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

[Viva2014]

Yep, you are right and considering that they haven't updated the cap since Oct 3rd plus the fact that they are now issuing PERs to July 11 applicants, the overall cap may now be close to 250 as of today.

it's just my statistics but it may work

Pepe,

How do you see that they are issuing PER for July 11 applicants? according to the FSW 2014 charts, there has been no PER issued for applicants after July 1st. Currently, the CC of July 9th applicants are being done.

 

[daretobenku]

For the working hours, my reference letter says: he works 35 hours per week, making around 1800 hours per year. Will this OK? OR more details should be included?
How long should be the reference letter be? My one is about 240 words in total.

Thanks.

The checklist does mention copies of T4 or pay stubs, however those are supporting documents for CIC. You better ask your supervisor for a well detailed reference letter and send it as a proof of your work experience. If the reference letter includes all duties, salaries, time periods as RA and hours worked per week, you will unlikely be asked to submit T4 and pay stubs at a later stage.

Good luck!

 

[pepe84]

Viva2014, you are right, I was looking at the wrong chart.

With apologies, please note that I made a mistake. The latest PERs were issued to June 30th applicants and CC charged to July 9th applicants.

Again, according to my statistics the cap should currently be close or above 250. This includes the in-process applications together with the applications in the queue (unopened envelopes).

Please accept my apologies for giving you the wrong info.

Pepe,

How do you see that they are issuing PER for July 11 applicants? according to the FSW 2014 charts, there has been no PER issued for applicants after July 1st. Currently, the CC of July 9th applicants are being done.

 

[Viva2014]

Viva2014, you are right, I was looking at the wrong chart.

With apologies, please note that I made a mistake. The latest PERs were issued to June 30th applicants and CC charged to July 9th applicants.

Again, according to my statistics the cap should currently be close or above 250. This includes the in-process applications together with the applications in the queue (unopened envelopes).

Please accept my apologies for giving you the wrong info.

It is ok. I just wanted to know weather you have another source for checking the PER or not.

 

[pepe84]

I would divide each time period, for example:

From January 1st to April 30 (Winter semester): 35 hours per week (or 20 hours per week)

From May 1st to August 31 (Summer semester): 35 hours per week

... and so forth.

I am almost sure that this is what they like to see for RA and TA reference letters. If you go to the FAQ for the FSW category, they say that NOC 4012 jobs will often get part time hours, which means that NOC 4012 may be considered as a part time position by the Visa Officers. Thus, you better split all time periods even if you worked 35 hours/week for all of them.

Please also note that If you are a full time PhD student you may want to consider adding 20 hours per week to the first winter and fall semesters (within the first academic year), because PhD students are always taking courses in the first year. If for some reason CIC asks you for your transcripts at a later stage, you are screwed man because you had already stated in your reference letter that you were working full time hours since you started. SO when they compare the info provided in your reference letter with the info contained in your transcripts, they may contradict each other. Full time students cannot work full time always

Contradictions may result in the refusal of your application.

For the working hours, my reference letter says: he works 35 hours per week, making around 1800 hours per year. Will this OK? OR more details should be included?
How long should be the reference letter be? My one is about 240 words in total.

Thanks.

 

[RA_toronto]

I second that. As a full time student, you are allowed to work only 20 hours/week under study permit. Since you need to claim that RA is work, and claim that you do activities in addition to what is required as part of your PhD, I'd say claim at most 20 hours/week. I think there were people in the past who got away with claiming more than 20 hours but it's not safe, it might hurt you later.

As for breaking hours, I didn't do that for RA because I don't get a break as RA. I have been employed as an RA since start of PhD continuously. On the other hand, my TA contract is per term. Here is my letter as an example:

[date]

To whom it may concern,

This letter provides [name]’s detailed job description at the [univ name], to support her application for Permanent Resident status of Canada. I confirm that [name] has been working as a Graduate Research Assistant and a Graduate Teaching Assistant since [start date of PhD]. Her detailed job duties are the following.

As a Graduate Research Assistant, she assists me in research activities in the area of [research field]. [name] commenced employment as a Graduate Research Assistant on [start date of PhD]. Since then, she has been employed part time working 20 hrs/week for the past 157 weeks (3140 hours in total), at an annual salary of [amount]. Her responsibilities include:
• Conduct literature reviews, perform computational experiments, and conduct simulations. Report weekly to me via written documents.
• Assist in the preparation of grant applications.
• Supervise undergraduate summer research students in my research group.
• Compile results, attend meetings to discuss the findings, and assist in the analysis of results.
• Assist in the preparation and writing of scholarly publications for scientific journals and conferences.
• Deliver talks at conferences or meetings when required.

As a Graduate Teaching Assistant, her responsibilities include conducting tutorials to supplement lectures, assisting in the preparation and administration of examinations, and grading examinations and assignments. Her detailed hours working as a teaching assistant are listed below:
• September 7, 2010 to December 8, 2010: [#] hrs/week for [#] weeks ([#] hours in total), at an hourly salary of $[#] (+4% vacation pay).
• [3 more TA employments written similarly, not continuous]

In total, combining the Research Assistantship and Teaching Assistantship, [name] has worked 3452.5 hours in total since [start date of PhD] in addition to the time she spent towards her PhD studies at the [univ name].

