Ontario Nominee is very sensitive to NOC code

[hamoonExpressEntry]

Fellow immigrants,

Today I receive my OINP nomination. However, I was about to get rejected because my application got complicated. To the extent that the officer from OINP called me quite a few times and he even claimed he was about to reject my application. Why?

I am working in Ontario and my occupation is software developer. When I was creating my EE profile I did not know that NOC2173 (software engineering) is regulated in Ontario and I was not aware of its non-regulated counterpart NOC2174 (software developer). So I chose NOC 2173. One week after I applied for OINP I realized I made a mistake and changed my NOC to 2174 in EE and told OINP about it. But for some reason the agent that day did not attach my email to my application. So the officer reviewing my application thought I misrepresented myself and used the reserved title of software engineering without having a license, hence the complications, lots of phone calls. I was lucky that they were kind enough to call me and clarify it and also ask for proof that I am indeed a software developer and not an engineer.

So I strongly advise in-land applicants to make sure that the NOC they choose is not regulated as otherwise it is going to lengthen their application and even worse they might get rejected.

Good luck everyone

 

[smtele]

That is interesting. As far as I know - software engineer and software developer do the same job. Software engineering might be more general in that it may also incorporate software testing (QA) along with coding, whereas software development implies that you mostly do coding.

According to the NOC titles:

NOC 2173: Software engineer and designer
NOC 2174: Computer programmers and interactive media developers

It seems like NOC 2173 is more appropriate for your profile. Also, I looked at one of your posts from the past:

I sent an email to OOPNP a few weeks ago explaining that I indicated my job as NOC2173 but I don't have a license. I asked whether I should change my NOC to 2174?

They came back to me today and said:

"Thank you for your email and clarification.
Since you do not use Professional Engineer title in your work, we do not require a license. There is no need to update your original NOC solely due to license issue, either, unless you have other compelling reasons to do so."

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t308154.0.html

So, did you have the P.Eng title in your work in NOC-2173, but didn't have the license, and hence had to switch to NOC-2174? Congrats on the nomination anyhow.

 

[hamoonExpressEntry]

I did not have P.Eng. in my job title. Use of NOC2173 while you don't have P.Eng and you are working in Canada and in particular Ontario is 100% wrong. The officer assured me of that. Some officers might be more lenient but for us it is always better to be on the safe side.

 

[hamoonExpressEntry]

The officer even said if you had passed this stage you would have gotten into trouble in the federal screening. So bottom line if you don't have a license for P.Eng don't use engineering in your title.