# Express Entry - only 296 points



## ajayshahani (Mar 5, 2016)

Dear All,

I have applied for Express Entry since Mar 2015. My total point sums upto 296 (

I have been following the trend of draw which has seldom gone down below 460. With that pattern I am don't foresee it coming as down as 296. I am from IT field and I am trying endlessly to get a job through online portals which will help me accumulate more points. All my try has been in vain so far. I do not have any relative in Canada who can sponsor me. 

One thing is I want to be optimistic of getting there but the reality is that time is passing & I am 36 (age criteria lowers your points) already. The sooner the process starts the better chances of me getting & settling there.

I would be grateful for your advice on how to get the process through. Can someone help me with tips on securing a job or finding a sponsor or something that will help me. 

Regards, 

Ajay


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

If you don't have a _minimum_ of 450 points, I doubt that you will _ever_ receive an Invitation to Apply, as it's not likely that the CRS floor will ever go below 450 points - the program has been open for 16 months and it's never gone below that minimum threshold point.

Your only viable options left would be to get either a) a Provincial Nomination (Google Provincial Nomination Program) or b) a _valid, qualifying_ job from the Job Bank.

If you cannot secure either of those two things, then I'm afraid that you'll not be able to come to Canada via the Express Entry route and will have to find an alternate route to come to Canada.


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## ajayshahani (Mar 5, 2016)

Thank you for your reply. 

I have already nominated myself for Quebec Province in Dec. The draw is due in June. Is there any suggested alternate route which can enable me to get an invitation? Like, Job consultants who specialize in granting work permits to aspiring immigrants,etc.


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

ajayshahani said:


> Thank you for your reply.
> 
> I have already nominated myself for Quebec Province in Dec. The draw is due in June. Is there any suggested alternate route which can enable me to get an invitation? Like, Job consultants who specialize in granting permits to aspiring immigrants,etc.


In regards to the PNP program in general, each province operates its own program and the rules and regulations for each vary from province to province, so you would have to apply to a provincial government directly, as there is no one application that covers all of the provinces. 

You should also consider that Canada is 3 times as large as India and the country varies from province to province. What the economic situation might be in British Columbia (in the west) won't necessarily be the same in Ontario or Newfoundland to the east.

Also consider that Canada can be a _very_ cold country in the winter, so you should do your homework and research all you can about the different provinces before you choose one to live in.

I don't know how likely you are to make it in the Quebec draw... French is the more widely spoken language there, so there will be a bigger emphasis on people with French language ability... there is some credit given to English speaking applicants, but to the provincial government in Quebec, French is favoured more than English. 

If you were to earn a PNP from Quebec, are you prepared to learn to speak/read/write French and stay in the province according to the conditions of your nomination? French isn't necessarily an easy language to learn and you'll not necessarily _always_ find people in Quebec who are willing to speak to you in English... while Canada is officially a bilingual country, there is no law in Quebec that says that everyone _must_ speak English if their first language is French.

In regards to finding employment from outside of Canada... immigration and employment consultants _cannot_ guarantee you a job or a work permit in Canada, and any of them who claim to do this for you are lying and are only interested in your hard earned ₹₹₹₹. Canadian employers generally want to interview potential new employees themselves instead of handing recruitment/retention off to a third party agency, so you'd have to secure an interview with the potential employer directly. They simply won't tell a recruitment agency "find us someone to do this job" and then leave it to the recruitment agency to go and hire someone for the job... it doesn't work that way in Canada.

Also, recruiting overseas can often be a long and expensive process for employers so they're not always willing to go to the time and expense of hiring overseas applicants who don't have exceptional or unique skills that can't or aren't already available in Canadian citizen employees or non-Canadians who are already resident in Canada and who have the proper permission to take up employment in Canada.


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

ajayshahani said:


> Dear All,
> 
> I have applied for Express Entry since Mar 2015. My total point sums upto 296 (
> 
> ...




You cannot "find a sponsor". And if you are that far away from the lowest points required it is highly unlikely that you will succeed in achieving that total. 

As an IT worker you are hardly unique - Canada has thousands of IT workers here already. You are not offering us anything we don't already have and, unless you somehow have a unique skill set, no employer is going to hire you when they can simply hire someone who is already in Canada which will be a much easier course of action for them.


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

ajayshahani said:


> Thank you for your reply.
> 
> I have already nominated myself for Quebec Province in Dec. The draw is due in June. Is there any suggested alternate route which can enable me to get an invitation? Like, Job consultants who specialize in granting work permits to aspiring immigrants,etc.



