ITA for OINP May EOI Comrades

[lblue21]

I've been living in Toronto for the past 2 years. (my husband and I are on work permits. I came as a student then switched to a worker after school and he had an open work permit through me). The IT jobs are here yes. I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, BUT!!!! You really need to network very well to get into a good-paying IT Job. So whether you have friends here already working in the field, you go on LinkedIn and try to reach out to people at IT companies and connect with them, join some IT volunteer organizations, or join IT communities. Otherwise, it will be hard to get a job as you get here, especially if you don't have Canadian work experience. Some people it can take an entire year or more to find a good paying IT job. Some are lucky and find a job within a few months. My husband had a network here when we landed so he walked into a job and then with that Canadian experience, found an even better job at a major Bank.

Food costs have soared, and don't seem to be going down anytime soon. But I suspect that issue is a global issue, not necessarily an Ontario issue.

Rent-wise, if you want somewhere that isn't a mold-infested basement with zero natural light, you may be looking at around $2000 a month for rent (maybe utilities such as heat and water might be included if you're lucky). The housing market is really bad right now, so if you're looking to purchase, a 1 bedroom apartment could cost anywhere between $900,000 CAD to $1,000,000 CAD. To find more affordable housing, people opt to either rent or purchase in cities outside of Toronto such as Scarborough, Ajax, Pickering, Whitby, Oshawa, Brampton, Hamilton, Etobicoke, and Newmarket. But because so many people have been rushing to these other places, of course, the prices have now started to increase in these other cities as well, so they are almost rivaling Toronto, but is still a bit cheaper.

The weather, winters in the Toronto/GTA tend to be milder and "warmer" than further up northern Toronto. But it still gets pretty cold, especially in January/February ( ranges between -10C and -30C), with a decent amount of snow.

The benefits of being here are definitely that people are generally nice and polite and helpful, the air is so clean and nice, generally quite safe, nice place to raise a family, and enjoying the perks of the free healthcare, the diversity (especially in Toronto) is great, and lots of fun things to do in each season.

Basically, don't come here with the expectation that just because you are skilled, you are definitely going to find your dream job within 3 months of landing here or things will slip into place. It WILL be a struggle in the first year. But if you come with these expectations and just work hard and have a plan, things will work out. And in the second year, things start to get better. There has been an increasingly negative sentiment here towards us immigrants within the past year, and even worse now with the whole Canada vs India debacle, the tension between Israel/Palestine/Gaza region, and also with the housing crisis occurring now. So just keep that in mind and make sure to network and find other immigrants to bind with and stick together, whether they are from your home country or not. It's rough, but it will be okay. There are some pretty nice Canadian citizens here who will always be willing to help, but there are also others who have a sense of "fake niceness" here and those people will stab you in your back with a smile on their face.

Thank You for the honest and unbiased opinion

 

[Owais Iqbal]

I’m a little confused on the blank sheet part. When we are uploading documents, do they ask to upload medicals? And if we upload a blank page, will we be requested by email to go & do medicals at a later date?
Thank you in advance.

I wouldn't upload blank sheet. I mentioned in my post what to say. If you don't do medicals, they'll ask for it later. It just adds a few weeks on your processing time. People do it upfront to ensure they can save some processing if possible.

 

[Timhorton9999]

Any update for October 15 AOR people ?

 

[tumblewit]

Any update for October 15 AOR people ?

you haven't gotten a BIL / MED ? if not for sure it will happen this week or even today.

 

[Eagleooo]

Guys, I received ADR today asking for a copy of my Canadian degree parchment which I do not have. I will receive it on convocation day on Nov 21. the problem is they are providing me with only 7 days to submit the document. In my application, I submitted an official letter of completion and transcripts. but it seems that the officer was not satisfied with them. An advice?

 

[nenny3311]

Any update for October 15 AOR people ?

October 17 AOR still waiting on uci #, biometrics letter or anything. Heard nothing since submission yet.

 

[Owais Iqbal]

Guys, I received ADR today asking for a copy of my Canadian degree parchment which I do not have. I will receive it on convocation day on Nov 21. the problem is they are providing me with only 7 days to submit the document. In my application, I submitted an official letter of completion and transcripts. but it seems that the officer was not satisfied with them. An advice?

