thourb
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- Sep 6, 2016
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The key question here is, how much experience will it amount to, if it was
So if you worked the whole time without any unpaid breaks, can you claim for the entire duration of your RA/TA role as work experience?
You won't be able to claim for any time working on your own thesis - that would come under being a student rather than work experience. I can only comment on my partner's experience - he worked as a TA/RA during his 3 year PhD and has a letter from his head of department stating that he did a PhD and worked as a TA/RA during this period as well and that the TA/RA element worked out at 18 hours per week over the three years. This is sufficient for us to be able to claim one year worth of work experience under FSW. There is no way that IRCC are going to allow you to suggest that the work was "full time" alongside your PhD, so you will only be able to claim part time. I would suggest that 16-20hrs would be a realistic amount, but be prepared for questions from your visa officer if you can't prove to them in writing exactly what you were doing with your time - like I said, you'll need a letter from whomever was in charge of you saying exactly what your duties were and how many hours per week you did them.