Do you speak French? If not, why did you apply to Quebec?


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## ajayshahani (Mar 5, 2016)

colchar said:


> Do you speak French? If not, why did you apply to Quebec?


Hi, 

Quebec has opened PNP which is due in June. The requirement clearly states no French knowledge accepted. In fact, they are not calculating points for French skills. So I have my hope on the draw.


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## ajayshahani (Mar 5, 2016)

colchar said:


> You cannot "find a sponsor". And if you are that far away from the lowest points required it is highly unlikely that you will succeed in achieving that total.
> 
> As an IT worker you are hardly unique - Canada has thousands of IT workers here already. You are not offering us anything we don't already have and, unless you somehow have a unique skill set, no employer is going to hire you when they can simply hire someone who is already in Canada which will be a much easier course of action for them.


What if find a sponsor? It increases my chances right?


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## ajayshahani (Mar 5, 2016)

WestCoastCanadianGirl said:


> In regards to the PNP program in general, each province operates its own program and the rules and regulations for each vary from province to province, so you would have to apply to a provincial government directly, as there is no one application that covers all of the provinces.
> 
> You should also consider that Canada is 3 times as large as India and the country varies from province to province. What the economic situation might be in British Columbia (in the west) won't necessarily be the same in Ontario or Newfoundland to the east.
> 
> ...


What if I chose to come to Canada as a tourist for couple of weeks and try my best to get a job by meeting consultants/companies. I know this will be a fortune game. I am not sure what will be the consequences as the idea itself sounds silly. What are the chances of cracking it? Any advice will help. I just don't want to leave any tables unturned as I am in race against time.


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

ajayshahani said:


> Hi,
> 
> Quebec has opened PNP which is due in June. The requirement clearly states no French knowledge accepted. In fact, they are not calculating points for French skills. So I have my hope on the draw.


Be that as it may, are you prepared to learn to speak/read/write French when you arrive?

Quebec French is quite different in sound as compared to the French that is spoken in France.

Have a look at this video to hear the differences between 



.


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## ajayshahani (Mar 5, 2016)

WestCoastCanadianGirl said:


> Be that as it may, are you prepared to learn to speak/read/write French when you arrive?
> 
> Quebec French is quite different in sound as compared to the French that is spoken in France.
> 
> Have a look at this video to hear the differences between spoken Parisien and Quebecois (Joual) French.


Thanks for sharing this. It gives an insight. Believe me, I am ready to learn French and be a fluent speaker in a years time.


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

ajayshahani said:


> What if I chose to come to Canada as a tourist for couple of weeks and try my best to get a job by meeting consultants/companies. I know this will be a fortune game. I am not sure what will be the consequences as the idea itself sounds silly. What are the chances of cracking it? Any advice will help. I just don't want to leave any tables unturned as I am in race against time.


Computer Science has been taught at Canadian high schools for >25 years, so high school students start learning about it even before they go to university which, unfortunately, means that you probably _will *not*_ be able to get an interview let alone a job in IT in Canada. 

There are many thousands of Canadians who have IT skills that are as good as yours, if not better than what you have in addition to years of Canadian experience and none of those people would require any sort of sponsorship for a work permit.

Also consider what I said previously about potential Canadian employers having to go through a long and expensive process to hire someone from outside of Canada... not only do they have to pay money to the government to get a permit to hire outside of Canada, they also have to submit a list of Canadian candidates who apply for the job posting _in addition to_ the reason why that Canadian applicant was not hired, and as IT is not a "shortage" occupation, the job posting would not be one that wouldn't attract many Canadian applicants.

It's not enough that you _want to_ come to Canada. Unless you have some specialised skills or training that isn't widely available in Canada to make your CV more attractive to Canadian employers, it's doubtful that any employer would be willing to go to the time and expense of getting an assessment done so that they could hire you.


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## EVHB (Feb 11, 2008)

What exactly is it that you are doing in IT? Are you help desk? Programmer? Administrator? CIO? ...


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## ajayshahani (Mar 5, 2016)

EVHB said:


> What exactly is it that you are doing in IT? Are you help desk? Programmer? Administrator? CIO? ...


My present role is IT Manager. My previous roles were as IT Administrator, IT consultant, IT Process Implementer, IT Operations Manager, IT Project Manager, IT Service Manager.


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

ajayshahani said:


> What if find a sponsor? It increases my chances right?



You cannot just 'find a sponsor'.