Submit a letter of explanation and tell them to extend the deadline to submit until Nov 24. Tell them that convocation is on Nov 21 and submit proof of that.

 

[mustang2025]

Hi Guys
I am trying to book biometrics for me and my spouse in India
While booking, initially it showed just one tab “Applicant 1”, wherein it asked me to upload the first page of both applicant’s biometric letter
Can anyone please suggest if I need to merge the first page of both our letters and upload them?
I couldn’t see another tab for Applicant 2

 

[tumblewit]

Hi Guys
I am trying to book biometrics for me and my spouse in India
While booking, initially it showed just one tab “Applicant 1”, wherein it asked me to upload the first page of both applicant’s biometric letter
Can anyone please suggest if I need to merge the first page of both our letters and upload them?
I couldn’t see another tab for Applicant 2

As long as you have booked an appointment for 2 people and uploaded the BIL it's fine. VFS will ask you to pay premium lounge. Refuse to pay premium and tell them I have a valid appointment for the day and that you must be allowed to give your biometrics for both on the same day at no extra cost. Everything other than the appointment is going to be created at that point by VFS when you enter with a token that is generated for biometrics. VFS is running a scam by making people pay for premium lounge by intentionally finding cracks if you miss something. For premium lounge you can go anytime during work hours without appointment to get BIL done. So if there is a crack they will make you take another appointment or instead ask you to pay and get it done. But tell them you have selected 2 people otherwise you will end up paying money for no reason. VFS Canada is one of the worst services ever. In case of any issue ask for the Canada Visa manager and talk directly to them. Otherwise they wont let you enter the premises at all.

 

[rilyn14]

Submit a letter of explanation and tell them to extend the deadline to submit until Nov 24. Tell them that convocation is on Nov 21 and submit proof of that.

hello please i need help, my spouse has retaken the ielts's the result is out and i'm currently trying to update his scores and i can't find the space to do this.

 

[rilyn14]

your husband needs to retake his IELTS. IELTS will expire 29th October 2023 from what I understand (a draw is unlikely now so it's expired now). It's an English test that tests your English skills on the day you took the test not on the day you received your scores (which could be months from the day you took it or during covid it took 3 months for TRF for some friends). Your profile may expire (if it doesn't you can quickly update it after you get your TRF). If it does expire you will have to contact OINP to send the nomination on the new profile you create (nomination is valid 6 months at least). OINP is kind of a safety cushion for you. You should have taken the IELTS already. Now you basically need only 67 points so might as well book for Monday and update your profile immediately as TRF is received in like 2 days when there is no rush. Do not submit your profile and wait for the officer to check the expiry and take any risks. You might fail completeness check and get a refund if it's not accepted and will have to make a new profile anyway and ask OINP for another nomination wasting time money and efforts in all this. You are complicating what was really simple which was to sit for a very basic Band 7 computer test (assuming that gets you 67 points).

hello please my spouse has been able to retake the IELTS's. But the current issue is how to update the result on my profile before ITA shows up and then it will be too late to edit my profile

 

[Timhorton9999]

you haven't gotten a BIL / MED ? if not for sure it will happen this week or even today.

October 17 AOR still waiting on uci #, biometrics letter or anything. Heard nothing since submission yet.

Got mine yesterday. Should be coming soon for you too.

 

[tumblewit]

hello please my spouse has been able to retake the IELTS's. But the current issue is how to update the result on my profile before ITA shows up and then it will be too late to edit my profile

you can just edit it right now. If you already have the TRF number you can simply make the change. Now that you already have the OINP nomination you dont need to inform OINP. You can make the change to the profile before the ITA.

 

[rilyn14]

you can just edit it right now. If you already have the TRF number you can simply make the change. Now that you already have the OINP nomination you dont need to inform OINP. You can make the change to the profile before the ITA.

I can't seem to find the area on my profile where I can make this adjustment

 

[Tong tong]

I wouldn't upload blank sheet. I mentioned in my post what to say. If you don't do medicals, they'll ask for it later. It just adds a few weeks on your processing time. People do it upfront to ensure they can save some processing if possible.