Since everyone is inking down their stories, I think I should do one too, just to cheer ya fellas and give you some bedtime story to read. I, infact owe it to this forum to say the least.
On the 1st of Jan 2015, the much hyped Express Entry system came alive and I wasted no time in creating the profile. I did lot of homework and infact was inquisitive on how the newer system would look like. I entered the EE pool on the 4th of Jan and with 425 score on the board, I thought I will be among the first one to be invited. (Not because of the score, but because I assumed I was being proactive,
). I was more confident than an Italian guy, but pretty soon my dreams were shattering one draw at a time. I expected times like this,but I never thought they'd be so bad, so long and so frequent.
By the June of 2015, I had pretty much given up the hope of migrating to Canada. But like its said, theirs always hope and you just need to hang in their, just a little longer, and thats exactly what happened. Along came the Ontario nominations, the dark Knight of the Gotham,if you like. As everyone on the forum suggested, recreate your profile and get an invitation and thats exactly what I did and just two days after recreating my profile, on the eve of 4th June, bang!!, I received a letter stating that Ontario was interested in nominating me. That night I celebrated with our very own Mr. Johnie Walker.
I wasted no time, and started gearing myself up and collecting documents to satisfy the unquenching thirst of Ontario, and mind you the whole ordeal was nerve wracking but satisfying in a way. I sent across the documents and received the 600 points (my precious) in 90 days, as they promised.
All that remained was to wait for the next draw and in the late hours of October, I received the much hyped ITA. The feeling of receiving it is ecstatic, of self transcendence, of pre-eminence, especially when you have waited so long. Since, I had already gone through the painstaking process of collecting the documents, I was able to submit my application within 15 days.
This was followed by a long wait of 2 months and in January 2016, I received my PPR. Mr. Walker and I, again sat together to celebrate this moment of victory. Just to make it look bit more dramatic, I quote "The ultimate victory in competition is derived from the inner satisfaction of knowing that you have done your best and that you have gotten the most out of what you had to give". I sent across the passport the very next day and received it back within 2 days with a COPR. Pheww!!!!
Now, here are the top tips that I believe would help you:
1. Never lose hope. (This is the most vital one)
2. If you are applying to Ontario, make your file presentable. I did lot of work in making my documents to look rad, meaning, include a cover letter, index page, an introductory page to each section explaining the type of document and number of pages included etc etc. Just imagine if an officer sees a nice looking file which is easy to understand, wouldn't it cheer him up and may be he will give you goody point for the efforts.
3. I did same for post ITA documents. I created index for each section. It was easy to understand and looked very presentable.
4. If you need to explain something, use a letter of explanations. They do make a difference and personally I attached atleast 6 of them and explained things that I thought would assist the assessing officer do his job easily. I attached the proofs to claim what I said and would suggest you to do the same.
5. The waiting period is the most stressful part and personally I used this time for my advantage and started assisting folks on this forum instead of anticipating, second guessing or assuming things. I knew that CIC will process my application sooner or later but their was nothing I could do to speed up the process, so I did not fret on timelines, BG checks in progress and all that mumbo jumbos. I was prepared for the worst but was equally confident about my documents.
6. If possible, do this whole process by yourself. Its fairly easy unless you have a complicated case.
7. Lastly, Eat, sleep and Pray. Carry on with your normal work and visit this forum to blow off some steam. Don't pay much heed to things that will stress you and as far as possible, try to help atleast one person to achieve his/her dreams. Karma will pay you back.