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

ajayshahani said:


> Hi,
> 
> Quebec has opened PNP which is due in June. The requirement clearly states no French knowledge accepted. In fact, they are not calculating points for French skills. So I have my hope on the draw.



You clearly aren't aware of the realities of living in Quebec, not do you seem capable of understanding the guidelines.

Yes, they do calculate points for French language skills. The following is taken directly from their website:

"_*Evaluation of French and English knowledge*

All new candidates in the Regular Skilled Worker Program who wish to obtain points in the selection grid for their knowledge of French (principal applicant: 16 points for oral and written knowledge; spouse: maximum of 6 points) and English (principal applicant only: maximum of 6 points for oral and written) must present attestations of results of evaluation tests or diplomas recognized by the Ministère. Children accompanying their parents are exempt from this new requirement.

The results of the language knowledge tests and diplomas recognized by the Ministère are therefore the only language knowledge evaluation tool for French and English used for immigration candidates. In addition to optimizing the Ministère’s selection practices, standardized tests and diplomas recognized by the Ministère ensure that the evaluation of candidates for their French and English knowledge is accurate, consistent and fair. The results must date from less than two years from the date of submission of the application.

Candidates who do not wish to use the points awarded for knowledge of French or English or both must indicate this in their application for a Certificat de sélection du Québec by marking the appropriate box on the form.

To be able to submit it, a test (oral or written) must always include the evaluation of comprehension and expression.

*Evaluation of French knowledge*

The following tests and diplomas are recognized by the Ministère:

the Test d’évaluation du français adapté pour le Québec (TEFAQ) of the Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Paris Île-de-France (CCIP-IDF);
the Test de connaissance du français pour le Québec (TCF-Québec) of the Centre international d’études pédagogiques (CIEP);
the Test d’évaluation du français (TEF) of the CCIP-IDF;
the Test d’évaluation du français pour le Canada (TEF Canada) of the CCIP-IDF;
the Test de connaissance du français (TCF) of the CIEP;
the Diplôme d’études en langue française (DELF) of the CIEP;
the Diplôme approfondi de langue française (DALF) of the CIEP.



Points on the selection grid are awarded according to the results obtained by the candidate in oral comprehension, oral production, written comprehension and written production and that are indicated on the attestations of standardized test results or, if applicable, on the reverse side of the DELF or DALF diploma. Only supporting documentation issued by organizations that offer these tests (Centre international d’études pédagogiques, Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Paris-Île de France) are recognized by the Ministère.

An up-to-date list of all accredited TEF, TEFAQ, TEF Canada, TCF, TCFQ, DELF and DALF centres can be consulted on the the Internet sites of the Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Paris Île-de-France and the Centre international d'études pédagogiques (Centres d'examen DELF - DALF and Centres de passation du TCF pour le Québec).

*Evaluation of English knowledge*

Candidates in the Regular Skilled Worker Program (principal applicants only) who wish to obtain points for their knowledge of English must submit the results of an English evaluation test recognized by the Ministère, namely the IELTS (International English Language Testing System).

An up-to-date list of centres certified by the IELTS is available on the International English Language Testing System Internet site.

*Awarding of points*

*For the evaluation of French knowledge*, level 7 (advanced intermediate) of the Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français des personnes immigrantes adultes or its equivalent (level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) is the minimum threshold from which points are awarded.

The principal applicant can obtain a maximum of 16 points for knowledge of oral and written French, including 7 points for oral comprehension, 7 points for oral production, 1 point for written comprehension and 1 point for written production.

The spouse of a candidate can obtain a maximum of 6 points for oral French knowledge, including 3 points for oral comprehension and 3 points for oral production.

*For the evaluation of English knowledge*, level 5 (intermediate) of the Canadian Language Benchmarks or its equivalent is the minimum threshold from which points are awarded.

The principal applicant can obtain a maximum of 6 points for knowledge of oral and written English, including 2 points for oral comprehension, 2 points for oral production, 1 point for written comprehension and 1 point for written production._"


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

ajayshahani said:


> Thanks for sharing this. It gives an insight. Believe me, I am ready to learn French and be a fluent speaker in a years time.



You are delusional if you think that you can become fluent in French in a year's time.

I have spent the majority of my life in Canada and thus have been exposed to French for decades, am well educated (graduate degrees), and I couldn't become fluent in French in a year's time.


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

ajayshahani said:


> My present role is IT Manager. My previous roles were as IT Administrator, IT consultant, IT Process Implementer, IT Operations Manager, IT Project Manager, IT Service Manager.



A dime a dozen in Canada. You are not offering anything that isn't already widely available here.


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