Credential Assessment for Canadian FSW at WES

A letter from the postman had just arrived this afternoon.  Unfortunately, I am not around so they left a note for me to claim it at our nearest post office.

It was obvious that the letter was from the World Education Services since it has a logo of WES stamped on it. 

What is World Education Services?

One of the requirements for the Canadian immigration, particularly for the Federal Skilled Workers (FSW) NOC category is the Educational Credential Assessment (ECA).

ECA is the way to prove that your credentials (Transcripts and Diploma) are all genuine.  Canada had accredited few institutions/organizations to assess these credentials from the foreign graduates who wished to apply for the FSW.

The designated organizations for ECA are the following:

• Comparative Education Service – University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies
• International Credential Assessment Service of Canada
• World Education Services
• Medical Council of Canada

For me, the reason I applied at the World Education Services is because the fee is cheaper than the others.   The other reason is that WES has a user friendly website and it makes me feel comfortable transacting.

How to Get your Educational Credential Assessment?

I did procrastinate for a week before signing in to WES.  After listening to the advise of my sister, I signed up on WES website, keyed-in my particulars and they sent me a confirmation email.

As I finished keying in the details online, I sent my payment to them using my credit card.   There are some options where I would prefer them to send my assessment, it could be through a normal mail, registered mail or courier.  

I had chosen the registered mail, which is $30.  It's not bad at all, I'll tell you why in a short while. Here is the breakdown of my expenses in WES:

FSWP Credential Assessment Package  -  $180.00

US/International Registered Mail                -  $   30.00

Harmonized Sales Tax (HST)                      - $   27.30 

                                             TOTAL              -  $ 237.30

For the updated services fees, please visit the WES website.

After the payment,  they sent me an email stating that they will review my application and then they advised me to print a form, labeled with my application number, which is to be filled up by the school.  

On the second day, I logged in to my WES account and I was able to see my transactions and the status of my applications.  

At that time, the status stated that they are waiting for the required documents.

What are those Credentials?

To let WES assess my credentials, I need to send them the photocopies of my Transcript of Records and the Degree Certificate (Diploma) by mail or courier.  

Update as of 03 July, 2014: Applicants should send Only the Degree/Diploma Certificate  to WES.  The School will send the Transcipt of Records to WES.

I sent the copies from Singapore using the services of the SingPost for a cost of S$2.00 and an additional of S$2.50 to make it registered.

It arrived at WES after 9 days and I think it's not bad at all because I can track my mail online.

The next step was to let the school's registrar to sign the form that was included in my WES application and they will send it directly to WES together with the copy of my TOR and Diploma.  

It cost me US$80.00 for the school registrar because they will send my documents directly to the WES through a courier/forwarder.  Each document actually cost US$40.00 and since I have two degrees, I paid double.

The school took 3 days to prepare the requirements and another 5 days for the delivery to WES.

How long does it take for WES to Process the Application?

As soon as WES received my documents, it took them 2 days to process my application and 12 days for the letter to arrive in Singapore.

Can I see the Assessment of WES online?

The good thing about WES is that I can see their assessment of my credentials online.  Here are my credential assessments.

B.S. Electrical Engineering - 4 years (Canadian Equivalence)

B.S. Electronics and Communications Engineering - 4 years (Canadian Equivalence) 

Two 4-year bachelor's degree (Canadian Equivalence)

I was so happy to see this because I was expecting a 2 year equivalence only. Wew!

Questions Regarding Your Application?
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Return of Processing Fee from CANADA

It was 6 years ago when I sent my application for the Federal Skilled Workers Program in Canada.  That was the year 2007.

The application at that time was a bit easier than this year 2013.  What we're required to submit were only a form for me to fill in. That's it!  They call this application as SAP or Simplified Application Process.

That was it!  I was excited after submitting my application and thought that it will just take me 5 years to wait...Yup, 5 years!

What Happened After 5 Years???
Then, an announcement from the Canadian Immigration came on 2012 that they were no longer pursuing the applications of the 2007 applicants.  The world is really round and I'm at the bottom now.  This is not happening, I thought.  But, the letter came and after reading it, I realized that it was true.

