Applicant from PhD program after 5 Nov, 2011 connect here to get status

[TyrusX]

  Hi everyone,

  I applied through the Phd stream in November 17th. Ottawa asked me for a reference letter in the early June from my employer (university), including job duties, hours worked and salary. I provided the letter one week later and recentely (early July) Ottawa requested for an evidence of funds and account activity for the past six months. I guess that they asked me the reference letter to check my eligibility and after proving that I receive the second request.
  I provided them four years work-experience (two years from my country+two years RA+TA). I got 12/16 as the English proficiency score. Also, I am single (no more points)..
   It seems that Ottawa is much more tough compare to Sydney in assigning points to the applicants.

   Good Luck

can you tell us where are you from and the other information so I can add you to the spreadsheet?

[zephyr86]

Hi everyone,

Are PhD students at Quebec universities, who have already passed two years of their PhDs, eligible to apply for Federal Skill Worker category for foreign PhD students?

I mean is this category applicable for Quebec universities' PhD students, too? In the federal government website, it's been said that you should not have an intention to live in Quebec, but I'm not sure if it applies to me PhD students at Quebec universities or not, because they have to be in Quebec until at least the end of their PhD, say two or three years.

I'd appreciate it if you could help me out...

[EH2010]

    You added me to the spreadsheet before (EH2010). I am from Iran.

[zoubin]

I've just sent you an Email.

weird! I didn't get your email. What's yours?

[mapleisland]

I sent again to zoubin19 @ gmail.com

[mapleisland]

I have a question about the letter of attestation. Does it must use the template provided officially? Or it's ok not following the provided template if it meets all the requirements?
Also, since I transferred from US, so The letter from Graduate Studies showing I started my phd since September 2010, though this is already my start of 4th year for my phd study. Is it an issue because based on what shown in the letter, I will complete two years until September 2012.  Will it solve the problem if I have another letter from department stating I'm starting the 4th year of my phd?

[TyrusX]

I have a question about the letter of attestation. Does it must use the template provided officially? Or it's ok not following the provided template if it meets all the requirements?
Also, since I transferred from US, so The letter from Graduate Studies showing I started my phd since September 2010, though this is already my start of 4th year for my phd study. Is it an issue because based on what shown in the letter, I will complete two years until September 2012.  Will it solve the problem if I have another letter from department stating I'm starting the 4th year of my phd?

I believe you have to be two years since you started you Phd on Canada. And it needs to be following the template. There is not really a transfer on a PHD level, you were readmitted by the department, most probably. I know of this because I almost transferred to another university due to my supervisor moving.

[MarMar20]

Hi,
Can anybody tell me Ottawa sends email after receiving the application to confirm the application has been received by visa office?
Maryam

[Luigiovemma]

I believe you have to be two years since you started you Phd on Canada. And it needs to be following the template. There is not really a transfer on a PHD level, you were readmitted by the department, most probably. I know of this because I almost transferred to another university due to my supervisor moving.

I agree. I transferred to my current university at my second year due to my supervisor moving, and the university letters I obtained all indicate that I started at the year the transfer went through. They said I could still obtain another letter from my old university to verify the one-year experience, but I didn't bother doing that because I already have three years in the new university.

In terms of the letter of attestation, I think you do have to follow the official template. But one thing I saw a lot of people mentioned here is you MUST obtain it from the School of Graduate Office and have the Dean sign it. Actually I didn't obtain the letter from my grad school office. I just asked the admin staff in my department to prepare it for me using the paper with university/department letterhead, and make sure word-to-word they follow the template. They seem to accept the letter, at least at CIO... I only brought this up because sometimes people in the grad office are quite stubborn and won't make any change to the letter, while people in your department might be more flexible since you know them better. But anyway, if you can get the letter from the grad office it's more assuring:)

[asbereth]

I mean is this category applicable for Quebec universities' PhD students, too? In the federal government website, it's been said that you should not have an intention to live in Quebec, but I'm not sure if it applies to me PhD students at Quebec universities or not, because they have to be in Quebec until at least the end of their PhD, say two or three years.

Hi zephyr86, this is probably an ignorant question, but can you tell us where you got this from? I checked the CIC website, and at face value, could not seem to find anything about Quebec mentioned.

In terms of the letter of attestation, I think you do have to follow the official template. But one thing I saw a lot of people mentioned here is you MUST obtain it from the School of Graduate Office and have the Dean sign it. Actually I didn't obtain the letter from my grad school office. I just asked the admin staff in my department to prepare it for me using the paper with university/department letterhead, and make sure word-to-word they follow the template. They seem to accept the letter, at least at CIO... I only brought this up because sometimes people in the grad office are quite stubborn and won't make any change to the letter, while people in your department might be more flexible since you know them better. But anyway, if you can get the letter from the grad office it's more assuring:)

Well, it's certainly safer to use the template, but I think the reason why they decided to put the template there was because there were so early applicants that did not have the 'good academic standing' part on their letter, and that could be why they provided it so that people know exactly what they need on the letters. I find it hard to believe though that they would reject perfectly eligible applications (which have everything they asked for on the letters of attestation) just because they did not use the template for the letter. It is however still NOT the recommended course of action as the CIC seems to find every reason to reject applications these days.

[mike5182]

Recently, it is so quiet.

[ejamal]

Hi,
Can anybody tell me Ottawa sends email after receiving the application to confirm the application has been received by visa office?
Maryam

In my case they did not send an AOR letter (or email).

[TyrusX]

Recently, it is so quiet.

asbereth and I concluded that medical comes about day 200 after application was received.
We should hear from them in about 2 more weeks. Other then pixie, that was smart enough
to send her documents to Mexico VO, no one from 2012 has received any communication from ottawa.

[asbereth]

asbereth and I concluded that medical comes about day 200 after application was received.
We should hear from them in about 2 more weeks. Other then pixie, that was smart enough
to send her documents to Mexico VO, no one from 2012 has received any communication from ottawa.

The silence has been deafening. I've heard that some late February CEC applicants have already gotten their PR by now. The non-uniformity in processing speed sometimes makes it harder for me to appreciate how much faster the process has gotten compared to pre-08 (pre-MI) applications, which most of the times, took more than 3 years. All the same, the whole thing has been driving me crazy, and at this rate, I may need to seek some depression counseling soon.

Anyway, regarding the 5 adaptability previous study points, the wording in both the website and the instruction guide is that the person need not obtain an educational credential to be awarded these 5 points. I was thinking that, if somebody has completed a program, but yet still to convocate, then that person would have, at that point of time, received the educational credential pertaining to obtaining that degree, even though the official ceremony is yet to occur. For example, if you complete your PhD on March, and are yet to convocate in June, you're qualified to take a post-doc job (or any job that requires the PhD you have just completed), say, in April, despite the fact that you're still two months away before officially 'obtaining' the degree.

What I'm trying to say, it doesn't make any sense for the wording 'not required to have obtained an educational credential' if what they meant was people in the situation that I just described, because these people would have obtained their 'educational credential' anyway by the time they complete their degrees, regardless whether or not they have convocated.

[Brit_Immigrant]

No news from Meteor 2012? Should be the next in line for some news about now.