nano24482 said:
Dear Matt,
I suggest you contact someone(if possible from your university itself) and get your filled up forms checked.
It seems that you have selected FSW1 category instead of PhD category.
Cos you don't need any experience for PhD stream.
Regards,
Hi nano24482, I would like to mention that, even applying under the PhD stream, you still have to fulfill the minimum requirement for work experience (at least one year of continuous work experience within the last 10 years in Skill Level A, B, or O), and also the 67 points. It is not a CEC class, but rather, under FSW, so you are still subject to FSW requirements. The 2 years of PhD is just an eligibility criterion, similar to FSW1 and FSW2.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-who.asp
For your application to be eligible for processing, you must:
have a valid offer of arranged employment, OR
have one year of continuous full-time paid work experience in at least one of the occupations listed here * OR
be an international student enrolled in a PhD program in Canada (or graduated from a Canadian PhD program within the past 12 months) and meet certain criteria.
If your application is eligible for processing it will then be assessed against minimum requirements.
If you meet the above minimum requirements, your application will be processed according to the six selection factors in the skilled worker points grid,
Nowhere was it mentioned that you need not satisfy the six selection factors, or the minimum requirements if you're applying under PhD stream. It is just an eligibility criterion, that will enable you to be eligible for processing. Several weeks ago, there was a message on behalf of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to my school, that addresses exactly this:
CIC wishes to remind all applicants that the PhD eligibility stream introduced in November 2011 is not in and of itself a program for permanent residence and that meeting the requirements of the PhD stream does not guarantee an applicant will receive a visa for permanent residence. Rather, the PhD stream is a set of criteria that determines an applicant's eligibility for consideration under the Federal Skilled Worker Program, which is a program under which foreign nationals can obtain permanent residence in Canada. Applicants who are positively assessed against the PhD stream eligibility criteria – or the criteria of any of the other eligibility streams – must then fulfill the requirements of the Federal Skilled Worker Program, including that they have at least one year of continuous, paid work experience (full-time or the equivalent in part-time), in a skilled occupation (Skill Type 0, or Skill Level A or B as set out in the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC) list. Applicants will also be assessed against the selection factors in the skilled worker selection points grid and must be found admissible to Canada.
Matt Sh. said:
As a matter of fact, I have been RAing full-time, and TAing part-time (i.e. 219 hours, and mentioned that in my application). However, our RA is a sort of Graduate Research Studentship (GRS) and University's HR would not give a letter for that. This can be reflected in Program Confirmation Letter though. I can only get a letter from my advisor saying that I have been working as a RA over the past three years. Do you think that would work?
Hi Matt Sh., your situation is similar to mine (where RA changed to GRS several years back), and a lot of other people. Yes, it is possible to have your non-taxable RA experience count as paid work experience. If you check the link that I posted previously, you'll notice that early on, there were a lot of people wondering if it would be possible, and we have found out that, provided that you can document your total number of hours and duties properly, then you can have non-taxable RA experience count as well as paid work experience.
Again, as you said, the challenge is to document the total number of hours, for which I am sure that your HR or graduate studies office won't provide it. You have to have your supervisor do it for you, or at least sign it, and NOT the HR or GSO (and you will probably end up writing your own letter, so you can make sure that it has all the required components). People have done this, and they have gotten PER's, and even med requests, just by having work experience in RA/TA, and nothing else (provided, of course, you satisfy the minimum requirements and have at least 67 points).
I noticed you used the terms RA and GRS, and my school (Waterloo) uses the exact same terms as well. If you're also attending Waterloo, I know several people here that have done exactly what I did (letter from supervisor for RA/TA). The thing is, even the HR letter for TA is useless by itself because it contains no descriptions of what you are doing as a TA, only the funding information, so even for the taxable part of the income, just having the letter from HR won't be sufficient.
If you can manage at least 1,950 (continuous) hours from TA/RA, which is very possible after 2 years, 16 points for language, 10 points for age, and a Master's degree with at least 17 years of education, then you should have more than 67 points if you are eligible under PhD stream (since having completed two years of PhD means that you are eligible for the 5 adaptability points for previous study).
Several applicants have their applications rejected because they relied on these 5 adaptability points to get above 67 points, but have successfully appealed, and have their negative decision overturned by the CIO (since it is mentioned in the instruction guide that you need not have completed a degree for these 5 points, but rather only two years of study).
Good luck, and let us know what you will end up doing