After waiting for so long, this is what we've got.  But, somehow, I did not loose my interest in the Moving to Canada since this is my ultimate dream.  I turned it to a positive view in my life and thought that it's not my right time to be there.  It was proven that I'm right because the recession was really bad at the time in Canada.

Lucky for me because I'm still working in Singapore, earning and saving money for my settlement funds in Canada.  Working in Singapore is where I was inspired to start my Singapore Story blog.

What Did Canada Do?
Today, I was busy asking the bank on how to make a telegraphic transfer.  This is because, Canada sent me an email asking me for my bank details.

They will be refunding my application fee, which I had paid on my 2007 application.  I'm using a DBS/POSB bank in Singapore and here is the form for the telegraphic transfer details that I need to fill in.

DBS Bank Ltd
12 Marina Boulevard
DBS Asia Central
Marina Bay Financial Center Tower 3
Singapore 018982

Swift Code: DBSSSGSG

Hope that they will send the money to me as soon as possible so I could use it to my new application.  I'm planning to submit it this week.

If you want to know how to apply for Moving to CANADA.  Follow me to my journey...

How to Get a Bank Certificate at POSB or DBS in Singapore?

Another requirement for the Federal Skilled Worker for the Canadian Immigration is the bank certificate. If you are in your country, I think it's easy to get one from your local bank.

Since we're here in Singapore, we need to know what are the requirements to get a bank certificate.

My account is in POSB bank and is also attached with their mother/sister company, which is DBS.  I went to the bank where I opened an account and is at POSB Jurong Point branch.

What is the Procedure to Get a Bank Certificate at POSB?
As a normal requirement, I brought my passport and my IC (Identification Card).  At the entrance of the bank, I asked the assistant about where to get a bank certificate.  This type of transaction will be at a different section of the bank, so she lead me to the right corner and handed me a queue number.

I waited for few minutes, around 30 mins for the queue.

It was my turn, I presented my passport and IC and told the lady attendant that I am requesting for a bank certificate that I need for my Canadian Immigration requirement.

How Much is the Cost of Bank Certificate in POSB?
So she asked me to fill up a form, which I finished for 5 minutes.  She asked me if I wanted to have the outstanding balance of my account printed on the bank certificate for yesterday or for today?  I requested to print the yesterday's balance because I withdrawn some cash a while ago.

She asked me to come back the next day and proceed to the cashier for payment of S$21.40.  This expense is listed at my other post, if you want to know some of the expenses in Singapore for the Canadian Immigration please check it here at EXPENSES.

Moving To Canada: A Dream

Fifteen years of my life were dedicated to my dream...Moving to Canada.  It's a dream that started when I was young and put in to action at the beginning of 2003.  This kept me busy on my day to day activity.

Anything I did at that time was dedicated for my dream.  If anything come's up, may it be an event or a job opportunity, I always link it to my dream saying "This opportunity will be useful in Canada."

It sounds like I'm too paranoid about this, but I can't blame myself, I think I was born to dream this way.

Yup, I also wanted to know why?  Are there any memories that I can link on to with regards to my paranoia?

Why I Always Wanted to Pursue the Moving to Canada Thing?
Since young, I was in the environment where relatives comes and goes from all parts of the world.  We call them "from abroad (abrod)".

They are the ones working or had migrated to other countries, we don't care where they're from as long as  they're from the other country, so we called them this way.   The gifts that they bring along are what we called "states-side", may it be a soap or a clothing, that's what we call it.

I came from a family that I considered as in between the lower and the middle class.  We are not blessed enough to share the luxury from abroad.

We are a big family and the only goal for our parents is for us to eat three times a day and have a nice comfortable shelter.  Luxury is out of our vocabulary.

These set my mind to really think deeper and try to analyse why they were so blessed with these "states-sides".

So, a dream was built-in to me, that being abroad was the best way to go to the middle class or even higher.  Thus setting my lifetime goal to this...until now.

What Am I Doing With My Dream in Moving To Canada?
As you read this blog, you can pause in a while and look at that post date.

Remember this date, because...it is the date....where.....I'm fulfilling my dream in Moving to Canada.  I will start to gather some information on how to do it. It's sounds silly and might be a bit impossible, but trying hurts a bit but not to the extent that it will kill me.

There's a quote that says:

 " If it can't kill you, go for it!".