I would divide each time period, for example:

From January 1st to April 30 (Winter semester): 35 hours per week (or 20 hours per week)

From May 1st to August 31 (Summer semester): 35 hours per week

... and so forth.

I am almost sure that this is what they like to see for RA and TA reference letters. If you go to the FAQ for the FSW category, they say that NOC 4012 jobs will often get part time hours, which means that NOC 4012 may be considered as a part time position by the Visa Officers. Thus, you better split all time periods even if you worked 35 hours/week for all of them.

Please also note that If you are a full time PhD student you may want to consider adding 20 hours per week to the first winter and fall semesters (within the first academic year), because PhD students are always taking courses in the first year. If for some reason CIC asks you for your transcripts at a later stage, you are screwed man because you had already stated in your reference letter that you were working full time hours since you started. SO when they compare the info provided in your reference letter with the info contained in your transcripts, they may contradict each other. Full time students cannot work full time always

Contradictions may result in the refusal of your application.

 

[churchill1985]

Re: ME received but might be delayed due to pregnancy

Yes, you should email to the CPC-CTD address with your application details as reference at the beginning of the email. Then they should give you further instructions. In the meantime you can also call CIC call centre or send them a hard mail (to the address mentioned in the RPRF email) if you do not receive a quick email reply from them.

I called CIC today and talked about my issue. The agent said I do NOT need to email CIC about this and the physician will take care of the updating. Later, I confirmed this with one physician office. But the agent seems to be urgent to terminate my call since it was over 4 pm (closing time). Should I call them again to confirm? Will they give the same answer?

 

[pepe84]

Hi,

thanks for providing this template. Students can certainly accept full time work (on campus ONLY) during the summer semester. I can tell you that if you write 35 hours for the summer the visa officer will never question that.

Visa officers know that summer semester is a dead semester, so basically there are no curses during this term.

If you check your study permit, it says: May accept part time work on campus and full time when there are no courses to be taken.

Again, thank you.

I second that. As a full time student, you are allowed to work only 20 hours/week under study permit. Since you need to claim that RA is work, and claim that you do activities in addition to what is required as part of your PhD, I'd say claim at most 20 hours/week. I think there were people in the past who got away with claiming more than 20 hours but it's not safe, it might hurt you later.

As for breaking hours, I didn't do that for RA because I don't get a break as RA. I have been employed as an RA since start of PhD continuously. On the other hand, my TA contract is per term. Here is my letter as an example:

[date]

To whom it may concern,

This letter provides [name]'s detailed job description at the [univ name], to support her application for Permanent Resident status of Canada. I confirm that [name] has been working as a Graduate Research Assistant and a Graduate Teaching Assistant since [start date of PhD]. Her detailed job duties are the following.

As a Graduate Research Assistant, she assists me in research activities in the area of [research field]. [name] commenced employment as a Graduate Research Assistant on [start date of PhD]. Since then, she has been employed part time working 20 hrs/week for the past 157 weeks (3140 hours in total), at an annual salary of [amount]. Her responsibilities include:
• Conduct literature reviews, perform computational experiments, and conduct simulations. Report weekly to me via written documents.
• Assist in the preparation of grant applications.
• Supervise undergraduate summer research students in my research group.
• Compile results, attend meetings to discuss the findings, and assist in the analysis of results.
• Assist in the preparation and writing of scholarly publications for scientific journals and conferences.
• Deliver talks at conferences or meetings when required.

As a Graduate Teaching Assistant, her responsibilities include conducting tutorials to supplement lectures, assisting in the preparation and administration of examinations, and grading examinations and assignments. Her detailed hours working as a teaching assistant are listed below:
• September 7, 2010 to December 8, 2010: [#] hrs/week for [#] weeks ([#] hours in total), at an hourly salary of $[#] (+4% vacation pay).
• [3 more TA employments written similarly, not continuous]

In total, combining the Research Assistantship and Teaching Assistantship, [name] has worked 3452.5 hours in total since [start date of PhD] in addition to the time she spent towards her PhD studies at the [univ name].

 

[pepe84]

Re: ME received but might be delayed due to pregnancy

Personally, I do not trust call center agents. Once they told me that IELTS academic can be accepted for the FSW class and they were completely wrong. So you better email CPC Ottawa and explain the situation.

Good luck!

I called CIC today and talked about my issue. The agent said I do NOT need to email CIC about this and the physician will take care of the updating. Later, I confirmed this with one physician office. But the agent seems to be urgent to terminate my call since it was over 4 pm (closing time). Should I call them again to confirm? Will they give the same answer?

 

[bluelotus]

Re: ME received but might be delayed due to pregnancy

I called CIC today and talked about my issue. The agent said I do NOT need to email CIC about this and the physician will take care of the updating. Later, I confirmed this with one physician office. But the agent seems to be urgent to terminate my call since it was over 4 pm (closing time). Should I call them again to confirm? Will they give the same answer?

