Yes, and this is not an exaggeration. I wish I can say it was quite easy for me but it was not. It took me (and my husband later on) countless rejections, roadblocks, long hours spent doing IELTS sample tests, researching, filling up application forms and completing countless documents to attempt to apply for permanent residency in different countries before Canada finally accepted us with open arms in 2015.
This is a not short post but I feel the need to tell you my long and arduous Canadian immigrant journey and hopefully inspire you that just like in a typical Disney movie, you still get your happy ending after all.
2006 – 1st attempt in Canada. My first application for Permanent Residency was in Canada in 2006 with the intention of making it on my own as a young single woman. But after waiting for 5 years, I received an update that all applications with no decision yet by the Canadian embassy will be returned. To say that my whole world crushed was an understatement. During that time, I also made an effort to update my application as I got married in 2010. When we got married, we moved to Singapore and from there our decisions were loosely based on the fact that one day we will be migrating to Canada – so we postponed having kids and tried saving money by sharing an apartment with other fellow Overseas Filipino Workers. All these sacrifices for nothing.
2010 – 2nd attempt in Singapore. In 2010, while waiting for Canada, we thought it would be good to manage our risk and apply for Permanent Residency in Singapore. Unfortunately, we got rejected.
2012 to 2014 – 3rd attempt in Australia. After learning about our returned application in Canada in 2012, I got apprehensive knowing that our status in Singapore was not really stable (we were only holding employment type visas, which means that if you get laid off from work, your visa is rescinded). I immediately checked other countries. I saw that Australia was the next viable option considering that I also have my relatives there. We sent our profiles to an immigration agent and received their advise that we were qualified for a provincial nominee. We immediately set-up a meeting with the agency to discuss further our application and went ahead to proceed with the contract signing.
In 2012, Australia will be introducing the new Expression of Interest (EOI) which is very similar to Canada’s new Express Entry. There were two major things we needed to complete before we can submit the application: 1) Get your skills certified by a third Party Assessing Body of Australia and 2) Pass IELTS with a score of at least 7.0 in all bands: Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking.
For the first item, getting the skill certification was smooth sailing for my husband. Whatever work credentials he has submitted, it was dully acknowledged and credited by the assessor. However, for IELTS, it was not the same story. On his first try, he was short by 1.0 in writing. I immediately scheduled him to another one and every weekend leading up to the exam date, he was diligently taking all the practice tests available online. On his 2nd attempt, he still wasn’t lucky – he was short by 0.5 in writing and speaking. We decided it maybe worthwhile to attend a formal class. On his 3rd attempt, his score improved but he’s still missing 0.5 in writing. We thought that since the gap is only 0.5 we requested for re-checking of his work as we know a friend that did the same thing. When results came back – his score in writing remained as 6.5.
It’s now 2013 but all these efforts did not result yet to a legitimate application for Permanent Residency in Australia. Add to that hubby is turning 40 yrs old very soon and if he does not meet the necessary 7.0 score in IELTS before his birthday, we will no longer meet the minimum score for Australia. I was getting depressed and frustrated about the entire situation, meanwhile, we hear multiple stories from friends or friends of friends that they are packing up and migrating to Australia soon.
We checked again with our agent and inquired what if we switch roles? I will be the principal applicant instead of my husband? Based on the scores, it was doable although there is going to be more work ahead to complete my work documents as I worked for multiple companies for the past years. Immediately, we went ahead and enlisted for IELTS. We both went for IELTs thinking that this would be a good strategy – he might get lucky this time so if that happens, there’s no need for us to switch. Thank God I passed – barely though as I obtained 7.0 or just slightly higher in all four modules. Hubby was short again by 0.5. Given this good news on my side, I immediately completed my job description from various companies and the agent sent it to the assessing body. We were both hopeful, as the work experience assessment has been smooth for him. Plus, we know for a fact that in Australia, processing time is fast so long as you have these major deliverables in place. Imagine our disappointment when we found out the assessor rejected my nominated work this time! I was at a loss for words and truly heartbroken, up to this day I can vividly remember getting that phone call from our migration agent to hear the decision of the assessing body.
I called my sister (who was in the Philippines) to find solace, what she gave me was a piece of advice I’ll never forget “you cannot stop trying otherwise your current situation will remain the same“. She’s right. If we don’t do anything about it now, it will all be the same tomorrow. So even with a broken heart, I started picking up the pieces and explored New Zealand’s requirements.
2014 – 4th attempt in New Zealand. For New Zealand, I remember spending one Sunday afternoon trying to understand their questionnaire. Based on my assessment, hubby is qualified provided the college that he went to has a high score based on New Zealand’s assessment. They have something similar to WES (sorry i forgot the name) so we submitted the requirements and paid a certain amount for the assessment. Again, when results came, we were disheartened to know that the school was not given a score of 7.0 (7.0 is what we needed). Needless to say, we could not proceed with New Zealand.
Meanwhile, the Australian agent came back to us and said that they will nominate me to a different skill this time. However, since my degree was not directly related to my work, I needed to produce another document – a business case like piece of evidence to show I have been very well trained and knowledgeable for my job. Likewise, they also said my work experience is short by 3 months so they cannot immediately apply for the assessment right away. I needed to wait for 3 months plus produce that case study. When I opened the document, I was flabbergasted to learn about the sheer volume of write-up I needed to do. I was tired. I decided to do it on the 3rd month instead to give myself sometime to rest. The Australia saga extended until 2014 with no clear end in sight.
2014 – 5th attempt (and final) in Canada. By April 2014, we came to know that the Canadian Federal Skilled Worker program for 2014 from my sister’s Canadian agent opened up! We got hopeful again, and utilised the free assessment they have onsite. Hubby is eligible! By May 1, 2014 we signed up with the agency and started preparing the documents. the good news is those documents we have been preparing for Australia were utilized and that his IELTS scores were very much acceptable! The IELTS exam I took gave an additional 5 points to our overall score, so no effort was wasted. In one and half months, we completed all the documents and documents were received by the embassy by June 24. The rest is history…
Looking back, Steve Jobs said in his commencement speech at a known University…”you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect the dots looking backwards.” Had we not prepared these documents beforehand for Australia, we would not meet the 1000 quota for the NOC Hubby was applying for. His NOC was one of the fastest ones that got filled up quickly. Also, If we didn’t get all the pushbacks and rejections from the other countries it would not be a sweet reunion for both of our sisters who are waiting for us in Canada!
Sorry, I know this is super long but I hope even if you skipped some parts of the article, you saw the years, the countries we attempted to apply for, this has inspired you to NEVER give up on your dreams.
Trust in the Lord that you are where you are meant to be…in His Perfect Time He will give it to you.
Memoirs of a Maple Leaf 