.

~A

Hello and thanks for the response.

Looks like I may need to dish out another $300 or so to do the test for the 3rd time then

So to clarify, even though I submitted this 2014 IETS certificate with my PR application in 2016, and the PR application was refused, I cannot use this expired IELTS certificate for Citizenship because it wasn’t the IELTS certificate that was provided with my actual successful PR application?

I guess then I can only re-take the test again and get a valid and new IELTS certificate.

Also I just read this online and I wondered about it:

"Step 1: Have you completed a secondary or post -secondary program, in French or in English, in Canada or abroad?

If yes, you can send a copy of your diploma, certificate or transcript that shows you completed the program. Note: You must have successfully completed a secondary or post-secondary program in English or French. A single course done in English or French does not meet the requirement."

I read this on the following website:

https://allontario.ca/applying-for-canadian-citizenship/


So I have my Undergraduate Bachelor of science with honors degree that was obtained in the UK but validated by the University of Toronto (Educational Credential Assessment).

I am wondering what is meant by the wording here. When it says “in French or in English, in Canada or abroad?” I wonder if it’s talking about a course in the English or French language, or just any course that was taken in an English or French speaking country. If it's the latter I am wondering if my ECA is proof of language. It's probably talking about having done an actual language course though but it isn't completely clear to me so thought I'd see if anyone knew about this.

 

[AbdelAllah]

Hello and thanks for the response.

Looks like I may need to dish out another $300 or so to do the test for the 3rd time then

So to clarify, even though I submitted this 2014 IETS certificate with my PR application in 2016, and the PR application was refused, I cannot use this expired IELTS certificate for Citizenship because it wasn’t the IELTS certificate that was provided with my actual successful PR application?

I guess then I can only re-take the test again and get a valid and new IELTS certificate.

Also I just read this online and I wondered about it:

"Step 1: Have you completed a secondary or post -secondary program, in French or in English, in Canada or abroad?

If yes, you can send a copy of your diploma, certificate or transcript that shows you completed the program. Note: You must have successfully completed a secondary or post-secondary program in English or French. A single course done in English or French does not meet the requirement."

I read this on the following website:

https://allontario.ca/applying-for-canadian-citizenship/


So I have my Undergraduate Bachelor of science with honors degree that was obtained in the UK but validated by the University of Toronto (Educational Credential Assessment).

I am wondering what is meant by the wording here. When it says “in French or in English, in Canada or abroad?” I wonder if it’s talking about a course in the English or French language, or just any course that was taken in an English or French speaking country. If it's the latter I am wondering if my ECA is proof of language. It's probably talking about having done an actual language course though but it isn't completely clear to me so thought I'd see if anyone knew about this.

Hi,
For the first question, I -think- that, you can use the IELTS that you used in the application you used to come to Canada, not the refused one, because they can reference it.
For the second question, as long as the studying language in the Bachelor degree was English or French that we would be sufficient.

~A

 

[bellaluna]

There is literally no rule that the only expired IELTS you can submit is the one in the approved PR application. It just says you *may*.

Here, it says, "There is no expiration date for third-party language test results for citizenship applicants."

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=595&top=5

The 2014 test should be OK.

 

[AbdelAllah]

There is literally no rule that the only expired IELTS you can submit is the one in the approved PR application. It just says you *may*.

Here, it says, "There is no expiration date for third-party language test results for citizenship applicants."

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=595&top=5

The 2014 test should be OK.

No, there is a rule, please check the following page: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship/become-canadian-citizen/eligibility/language-proof/step-2.html

It reads:
Did you submit language test results with your immigration application?

If you did, you can submit your results as proof if they’re high enough. Send a copy of your test results with your application, even if they’re expired.

Further more, you may search the forum on people did send expired IELTS and their application got returned.

~A

 

[fitter_happier]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I have decided I don't want to take any risks. I can't afford to. I will just book another IELTS exam and do the test again soon.

 

[fitter_happier]

Actually, having 2nd thoughts now on booking the IELTS exam. Just took another read at this:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship/become-canadian-citizen/eligibility/language-proof.html

Did you or do you attend a secondary or post-secondary program in English or French?
The program can be in or outside Canada.

If you did, send a copy of proof that you completed or are attending a program with your application. Proof can be your:

• diploma
• transcript
• certificate

Your proof must be in English or French. If it’s in another language, you must also send a certified English or French translation. The translation should show that the language of instruction of the program was English or French

I have my Honours degree in Computer Networking from a university in Scotland. I had the Educational Credential Assessment report sent to me in April of 2015. This Comparative Education Service (CES) was carried out by the University of Toronto.

From the above description and reading the link on Canada.ca, I see no reason to believe that providing my ECA report will not be valid proof of the English language.

I suppose I could also throw in the 2014 IELTS certificate as well as an extra measure possibly, but anyone have experience with providing their ECA report as proof of language if the subject was studied in an English or French?

Thanks in advance.

 

[fitter_happier]

Anyone??

Any experience with providing something like an ECA report for satisfying the language requirements for Citizenship?

 

[fitter_happier]

I just called ircc

I asked about my expired IELTS certificate from 2014. The lady put me on hold for about 5 mins and went and checked and came back and told me I should be okay to provide this as Proof of language. She didn't sound 100% sure but she did tell me it should be fine.

I also mentioned to her (I made another post about this) that I'll provide my ECA report as well which validates my Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree from the United Kingdom. She said it won't hurt to provide more info. In theory, the ECA report should work as it proves you have a degree/diploma from an English speaking country.

Hopefully this will be enough. I'll try to remember to update this thread in the future when I find out if this all worked, as I couldn't find anything related to this on any other forums. Hopefully it will help someone in the future.

 

[debolsdebic]

Seems it worked. Other people have used expired IELTS certifcate - https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/expired-ielts.246450/

 

[bytenaija]

I just called ircc

I asked about my expired IELTS certificate from 2014. The lady put me on hold for about 5 mins and went and checked and came back and told me I should be okay to provide this as Proof of language. She didn't sound 100% sure but she did tell me it should be fine.

I also mentioned to her (I made another post about this) that I'll provide my ECA report as well which validates my Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree from the United Kingdom. She said it won't hurt to provide more info. In theory, the ECA report should work as it proves you have a degree/diploma from an English speaking country.

Hopefully this will be enough. I'll try to remember to update this thread in the future when I find out if this all worked, as I couldn't find anything related to this on any other forums. Hopefully it will help someone in the future.

Did this ever work?

 

[Dee17]

Yes you can. See this https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-citizenship/become-canadian-citizen/eligibility/language-proof/step-2.html