The physician's suggestion is important and most likely reliable as they might have got candidates like you in the past. However, I still suggest you to call CIC at a suitable time and discuss with them about the physician's advice. We know very well that all call centre agents are not equally qualified...I am not sure whether this agent actually even understood, your situation. Apart from calling, I also suggest you to email CIC (ignore what that agent said) to explain your situation and also ask CIC whether they are ok with your physician's advice (mention his/her name and contacts too). You may also send CIC a hard letter (same content from the email). Remember that your current situation might cause significant delay of your processing from now on. So your objective is not only to notify CIC, but also keep enough evidence (for a possible rainy day ahead) that you contacted them in appropriate time. This is my opinion only, all the best.

 

[bluelotus]

Congrats Bluelotus, you are almost landing!

I just wanted to ask you if you submitted T4A or T4 slips with your application or were you asked to provide these supporting forms?

Thanks!

Hi pepe84,
I was not actually asked by CIC to provide any extra document later. I sent my police clearance (updated), 6 months bank statements with my initial application.

I sent T4 for the RA job with my initial package. I think there was a T4 and also a T4A form (can't exactly recall now). But those slips were downloadable from our university online personal profile. The complete list of docs that I sent for RA is: a) Letter from supervisor, b) Payroll/HR letter, c) Current RA contract, d) Last 2 pay stubs, e) T4s, f) Employment authorization (study permit).

 

[zedd4x]

Hey guys,

I was considering if I can apply a joint application with my girlfriend who lived with me for a year together as a common-law partner. However, now she's away for education for a year. I heard that being away for education reasons can be ok and common-law condition can still be applied as long as atleast one year of common-law condition has been met. Does anyone has any experience in this area here ? Also, how hard/easy it is to prove common-law unions, because there really is not a standard set of documents which can be submitted for it.

Another approach is that I just apply for myself currently and we can figure out her application once she graduates and is ready to come to Canada.

Thanks!
zedd4x

 

[unruffledterry]

Hi all. I have a question to ask. I got my medical request on the 6th of October and finished it on the 20th of October. My medicals was fine. My status online still reads "In Process." I want to know if there is any way of verifying if my medicals have been received. I also want to know if the online status would remain as "In Process" until I get a passport request. Thank you.

 

[RA_toronto]

I understand where you're coming from. However in my university we study (and paid) full time in summer so we don't have a summer break. Note that studying doesn't necessarily mean taking courses, it also means doing research as part of a PhD program. The director of graduate student services in my school wrote the below text when my supervisor asked for advice on how many hours to write. Based on what she said, I don't think it's a good idea to claim 35 hours, even in summer. Of course this is just my personal opinion and my personal interpretation, and you may disagree.

"We have to be careful because we cannot imply that students worked full-time as that would be a violation of their study permit and also, not in keeping with institutional and OCGS expectations about what constitutes “full-time” study. Student applications have actually been refused because of the inherent contradiction. However, we obviously want to help students with their PR application!

The Centre for International Experience has advised us that CIC recommends that “[institutions] should discourage students from working more than 20 hours a week, reminding them that they must study full-time and maintain satisfactory academic standing in order to remain eligible for the program.” So, we should not mention that students work part-time for more than 20 hours a week."

Hi,

thanks for providing this template. Students can certainly accept full time work (on campus ONLY) during the summer semester. I can tell you that if you write 35 hours for the summer the visa officer will never question that.

Visa officers know that summer semester is a dead semester, so basically there are no curses during this term.

If you check your study permit, it says: May accept part time work on campus and full time when there are no courses to be taken.

Again, thank you.

 

[daretobenku]

For this, I have one question. If we say we work 20 hours per week then we could not meet the work experience requirements
"at least one year of continuous, paid full-time (or part-time equivalent) work experience in a managerial, professional or technical occupation within the last 10 years (skill type 0, or skill level A or B in the 2011 version of the National Occupational Classification);" at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/permanent.asp

I understand where you're coming from. However in my university we study (and paid) full time in summer so we don't have a summer break. Note that studying doesn't necessarily mean taking courses, it also means doing research as part of a PhD program. The director of graduate student services in my school wrote the below text when my supervisor asked for advice on how many hours to write. Based on what she said, I don't think it's a good idea to claim 35 hours, even in summer. Of course this is just my personal opinion and my personal interpretation, and you may disagree.

"We have to be careful because we cannot imply that students worked full-time as that would be a violation of their study permit and also, not in keeping with institutional and OCGS expectations about what constitutes “full-time” study. Student applications have actually been refused because of the inherent contradiction. However, we obviously want to help students with their PR application!

The Centre for International Experience has advised us that CIC recommends that “[institutions] should discourage students from working more than 20 hours a week, reminding them that they must study full-time and maintain satisfactory academic standing in order to remain eligible for the program.” So, we should not mention that students work part-time for more than 20 hours a week."